I am (biblical term)

The Koine Greek term Ego eimi (Ἐγώ εἰμί, pronounced [eɣó imí]), literally 'I am' or 'It is I', is an emphatic form of the copulative verb εἰμι that is recorded in the Gospels to have been spoken by Jesus on several occasions to refer to himself not with the role of a verb but playing the role of a name, in the Gospel of John occurring seven times with specific titles.

[2][3] In the New Testament, the personal pronoun ἐγώ in conjunction with the present first-person singular copulative εἰμι is recorded to have been used mainly by Jesus, especially in the Gospel of John.

Many other translations, including the American Standard Version, have rendered John 8:24 as something like "For unless you believe that I am [He], you will die in your sins".

However it is rather unusual for a present tense verb to be used with a temporal adverb like πρὶν in a declarative statement, though there are rare exceptions outside the New Testament.

[7] It has been suggested that the unique expression of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH) is a verbal cognate noun derived from היה (hayah), the Hebrew linking (or 'copular' or 'copulative') verb, 'to be'.