To make sense of the statements, most modern English translations render the phrase egō eimi/I AM as "I am he" in these passages, adding the pronoun "he" not found in the original Greek. However, this does not help grammatically in 8:58. It is more likely that in all these four passages (and some of the I Am statements above as well), the Greek egō eimi is intended to refer to the name/title of God in Genesis 3:14.
Jesus' claim is not simply that "I am" or "I am he," but "I am the I AM" who revealed his name to Moses. Jesus thus indeed existed before Abraham, because he is the preexistent Logos who was with God in the beginning (1:1-2).
This is apparently how the Jewish critics of Jesus understood his statement, because "they picked up stones to throw at him" (8:59). They did so for two reasons: because he publicly spoke the I AM name of God, and because he blasphemously claimed to be God, the I AM. As we noted earlier, such blasphemy was considered a capital offense under first century Judaism.
Author's Note: I'm going to be on vacation for a few weeks and will recommence this column in the third week of July.
For a complete version with notes, see DropBox
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15865520/Enigmatic%20Mirror/EM-John%208d.pdf
Or Academia.edu:
http://byu.academia.edu/WilliamHamblin/Papers/699242/_Before_Abraham_was_I_AM_John_8_48-59
Updates and discussion can be followed on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/An-Enigmatic-Mirror/180889785272535
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In