“They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.”
They answered, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus said to them, 'I am he.' Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them — The identification "Jesus of Nazareth" marks the ordinary, human designation. Jesus responds with "I am he" (ego eimi), or perhaps simply "I am" (ego eimi without predicate), invoking the divine self-identification of Exodus 3:14 and earlier Johannine claims (8:58, 13:19). The resonance with God's covenant name transforms the arrest into theophany.
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