Strong's Concordance
eimi: I exist, I am
Original Word: εἰμίPart of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: eimi
Phonetic Spelling: (i-mee')
Short Definition: I am, exist
Definition: I am, exist.
HELPS Word-studies
1510 eimí (the basic Greek verb which expresses being, i.e. "to be") – am, is. 1510 (eimí), and its counterparts, (properly) convey "straight-forward" being (existence, i.e. without explicit limits).
1510 /eimí ("is, am") – in the present tense, indicative mood – can be time-inclusive ("omnitemporal," like the Hebrew imperfect tense). Only the context indicates whether the present tense also has "timeless" implications. For example, 1510 (eimí) is aptly used in Christ's great "I am" (ego eimi . . . ) that also include His eternality (self-existent life) as our life, bread, light," etc. See Jn 7:34, 8:58, etc.
Example: Jn 14:6: "I am (1510 /eimí) the way, the truth and the life." Here 1510 (eimí) naturally accords with the fact Christ is eternal – maning "I am (was, will be)." The "I am formula (Gk egō eimi)" harks back to God's only name, "Yahweh" (OT/3068, "the ") – meaning "He who always was, is, and will be." Compare Jn 8:58 with Ex 3:14. See also Rev 4:8 and 2962 /kýrios ("Lord").
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 1510: εἰμίεἰμί (from
ἕω, whence
ἐμι in inscriptions (?); Aeolic,
ἐμμί (
Curtius, (yet
ἐμμί, so G. Meyer) § 564;
Veitch, p. 228)), imperative
ἴσθι,
ἔστω, less usual
ἤτω,
1 Corinthians 16:22;
James 5:12;
Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 48, 5 [ET]; (1 Macc. 10:31;
Psalm 103:31
