“I am” is an abbreviated form of “I am that I am,” and is intended to express the same idea.
I am that I am.
God therefore revealed to Moses, or rather explained to him, the name by which He had made Himself known to Abraham at the making of the covenant (Gen. 15:7). In Hebrew as in English, this name is a form of the verb “to be,” and implies that its possessor is the eternal, self-existing One (see John 8:58; DA 469). Its allembracing universality precluded any comparison of the God of the Israelites to the deities of Egypt and other nations. It was designed to provide Moses and his people with strong consolation in their affliction and powerful support for their confidence in the realization of His purpose to deliver them.