Bill Mounce

For an Informed Love of God

ἐγώ (ἡμεῖς)

“ἐγώ (ἡμεῖς)” means “I (we).”

“ἐγώ say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44).

Mounce's Expository Dictionary (abridged): 

Pronoun: ἐγώ (egō), and the plural ἡμεῖς (hēmeis), GK G1609 (S G1473), 2666x. egō means “I.” The most significant usage of this pronoun is in the expressions of Jesus that begin with “I am” (egō eimi). In Jn. 8:58, in response to the exclamation, “You are not yet fifty years old … and you have seen Abraham!” Jesus replies, “I tell you the truth … before Abraham was born, I am.” Through this statement Jesus links himself with Yahweh, the covenant God of the OT, who revealed himself as the great “I am” (Exod. 3:14b). Also, “I am the bread of life” (Jn. 6:35); “I am the light of the world” (8:12); “I am the gate” (10:7, 9); “I am the good shepherd” (10:11); “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25); I am the way and the truth and the life” (14:6); and “I am the vine” (15:1).