MDDM Ch. 50 I Am That Which I Am

[Dave Monroe]

   "'Aye, some of us have never seen him, only heard
his steps on the nights when there is no Moon, or his
voice, speaking from above the only words he
knows,--"Eyeh asher Eyeh,"'-- in on which, in Tones
hush'd, though ominous, the other now join.
   "'That is, "I am that which I am,"' helpfully
translates a somehow nautical-looking Indiv. with
gigantick Fore-Arms, and one eye ever a-Squint from
the Smoke of his Pipe.
   "'Tho' Rashi in his Commentary has, 'I will be what
I will be,' as the Tense is ambiguous between present
and future.'
   "'Isn't that what God said to Moses?' Dixon
inquires.
   "'Exodus 3:14.  'Tis what the Indians say to you,
if you go far enough west,-- being the Lost Tribes of
Israel out there, whose Creature this is.'" (M&D, Ch.
50, p. 486)


Exodus 3:14

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM
hath sent me unto you."

http://www.bartleby.com/108/02/3.html#14


"I will be what I will be"

Cf. Revelations 1:8

"I am Alpha and Ome'ga, the beginning and the ending,
Rev. 22.13 saith the Lord, which is, and which was,
and which is to come, Ex. 3.14 the Almighty

http://www.bartleby.com/108/66/1.html#8


Rashi

"1040–1105, Jewish exegete, grammarian, and legal
authority, b. Troyes, France. The name he is known by
is an acronym of Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac. He studied
in Worms and Mainz, returning to Troyes c.1065. He
taught and wrote commentaries to most of the Bible and
Talmud. These, distinguished by great clarity, are
among the most inclusive and authoritative in Jewish
exegesis and are still important in Jewish life.
Rashi’s commentary on the Pentateuch (printed 1475)
was the first dated Hebrew book published. His
commentary on the Talmud covers the Mishna with the
Gemara. His work influenced some Christian thinkers as
early as the 12th cent."

http://www.bartleby.com/65/ra/Rashi.html

"Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (or: Shlomo Yitzhaki) is
known by the acronym: RaShI." 

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudMap/Rashi.html


Commentary

ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext02/rashi10.txt

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=3165


"a somehow nautical-looking Indiv."

http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/popeye/about.htm

http://www.math.pitt.edu/~bard/bardware/popeye/popeye.html

http://www.math.pitt.edu/~bard/bardware/popeye/faq.html

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/popeye.html

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