'I am that I am' (Exodus 3.14) has been an exegetical puzzle tomany generations of biblical scholars as well as theologians: is itabout the present or the future, is it about God's presence or hishiddenness? Den Hertog argues that such exegetical questionshave been framed too narrowly, and that this deeply suggestivestatement about God needs to be set in a broader context.First, the statement must be understood within the narrative ofMoses' call as an answer to his problem: how can his beinglaunched on a radically new, prophetic mission be reconciledwith the features of the God of the patriarchs? This booksubstantiates the view that the meaning of the statement isdeliberately indefinite: 'I may be who I may be'. In its context, itpoints to Yhwh's other face, the possibility of his manifestinghimself differently from the way he is thought to be.Secondly, the after-history of this text should also be considered,since it has shaped our understanding in one way or another. Thisbook pays particular attention to the renderings by the ancientand early modern versions (including the King James Version).The point of departure is the Septuagint rendering 'I am the onebeing', which has traditionally been associated with the Greekphilosophical concept of absolute Being. This rendering,however, appears to have originally signified God's activepresence: 'I am the one who shows himself to be there'.Thirdly, this fundamental theological statement invites further apsychoanalytic interpretation. Den Hertog adopts a Lacanianperspective, according to which 'I am that I am' represents anirruption of an 'I' from nowhere, from beyond usual thought andexpectation. In its context this means that in a situation of crisis anew orientation is born, one that undermines the pharaonic powers.