Rivers of Living Water (John 7:37-39)

The following passage in John 7 has baffled me for a long time.

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” ³⁹ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (vv. 37-39 NIV)

This is a dramatic scene for three reasons:

1. Volume – Jesus is speaking “in a loud voice” or “crying out.”
2. Location – the most important building in Israel—he was “teaching in the temple courts” (see v. 28).
3. Timing – on the final day of a major pilgrimage festival in Jerusalem when crowds of people were present. This particular “festival” was the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, a one-week celebration of God’s provision for Israel during their wilderness wandering. On each of the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles water, a symbol of divine blessings, was poured over the altar of burnt offering. In this festive setting Jesus raises his voice, inviting people to come to him and drink.

All this is straightforward.

The Problem

What is not clear is the following:

First, the flow of the passage is confusing. How do these three concepts fit together?

1. Thirsty people going to Jesus to drink.
2. “Rivers of living water” flowing from believers — “rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
3. The explanation: “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

How does living water flowing from believers connect with its explanation that the Spirit would be given to believers? After all, John makes it clear what Jesus meant: “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” The idea, then, is that believers would be recipients of the Spirit not distributors of the Spirit. Hence, the anomaly in the three concepts is rivers of living water from believers.

Second, the theology of the passage doesn’t fit with the rest of John or other parts of the Bible. Later in John’s Gospel Jesus says the Father will send the Holy Spirit in his name to his followers (Jn 14:26). He also says, “I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father” (15:26) and “if I go, I will send him to you” (16:7). So the source or the giver of the Spirit is not believers; it is the Father and/or Jesus. This is confirmed after Jesus’ resurrection when he breathes on his disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (20:22). The assertion that God is the giver of the Spirit is also supported by Old Testament statements, such as Isaiah 44:3:

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.

Moreover, there is “no trace” of the idea that individual believers are the source of living in the Gospel of John “or anywhere in the New Testament.” (Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 349).

Third, the Old Testament reference is difficult to identify. Scholars have proposed several OT passages as the reference behind the phrase “as Scripture has said” in verse 38, but none say that rivers of living water flow from believers.

The Solution

Fortunately, the NIV translators indicate another possible reading by placing a footnote at the end of verse 38. Compare the two readings below:

NIV text: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

NIV footnote: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me. And let anyone drink who believes in me. As Scripture has said, “Out of him will flow rivers of living water.”

Did you catch the key difference?

The plural pronoun has become a singular pronoun. “Flow from within them” has become “Out of him will flow . . . ” Who is the “him”? Jesus has just invited people to come to him and drink so the “him” must be Jesus. Rivers of living water, meaning the Spirit, flow from Jesus. He is the source of the life-giving drink.

This alternate reading solves the flow of the passage and the theology. It also fits with what Jesus has already said in John’s Gospel: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (Jn 4:10). Jesus is the source of the living water. It flows from within him.

The New English Translation (NET) incorporates this reading into its primary text:

³⁷ On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and ³⁸ let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)

This translation fits with the crucifixion scene in John where Jesus is pierced and water flows out:

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (Jn 19:33-34)

It also fits with the Bible’s final chapter: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:1). Many have interpreted the river as the Holy Spirit who flows from the Father and the Son.

Old Testament Reference

What about the Old Testament reference? What does “as Scripture has said” in verse 38 refer to?

This remains difficult to pinpoint, but we have a couple strong options, and it may include both of them. First, it may be a reference to the rock in the wilderness, which poured out water after it was struck:

The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exod 17:5-6)

Paul actually says “that rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). Just as the rock was struck and water poured out, Christ was struck and the Spirit flowed from him to his people.

Second, it may be alluding to Ezekiel’s vision of the temple:

The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. (47:1)

As Ezekiel was led through the water it became ankle-deep then knee-deep then up to his waist then too deep to cross. And wherever the water flowed it brought life. Zechariah also saw water flowing from Jerusalem on the day of the Lord, “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter” (14:8).

Conclusion

All scholars do not agree with this solution for the conundrum in John 7, but the theology is too powerful for me to avoid. Living water, God’s own Spirit, flows from Jesus to us. I think the NET has it right: “From within him will flow rivers of living water.”