Revelation 7:17
Context7:17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” 1
Revelation 22:17
Context22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.
Isaiah 12:3
Context12:3 Joyfully you will draw water
from the springs of deliverance. 2
Isaiah 55:1-3
Context55:1 “Hey, 3 all who are thirsty, come to the water!
You who have no money, come!
Buy and eat!
Come! Buy wine and milk
without money and without cost! 4
55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 5
Why spend 6 your hard-earned money 7 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 8 to me and eat what is nourishing! 9
Enjoy fine food! 10
55:3 Pay attention and come to me!
Listen, so you can live! 11
Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to 12 you,
just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 13
John 4:10
Context4:10 Jesus answered 14 her, “If you had known 15 the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water 16 to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 17
John 4:14
Context4:14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, 18 but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain 19 of water springing up 20 to eternal life.”
John 7:37-38
Context7:37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, 21 Jesus stood up and shouted out, 22 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 7:38 let the one who believes in me drink. 23 Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him 24 will flow rivers of living water.’” 25
[7:17] 1 sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.
[12:3] 2 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); CEV “victory.”
[55:1] 3 tn The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments and is often prefixed to judgment oracles for rhetorical effect. But here it appears to be a simple interjection, designed to grab the audience’s attention. Perhaps there is a note of sorrow or pity. See BDB 223 s.v.
[55:1] 4 sn The statement is an oxymoron. Its ironic quality adds to its rhetorical impact. The statement reminds one of the norm (one must normally buy commodities) as it expresses the astounding offer. One might paraphrase the statement: “Come and take freely what you normally have to pay for.”
[55:2] 5 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
[55:2] 6 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[55:2] 7 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
[55:2] 8 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
[55:2] 9 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[55:2] 10 tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”
[55:3] 11 tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.
[55:3] 12 tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”
[55:3] 13 tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”
[4:10] 14 tn Grk “answered and said to her.”
[4:10] 15 tn Or “if you knew.”
[4:10] 16 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
[4:10] 17 tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.
[4:14] 18 tn Grk “will never be thirsty forever.” The possibility of a later thirst is emphatically denied.
[4:14] 19 tn Or “well.” “Fountain” is used as the translation for πηγή (phgh) here since the idea is that of an artesian well that flows freely, but the term “artesian well” is not common in contemporary English.
[4:14] 20 tn The verb ἁλλομένου (Jallomenou) is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul. See Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Kgdms 10:2, 10 LXX (= 1 Sam 10:6, 10 ET); and Isa 35:6 (note context).
[7:37] 21 sn There is a problem with the identification of this reference to the last day of the feast, the greatest day: It appears from Deut 16:13 that the feast went for seven days. Lev 23:36, however, makes it plain that there was an eighth day, though it was mentioned separately from the seven. It is not completely clear whether the seventh or eighth day was the climax of the feast, called here by the author the “last great day of the feast.” Since according to the Mishnah (m. Sukkah 4.1) the ceremonies with water and lights did not continue after the seventh day, it seems more probable that this is the day the author mentions.
[7:37] 22 tn Grk “Jesus stood up and cried out, saying.”
[7:38] 23 tn An alternate way of punctuating the Greek text of vv. 37-38 results in this translation: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Certainly Jesus picks up on the literal water used in the ceremony and uses it figuratively. But what does the figure mean? According to popular understanding, it refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believer. There is some difficulty in locating an OT text which speaks of rivers of water flowing from within such a person, but Isa 58:11 is often suggested: “The
[7:38] 24 tn Or “out of the innermost part of his person”; Grk “out of his belly.”
[7:38] 25 sn An OT quotation whose source is difficult to determine; Isa 44:3, 55:1, 58:11, and Zech 14:8 have all been suggested.