Texts in Conversation
In John, Jesus refers to scripture when describing rivers of living water, yet nothing in the Hebrew Bible matches this language. Instead, the language may mix several prophetic texts together, such as Isaiah, that describe God providing life-giving water and renewal.
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Isaiah 58:11
Hebrew Bible
9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’ You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully. 10 You must actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed. Then your light will dispel the darkness, and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. 11 The Lord will continually lead you; he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water. 12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; you will reestablish the ancient foundations. You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls, the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ 13 You must observe the Sabbath rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. You must look forward to the Sabbath and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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John 7:38
New Testament
36 What did he mean by saying, ‘You will look for me but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?” 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.) 40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd began to say, “This really is the Prophet!”
Date: 90-110 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Another citation formula which probably has several Old Testament passages in view is found in John 7:37-39. There are several disputed points in these three verses, but for the purposes of the present study we are only concerned with the citation formula and the words that follow it in 7:38. John 7:38 reads, “The one who believes in me, just as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his belly.” Again, several Old Testament texts seem to be in view here, among which are Isaiah 12:3; 43:19; 48:18; 49:10; 55:1; and 58:11. Since the words that follow the citation formula in John 7:38 do not precisely match any one Old Testament passage, it seems that Jesus is presented referring broadly to the promises of water that would flow in the messianic age. As can be seen from the number of Isaianic references, this water theme is prominent in Isaiah ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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