An Analysis of Water in John 7:37-39

Delimitation

The situational circumstance of the passage in John 7:37-39 is the Feast of Tabernacles. At the beginning of chapter 17 of this Gospel the Feast was about to start, while at verse 37 it was already the last day of the celebration. Verse 37 could be considered as a beginning of a pericope since it introduces another moment of time. Another reason could be the topic or subject matter. Between verses 36 and 37 we could find a shift in the idea. Verse 36 and a few prior verses tell about Jesus’ saying, “You will look for me and not find [me] and where I am you cannot come.” We find here a shift since verses 27-39 deal with the living water. After verse 39 and following the matter would be about the question of the Messiah’s origin, hence another shift in idea.

John 7:37-39 talks about a single theme which could be treated separately from the preceding and following verses. The previous segment is about the attempt to arrest Jesus while the one that follows after the pericope we are dealing with has another topic. Although the verses that follow could be deemed as a continuation, the thought moved to the question of the origin of the Messiah. Thus, the passage in John 7:37-39 could still be extracted from its immediate gospel account and be considered as one periscope.

Verse 37 could be regarded as the introductory part of the pericope. It gives the setting and then expresses a Jesus’ saying: “Let anyone come to me and drink.” Verse 38 is a quotation from scriptures connected with the saying. An explanation then follows at verse 39 which says that the scripture text quoted refers to the Spirit.

Literary genre

This pericope could be understood as one of Jesus’ sayings particularly a Christological saying. What could have prompted for this saying? Or what could have led to the declaration of this saying? As we have already knew the occasion is the Feast of Tabernacles which lasts for eight days. A ritual that we could find to establish a connection with the ‘saying’ is the daily water libation.[1]

To whom the Gospel is addressed

The hint that could give us a slight description of the addressees of this text is verse 39. This is the author or editor’s explanation of the preceding statement. If the addressees were too familiar with the meaning of the statement, there could be no use of putting explanation. Thus, it is probable that the audience of this gospel were not familiar with the scriptures or they were non-Jews. Another possibility is that such verse is a later addition in order to emphasize the point that after the resurrection those who believe in Jesus would receive the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, by not mentioning the water libation could be a presumption that the addressees were already familiar with the Feast of Tabernacles. Hence, they could be Jews who were converted to Christianity. They could also be Non-Jews but have contacts with the Jews.

Key phrase

We now put into consideration a key phrase of this pericope that is “rivers of living water”. Before this phrase is the invitation of Jesus, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.” What should satisfy physical thirst? It is precisely water. So, the invitation of Jesus to come to him and drink could be a signal that Jesus is the living water. But, does the statement refer to physical thirst alone? What could have been the meaning of water? The Greek text uses the word udatoς which appears in eight verses in John while only in seven verses in the synoptics. So, we could see here how significant water or its symbolism is in the fourth Gospel.

When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman he told her that whoever drinks the living water will never thirst for it will become a spring of water willing up to eternal life (cf. Jn 4:10-14). In this story the woman was going to draw water from Jacob’s well and Jesus asked her for a drink. So, udatoς here is used to refer to the drinking water from the well. In Jn 2:7 the water was to be filled on a jar thus it is for drinking. In Jn 3:5 Jesus answered the question of Nicodemus on how to be born again and it is to be born of water and Spirit.

In the synoptics the word udatoς can be found in Mt 3:16 and Mk 1:10 in which the baptism is Jesus is being told. In Mk 9:41 water is referred to as used for drinking. In Mk 14:13 and Lk 22:10 water carried on a jar. In Lk 16:24 the rich man requested that Lazarus’ fingertip be dipped in water to cool his tongue.

Thus, in the synoptics for the usage of the word udatoς we found two, for baptism and for drinking; whereas, in John the meaning goes more deeply. Water is used in the wedding at Cana and Jesus turned it into wine (Jn 2:7-9). In His conversation with Nicodemus, water could be alluded to baptism (Jn 3:5). In His encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus is talking of the living water (Jn 4:10). And the usage reaches to its peak when Jesus gave an invitation to come to him and drink in which it could mean that He is the living water. Water as used for drinking could mean life-giving, but the living water referred to by Jesus gives eternal life. Water in baptism could symbolize new life in Christ because Jesus is the source of eternal life.

Summary

The main theme of the John 7:37-39 is the “living water”. Although in text there is no direct statement which says Jesus is the living water, it is obvious that He is the source of living water that gives eternal life. As we need water to sustain our earthly life, we need Jesus to attain eternal life.
[1] Notes on The Synoptic Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, Session 11-12, page 5.