Bible Strands
John 7:38
Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks on the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles, immediately after calling the thirsty to come and drink (v. 37). The crowd is present; the feast's water-drawing ritual is the backdrop.
The words — ἐμὲ (eme) is the intensive form of "me," not the plain μοι (moi); it marks the object as emphatic — "Me" specifically, not any other.
The thread — The image of water welling up from within echoes John 4:14, where the water Jesus gives becomes "a fount of water welling up to eternal life." The Old Testament source is the Spirit poured on the thirsty: Isaiah 44:3 and 58:11.
Why it lands — The verse does not describe receiving water but water flowing out from the believer. It asks the reader to see belief not as a static event but as the condition under which an ongoing outflow begins.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Cross-references
- John 4:14 But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,
- John 4:10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
- Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- Zechariah 14:8 And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the Eastern Sea and the other half toward the Western Sea, in summer and winter alike.
- Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
- Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Isaiah 59:21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.