◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 81 (We drink from the rock); Jeremiah 2:4-13 (God the living water); John 7:14-31 37-39 (Drink of Jesus the Messiah) (New English Translation)

Prev Day

March 18, 2020

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

March 2020
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Return to today's reading

Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 81

Psalm 81^[a]

For the music director, according to the gittith style;^[b] by Asaph.

81 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
²Sing^[c] a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
³Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,^[d]
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.^[e]
⁴For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;^[f]
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
⁵He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.^[g]
I heard a voice I did not recognize.^[h]
⁶It said:^[i] “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.^[j]
⁷In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.^[k]
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.^[l] (Selah)
⁸I said,^[m] ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn^[n] you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me!^[o]
⁹There must be^[p] no other^[q] god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
¹⁰I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
¹¹But my people did not obey me;^[r]
Israel did not submit to me.^[s]
¹²I gave them over to their stubborn desires;^[t]
they did what seemed right to them.^[u]
¹³If only my people would obey me!^[v]
If only Israel would keep my commands!^[w]
¹⁴Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack^[x] their adversaries.”
¹⁵(May those who hate the Lord^[y] cower in fear^[z] before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)^[aa]
¹⁶“I would feed Israel the best wheat,^[ab]
and would satisfy your appetite^[ac] with honey from the rocky cliffs.”^[ad]

Footnotes

Psalm 81:1 sn Psalm 81. The psalmist calls God’s people to assemble for a festival and then proclaims God’s message to them. The divine speech (vv. 6-16) recalls how God delivered the people from Egypt, reminds Israel of their rebellious past, expresses God’s desire for his people to obey him, and promises divine protection in exchange for obedience.
Psalm 81:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument. See the superscription to Ps 8.
Psalm 81:2 tn Heb “lift up.”
Psalm 81:3 tn Heb “at the new moon.”sn New moon festivals were a monthly ritual in Israel (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 469-70). In this context the New Moon festival of the seventh month, when the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (note the reference to a “festival” in the next line), may be in view.
Psalm 81:3 tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (keseʾ, “full moon”).sn The festival in view is probably the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), which began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when the moon was full. See Lev 23:34; Num 29:12.
Psalm 81:4 tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”
Psalm 81:5 tn Heb “in his going out against the land of Egypt.” This apparently refers to the general time period of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The LXX reads, “from Egypt,” in which case “Joseph” (see the preceding line) would be the subject of the verb, “when he [Joseph = Israel] left Egypt.”
Psalm 81:5 tn Heb “a lip I did not know, I heard.” Here the term “lip” probably stands for speech or a voice. Apparently the psalmist speaks here and refers to God’s voice, whose speech is recorded in the following verses.
Psalm 81:6 tn The words “It said” are not included in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Psalm 81:6 sn I removed the burden. The Lord speaks metaphorically of how he delivered his people from Egyptian bondage. The reference to a basket/burden probably alludes to the hard labor of the Israelites in Egypt, where they had to carry loads of bricks (see Exod 1:14).
Psalm 81:7 tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).
Psalm 81:7 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
Psalm 81:8 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the Lord commanded the generation of Israelites that experienced the events described in v. 7. Note the statement in v. 11, “my people did not listen to me.”
Psalm 81:8 tn Or perhaps “command.”
Psalm 81:8 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (ʾim, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
Psalm 81:9 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 have a modal function, expressing what is obligatory.
Psalm 81:9 tn Heb “different”; “illicit.”
Psalm 81:11 tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”
Psalm 81:11 tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (ʾavah li) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).
Psalm 81:12 tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”
Psalm 81:12 tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).
Psalm 81:13 tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).
Psalm 81:13 tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”
Psalm 81:14 tn Heb “turn my hand against.” The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack” (see Isa 1:25; Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7).
Psalm 81:15 tn “Those who hate the Lord” are also mentioned in 2 Chr 19:2 and Ps 139:21.
Psalm 81:15 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.
Psalm 81:15 tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (ʿittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the Lord. Some propose an emendation to בַּעֲתָתָם (baʿatatam) or בִּעֻתָם (biʿutam; “their terror”; i.e., “may their terror last forever”), but the omission of bet (ב) in the present Hebrew text is difficult to explain, making the proposed emendation unlikely.tn The verb form at the beginning of the line is jussive, indicating that this is a prayer. The translation assumes that v. 15 is a parenthetical “curse” offered by the psalmist. Having heard the reference to Israel’s enemies (v. 14), the psalmist inserts this prayer, reminding the Lord that they are God’s enemies as well.
Psalm 81:16 tn Heb “and he fed him from the best of the wheat.” The Hebrew text has a third person form of the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive attached. However, it is preferable, in light of the use of the first person in v. 14 and in the next line, to emend the verb to a first person form and understand the vav as conjunctive, continuing the apodosis of the conditional sentence of vv. 13-14. The third masculine singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in v. 6.sn I would feed. After the parenthetical “curse” in v. 15, the Lord’s speech continues here.
Psalm 81:16 tn Heb “you.” The second person singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in vv. 7-10.
Psalm 81:16 sn The language in this verse, particularly the references to wheat and honey, is reminiscent of Deut 32:13-14.

Jeremiah 2:4-13

The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors

⁴Now listen to the Lord’s message, you descendants^[a] of Jacob,
all you family groups from the nation^[b] of Israel.
⁵This is what the Lord says:
“What fault could your ancestors^[c] have possibly found in me
that they strayed so far from me?^[d]
They paid allegiance to^[e] worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.^[f]
⁶They did not ask,
‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,
who brought us through the wilderness,
through a land of valleys and gorges,^[g]
through a land of desert and deep darkness,^[h]
through a land in which no one travels,
and where no one lives?’^[i]
⁷I brought you^[j] into a fertile land
so you could enjoy^[k] its fruits and its rich bounty.
But when you entered my land, you defiled it;^[l]
you made the land I call my own^[m] loathsome to me.
⁸Your priests^[n] did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’^[o]
Those responsible for teaching my law^[p] did not really know me.^[q]
Your rulers rebelled against me.
Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal.^[r]
They all worshiped idols that could not help them.^[s]

The Lord Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery

⁹“So, once more I will state my case^[t] against you,” says the Lord.
“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.^[u]
¹⁰Go west^[v] across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus^[w] and see.
Send someone east to Kedar^[x] and have them look carefully.
See if such a thing as this has ever happened:
¹¹Has a nation ever changed its gods
(even though they are not really gods at all)?
But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God,^[y]
for a god that cannot help them at all!^[z]
¹²Be amazed at this, O heavens.^[aa]
Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”
says the Lord.
¹³“Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:
They have rejected me,
the fountain of life-giving water,^[ab]
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that cannot even hold water.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 2:4 tn Heb “house.”
Jeremiah 2:4 tn Heb “house.”
Jeremiah 2:5 tn Heb “fathers.”
Jeremiah 2:5 tn Or “I did not wrong your ancestors in any way. Yet they went far astray from me.” Both translations are an attempt to render the rhetorical question which demands a negative answer.
Jeremiah 2:5 tn Heb “They went/followed after.” This idiom is found most often in Deuteronomy or covenant contexts. It refers to loyalty to God and to his covenant or his commandments (e.g., 1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (e.g., Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (i.e., to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21, where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions,” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (see, e.g., Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).
Jeremiah 2:5 tn The words “to me” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context: Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing,” which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols, as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.
Jeremiah 2:6 tn Heb “a land of the rift valley and gorges.” Geographically, the עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah) is the rift valley that extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. Biblical references are usually to sections of the rift valley, such as the Jordan Valley, the region of the Dead Sea, or the portion south of the Dead Sea. The term שׁוּחָה (shukhah) can refer to a trapper’s pit, a gorge, or a precipice (HALOT 1439 s.v.). The point here seems to be the terrain; cf. REB “a barren and broken country.”
Jeremiah 2:6 tn This word is erroneously rendered “shadow of death” in most older English versions; that translation is based on a faulty etymology. Contextual studies and comparative Semitic linguistics have demonstrated that the word is merely another word for darkness. It is confined to poetic texts and often carries connotations of danger and distress. It is associated in poetic texts with the darkness of a prison (Ps 107:10, 14), a mine (Job 28:3), and a ravine (Ps 23:4). Here it is associated with the darkness of the wasteland and ravines of the Sinai desert.
Jeremiah 2:6 sn The context suggests that the question is related to a lament where the people turn to God in their troubles, asking him for help and reminding him of his past benefactions. See for example Isa 63:11-19 and Ps 44. It is an implicit prayer for his intervention; compare 2 Kgs 2:14.
Jeremiah 2:7 sn Note how contemporary Israel is again identified with her early ancestors. See the study note on 2:2.
Jeremiah 2:7 tn Heb “eat.”
Jeremiah 2:7 sn I.e., made it ceremonially unclean. See Lev 18:19-30; Num 35:34; Deut 21:23.
Jeremiah 2:7 tn Heb “my inheritance.” Or “the land [i.e., inheritance] I gave you,” reading the pronoun as indicating source rather than possession. The parallelism and the common use in Jeremiah of the term to refer to the land or people as the Lord’s (e.g., 12:7, 8, 9; 16:18; 50:11) make the possessive use more likely here.sn The land belonged to the Lord; it was given to the Israelites in trust (or usufruct) as their heritage. See Lev 25:23.
Jeremiah 2:8 tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”
Jeremiah 2:8 sn See the study note on 2:6.
Jeremiah 2:8 tn Heb “those who handle my law.”sn The reference is likely to the priests and Levites who were responsible for teaching the law (so Jer 18:18; cf. Deut 33:10). According to Jer 8:8 it could possibly refer to the scribes who copied the law.
Jeremiah 2:8 tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See, for example, its use in contexts like Hos 4:1 and 6:6.
Jeremiah 2:8 tn Heb “by Baal.”
Jeremiah 2:8 tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, baʿal) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (yaʿal).
Jeremiah 2:9 tn Or “bring charges against you.”sn The language used here is that of the law court. In international political contexts it was the language of a great king charging his subject with breach of covenant. See for examples in earlier prophets, Isa 1:2-20 and Mic 6:1-8.
Jeremiah 2:9 tn The words “your children and” are supplied in the translation to bring out the idea of corporate solidarity implicit in the passage.sn The passage reflects the Hebrew concept of corporate solidarity: The actions of parents had consequences for their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Compare the usage in the ten commandments (Deut 5:10) and note the execution of the children of Dathan and Abiram (Deut 11:6) and of Achan (Josh 7:24-25).
Jeremiah 2:10 tn Heb “For go west.”
Jeremiah 2:10 tn Heb “pass over to the coasts of Kittim.” The words “west across the sea” in this line and “east of” in the next are implicit in the text and are supplied in the translation to give geographical orientation.sn The Hebrew term translated Cyprus (“Kittim”) originally referred to the island of Cyprus but later was used for the lands in the west, including Macedonia (1 Macc 1:1; 8:5) and Rome (Dan 11:30). It is used here as part of a figure called merism to denote the lands in the west as opposed to Kedar, which was in the east. The figure includes polar opposites to indicate totality, i.e., everywhere from west to east.
Jeremiah 2:10 sn Kedar is the home of the bedouin tribes in the Syro-Arabian desert. See Gen 25:18 and Jer 49:38. See also the previous note for the significance of the reference here.
Jeremiah 2:11 tn Heb “have exchanged their glory [i.e., the God in whom they glory].” This is a case of a figure of speech where the attribute of a person or thing is put for the person or thing. Compare the common phrase in Isaiah, the Holy One of Israel, obviously referring to the Lord, the God of Israel.
Jeremiah 2:11 tn Heb “what cannot profit.” The verb is singular and the allusion is likely to Baal. See the translator’s note on 2:8 for the likely pun or wordplay.
Jeremiah 2:12 sn In earlier literature the heavens (and the earth) were called on to witness Israel’s commitment to the covenant (Deut 30:12) and were called to serve as witnesses to Israel’s fidelity or infidelity to it (Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1).
Jeremiah 2:13 tn It is difficult to decide whether to translate “fresh, running water” which the Hebrew term for “living water” often refers to (e.g., Gen 26:19; Lev 14:5), or “life-giving water” which the idiom “fountain of life” as source of life and vitality often refers to (e.g., Ps 36:9; Prov 13:14; 14:27). The contrast with cisterns, which collected and held rain water, suggests “fresh, running water,” but the reality underlying the metaphor contrasts the Lord, the source of life, health, and vitality, with useless idols that cannot do anything.

John 7:14-31

Teaching in the Temple

¹⁴When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts^[a] and began to teach.^[b] ¹⁵Then the Jewish leaders^[c] were astonished^[d] and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”^[e] ¹⁶So Jesus replied,^[f] “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.^[g] ¹⁷If anyone wants to do God’s will,^[h] he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.^[i] ¹⁸The person who speaks on his own authority^[j] desires^[k] to receive honor^[l] for himself; the one who desires^[m] the honor^[n] of the one who sent him is a man of integrity,^[o] and there is no unrighteousness in him. ¹⁹Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps^[p] the law! Why do you want^[q] to kill me?”

²⁰The crowd^[r] answered, “You’re possessed by a demon!^[s] Who is trying to kill you?”^[t] ²¹Jesus replied,^[u] “I performed one miracle^[v] and you are all amazed.^[w] ²²However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision^[x] (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child^[y] on the Sabbath. ²³But if a male child^[z] is circumcised^[aa] on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken,^[ab] why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well^[ac] on the Sabbath? ²⁴Do not judge according to external appearance,^[ad] but judge with proper^[ae] judgment.”

Questions About Jesus’ Identity

²⁵Then some of the residents of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man^[af] they are trying^[ag] to kill? ²⁶Yet here he is, speaking publicly,^[ah] and they are saying nothing to him.^[ai] Do the ruling authorities^[aj] really know that this man^[ak] is the Christ?^[al] ²⁷But we know where this man^[am] comes from.^[an] Whenever the Christ^[ao] comes, no one will know where he comes from.”^[ap]

²⁸Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts,^[aq] cried out,^[ar] “You both know me and know where I come from!^[as] And I have not come on my own initiative,^[at] but the one who sent me^[au] is true. You do not know him,^[av] ²⁹but^[aw] I know him, because I have come from him^[ax] and he^[ay] sent me.”

³⁰So then they tried to seize Jesus,^[az] but no one laid a hand on him, because his time^[ba] had not yet come. ³¹Yet many of the crowd^[bb] believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ^[bc] comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?”^[bd]

Footnotes

John 7:14 tn Grk “to the temple.”
John 7:14 tn Or “started teaching.” An ingressive sense for the imperfect verb (“began to teach” or “started teaching”) fits well here, since the context implies that Jesus did not start his teaching at the beginning of the festival, but began when it was about half over.
John 7:15 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.
John 7:15 tn Or “began to be astonished.” This imperfect verb could also be translated ingressively (“began to be astonished”), but for English stylistic reasons it is rendered as a simple past.
John 7:15 tn Grk “How does this man know learning since he has not been taught?” The implication here is not that Jesus never went to school (in all probability he did attend a local synagogue school while a youth), but that he was not the disciple of a particular rabbi and had not had formal or advanced instruction under a recognized rabbi (compare Acts 4:13 where a similar charge is made against Peter and John; see also Paul’s comment in Acts 22:3).sn He has never had formal instruction. Ironically when the Jewish leaders came face-to-face with the Word become flesh—the preexistent Logos, creator of the universe and divine Wisdom personified—they treated him as an untaught, unlearned person, without the formal qualifications to be a teacher.
John 7:16 tn Grk “So Jesus answered and said to them.”
John 7:16 tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.
John 7:17 tn Grk “his will.”
John 7:17 tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”
John 7:18 tn Grk “who speaks from himself.”
John 7:18 tn Or “seeks.”
John 7:18 tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
John 7:18 tn Or “seeks.”
John 7:18 tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
John 7:18 tn Or “is truthful”; Grk “is true.”
John 7:19 tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”
John 7:19 tn Grk “seek.”
John 7:20 tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities mentioned in 7:15).
John 7:20 tn Grk “You have a demon!”
John 7:20 tn Grk “Who is seeking to kill you?”sn Who is trying to kill you? Many of the crowd (if they had come in from surrounding regions for the feast) probably were ignorant of any plot. The plot was on the part of the Jewish leaders. Note how carefully John distinguishes between the leadership and the general populace in their respective responses to Jesus.
John 7:21 tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to them.”
John 7:21 tn Grk “I did one deed.”
John 7:21 sn The “one miracle” that caused them all to be amazed was the last previous public miracle in Jerusalem recorded by the author, the healing of the paralyzed man in John 5:1-9 on the Sabbath. (The synoptic gospels record other Sabbath healings, but John does not mention them.)
John 7:22 tn Grk “gave you circumcision.”
John 7:22 tn Grk “a man.” While the text literally reads “circumcise a man” in actual fact the practice of circumcising male infants on the eighth day after birth (see Phil 3:5) is primarily what is in view here.
John 7:23 tn Grk “a man.” See the note on “male child” in the previous verse.
John 7:23 tn Grk “receives circumcision.”
John 7:23 sn If a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken. The Rabbis counted 248 parts to a man’s body. In the Talmud (b. Yoma 85b) R. Eleazar ben Azariah (ca. a.d. 100) states: “If circumcision, which attaches to one only of the 248 members of the human body, suspends the Sabbath, how much more shall the saving of the whole body suspend the Sabbath?” So absolutely binding did rabbinic Judaism regard the command of Lev 12:3 to circumcise on the eighth day, that in the Mishnah m. Shabbat 18.3; 19.1, 2; and m. Nedarim 3.11 all hold that the command to circumcise overrides the command to observe the Sabbath.
John 7:23 tn Or “made an entire man well.”
John 7:24 tn Or “based on sight.”
John 7:24 tn Or “honest”; Grk “righteous.”
John 7:25 tn Grk “Is it not this one.”
John 7:25 tn Grk “seeking.”
John 7:26 tn Or “speaking openly.”
John 7:26 sn They are saying nothing to him. Some people who had heard Jesus were so impressed with his teaching that they began to infer from the inactivity of the opposing Jewish leaders a tacit acknowledgment of Jesus’ claims.
John 7:26 tn Grk “the rulers.” In context this refers to the Jewish leaders.
John 7:26 tn Grk “this one.”
John 7:26 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
John 7:27 tn Grk “this one.”
John 7:27 sn We know where this man comes from. The author apparently did not consider this objection worth answering. The true facts about Jesus’ origins were readily available for any reader who didn’t know already. Here is an instance where the author assumes knowledge about Jesus that is independent from the material he records.
John 7:27 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
John 7:27 sn The view of these people regarding the Messiah that no one will know where he comes from reflects the idea that the origin of the Messiah is a mystery. In the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 97a) Rabbi Zera taught: “Three come unawares: Messiah, a found article, and a scorpion.” Apparently OT prophetic passages like Mal 3:1 and Dan 9:25 were interpreted by some as indicating a sudden appearance of Messiah. It appears that this was not a universal view: The scribes summoned by Herod at the coming of the Magi in Matt 2 knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. It is important to remember that Jewish messianic expectations in the early 1st century were not monolithic.
John 7:28 tn Grk “the temple.”
John 7:28 tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”
John 7:28 sn You both know me and know where I come from! Jesus’ response while teaching in the temple is difficult—it appears to concede too much understanding to his opponents. It is best to take the words as irony: “So you know me and know where I am from, do you?” On the physical, literal level, they did know where he was from: Nazareth of Galilee (at least they thought they knew). But on another deeper (spiritual) level, they did not: He came from heaven, from the Father. Jesus insisted that he has not come on his own initiative (cf. 5:37), but at the bidding of the Father who sent him.
John 7:28 tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”
John 7:28 tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.
John 7:28 tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”
John 7:29 tn Although the conjunction “but” is not in the Greek text, the contrast is implied (an omitted conjunction is called asyndeton).
John 7:29 tn The preposition παρά (para) followed by the genitive has the local sense preserved and can be used of one person sending another. This does not necessarily imply origin in essence or eternal generation.
John 7:29 tn Grk “and that one.”
John 7:30 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.sn Here the response is on the part of the crowd, who tried to seize Jesus. This is apparently distinct from the attempted arrest by the authorities mentioned in 7:32.
John 7:30 tn Grk “his hour.”
John 7:31 tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities).
John 7:31 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
John 7:31 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “will he?”).

John 7:37-39

Teaching About the Spirit

³⁷On the last day of the feast, the greatest day,^[a] Jesus stood up and shouted out,^[b] “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and ³⁸let the one who believes in me drink.^[c] Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him^[d] will flow rivers of living water.’”^[e] 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,^[f] because Jesus was not yet glorified.)^[g]

Footnotes

John 7:37 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.
John 7:37 tn Grk “Jesus stood up and cried out, saying.”
John 7:38 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 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.” Other passages which have been suggested are Prov 4:23 and 5:15; Isa 44:3 and 55:1; Ezek 47:1 ff.; Joel 3:18; and Zech 13:1 and 14:8. The meaning in this case is that when anyone comes to believe in Jesus the scriptures referring to the activity of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life are fulfilled. “When the believer comes to Christ and drinks he not only slakes his thirst but receives such an abundant supply that veritable rivers flow from him” (L. Morris, John [NICNT], 424-25). In other words, with this view, the believer himself becomes the source of the living water. This is the traditional understanding of the passage, often called the “Eastern interpretation” following Origen, Athanasius, and the Greek Fathers. It is supported by such modern scholars as Barrett, Behm, Bernard, Cadman, Carson, R. H. Lightfoot, Lindars, Michaelis, Morris, Odeberg, Schlatter, Schweizer, C. H. Turner, M. M. B. Turner, Westcott, and Zahn. In addition it is represented by the following Greek texts and translations: KJV, RSV, NASB, NA²⁸, and UBS⁵. D. A. Carson, John, 322-29, has a thorough discussion of the issues and evidence although he opts for the previous interpretation. There is another interpretation possible, however, called the “Western interpretation” because of patristic support by Justin, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Irenaeus. Modern scholars who favor this view are Abbott, Beasley-Murray, Bishop, Boismard, Braun, Brown, Bullinger, Bultmann, Burney, Dodd, Dunn, Guilding, R. Harris, Hoskyns, Jeremias, Loisy, D. M. Stanley, Thüsing, N. Turner, and Zerwick. This view is represented by the translation in the RSV margin and by the NEB. It is also sometimes called the “christological interpretation” because it makes Jesus himself the source of the living water in v. 38, by punctuating as follows: (37b) ἐάν τις διψᾷ ἐρχέσθω πρός με, καὶ πινέτω (38) ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ. Καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ γραφή, ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος. Three crucial questions are involved in the solution of this problem: (1) punctuation; (2) determining the antecedent of αὐτοῦ (autou); and (3) the source of the scripture quotation. With regard to (1) P⁶⁶ does place a full stop after πινέτω (pinetō), but this may be theologically motivated and could have been added later. Grammatical and stylistic arguments are inconclusive. More important is (2) the determination of the antecedent of αὐτοῦ. Can any other Johannine parallels be found which make the believer the source of the living water? John 4:14 is often mentioned in this regard, but unlike 4:14 the water here becomes a source for others also. Neither does 14:12 provide a parallel. Furthermore, such an interpretation becomes even more problematic in light of the explanation given in v. 39 that the water refers to the Holy Spirit, since it is extremely difficult to see the individual believer becoming the ‘source’ of the Spirit for others. On the other hand, the Gospel of John repeatedly places Jesus himself in this role as source of the living water: 4:10, of course, for the water itself, but according to 20:22 Jesus provides the Spirit (cf. 14:16). Furthermore, the symbolism of 19:34 is difficult to explain as anything other than a deliberate allusion to what is predicted here. This also explains why the Spirit cannot come to the disciples unless Jesus “departs” (16:7). As to (3) the source of the scripture quotation, M. E. Boismard has argued that John is using a targumic rendering of Ps 78:15-16 which describes the water brought forth from the rock in the wilderness by Moses (“Les citations targumiques dans le quatrième évangile,” RB 66 [1959]: 374-78). The frequency of Exodus motifs in the Fourth Gospel (paschal lamb, bronze serpent, manna from heaven) leads quite naturally to the supposition that the author is here drawing on the account of Moses striking the rock in the wilderness to bring forth water (Num 20:8 ff.). That such imagery was readily identified with Jesus in the early church is demonstrated by Paul’s understanding of the event in 1 Cor 10:4. Jesus is the Rock from which the living water—the Spirit—will flow. Carson (see note above) discusses this imagery although he favors the traditional or “Eastern” interpretation. In summary, the latter or “Western” interpretation is to be preferred.
John 7:38 tn Or “out of the innermost part of his person”; Grk “out of his belly.”
John 7:38 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.
John 7:39 tn Grk “for the Spirit was not yet.” Although only B and a handful of other NT mss supply the participle δεδομένον (dedomenon), this is followed in the translation to avoid misunderstanding by the modern English reader that prior to this time the Spirit did not exist. John’s phrase is expressed from a human standpoint and has nothing to do with the preexistence of the third Person of the Godhead. The meaning is that the era of the Holy Spirit had not yet arrived; the Spirit was not as yet at work in a way he later would be because Jesus had not yet returned to his Father. Cf. also Acts 19:2.
John 7:39 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

New English Translation (NET)

Prev Day

Top

Next Day

Use the calendar to view readings from this devotional.

Log in to read this devotional and:

Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 81[a]

For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] by Asaph.

Footnotes

The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors

The Lord Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery

Footnotes

Teaching in the Temple

Questions About Jesus’ Identity

Footnotes

Teaching About the Spirit

Footnotes

Psalm 81^[a]

For the music director, according to the gittith style;^[b] by Asaph.