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John 7 · a question people ask

"He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water" (7:38). Which Scripture did Jesus mean?

In the text

John's Gospel doesn't say. Jesus names no book, prophet or passage, and the WEB prints no quotation marks inside his words here, so it doesn't mark any of them as quoted. The next verse says what he was speaking of: "But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive" (7:39). These notes don't name a passage for him.

The verses

“Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.” But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.”
John 7:37-39 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of John 7

John 7: If anyone is thirsty

Every seek, seeks and sought in John 7 is one Greek verb: "the Jews sought to kill him" (7:1), and Jesus says, "You will seek me and won’t find me" (7:34). And John's Gospel itself says what the "rivers of living water" (7:38) are about: "he said this about the Spirit" (7:39).

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Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions