The Greek in John 7:38 that is typically translated in English as “out of heart (or: “innermost”) shall flow rivers of living water” is translated by the English translations by Ruden (2021) and Pakaluk (2021) as “from his belly rivers of flowing water are going to run” (Ruden) and “rivers of flowing water will flow out from his belly” (Pakaluk).
Ruden explains her choice (p. 285): “The wordplay and symbolism involve the running or ‘living’ water of baptism, and possibly also the fluid that runs (here, literally) ‘from his abdominal cavity’ from the spear puncture at the crucifixion (John 19:34). There are several Hebrew Bible passages echoed here.”
Pakaluk says (p. 96): “It seems that John understands this language to be foreshadowing the pouring out of water, along with blood, from the lanced side of Christ on the cross, which John highlights (19:34) and which is understood in the tradition to represent the birth of the Church. It is indeed the language of birth.”
The Greek and Ge’ez that is translated “scripture” or “scriptures” in English is translated as “God’s word which people wrote” in Guerrero Amuzgo (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125), “paper writings” in Copainalá Zoque (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), “writing that one believes” in Cherokee (putting the focus on the ones who interact with them rather the scriptures themselves) (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 101), and Toposa as “carved material” (source: Schröder 2026, p. 104).
Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:38:
Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: The one who believes in me will have like a spring in his heart. And much good water will come forth. Thus it is written in the Word of God.”
Ojitlán Chinantec: “When one believes in me, it is as you might say, unfailing springs of water come up in his heart, according to the writings.”
Aguaruna: “If you believe in me, in your heart, life will come bubbling out, like a stream coming out bubbles. God’s Word which has been written says it will be like that.”
Shipibo-Conibo: “. . . Out of you (pl.) shall flow like a mountain stream, water by which to live.”
Yatzachi Zapotec: “I will do like the Word of God which is written says, so that you who trust in me will love other people and you will help them to receive eternal life, like rivers cause the earth that is at the side of them to grow everything.” (Source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Uma: “Like is written in the Holy Book: whoever believes in me, from their hearts flows much living water.’ ["living water" in Uma means a spring, so this could mean "many springs" or "much spring water"]” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Because it is written in the holy-book about the person who believes in me, the holy-book says, ‘Figuratively there will be waters/rivers springing/welling up from inside his liver, water which makes alive.’ ‘” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because,’ said Jesus, ‘according to the written word of God, if there is anyone who believes in me, from his breath will flow water which is able to give life forever.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because there is that which God caused-to-be-written that says, ‘Whoever believes in me, there will be in him that which gives life which will be like water that flows-out from a spring continually.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Because this is the meaning of the word/speech contained in that writing which is the word of God. Whoever believes-in/obeys and trusts-in/relies-on me, there will spring what gives true life, coming from inside him, like the springing of water.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “He who believes in me, there will be inside him as though water was springing up which gives the new life. Because thus says the Holy Book.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being discussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
The last part of verse 37 and all of verse 38 present translational problems growing out of alternative possibilities of exegesis and punctuation. A literal translation of this passage will show some of the problems: “If anyone thirsts let him come to me and let him drink (38) the one believing in me as the scripture says rivers will pour out from his stomach of living water.” Basically, the possibilities are two, though these two alternatives offer various combinations within themselves.
1. A major stop (a period or a semicolon) may be placed at the end of verse 37. It will give the meaning that the one who is thirsty and comes to Jesus to drink is the one to whom the scripture refers, that is, the one from whom streams of life-giving water will pour out. This exegesis is evidently preferred by most translators. In its support is the observation that the invitation to drink is more naturally offered to whoever is thirsty than to whoever believes in me. Moreover, after the thirsty man has come and drunk, he can then be spoken of as the believer from whom streams of life-giving water will pour out.
2. Alternative translations are possible if one places a comma, or no punctuation at all, at the end of verse 37, and puts a major stop after “the one believing in me.” This exegesis is followed by Jerusalem Bible:
“If any man is thirsty, let him come to me!
Let the man come and drink who believes in me!”
New American Bible also followed this exegesis:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me;
let him drink (38) who believes in me.”
Those who argue in support of this exegesis see here a chiastic arrangement, in which the first half of the first line is equivalent to the second half of the second line, while the first half of the second line is parallel to the second half of the first line. That is, “If any man is thirsty” is taken to be parallel to “whoever believes in me,” while “let him come to me” is considered parallel to “let the man come and drink.” However, this parallelism is not perfect; in fact, the first alternative makes a much simpler and more easily recognized parallelism. That is, whoever is thirsty should come to me and drink is parallel with whoever believes in me, streams of living water will pour out from his heart. According to this interpretation, the one who is thirsty and drinks becomes the source of living water for others, so that the second line takes up the first and expands it.
The problem of translation is further complicated by the phrase as the scripture says, since no precise quotation from scripture is given here, and commentators are not agreed as to what passage or passages may be alluded to. Accordingly, the words whoever believes in me may be taken as a part of the scripture quotation, or they may be understood as being outside the quotation.
Those who accept the second alternative naturally exclude these words form the scripture quotation. Those who accept the first have the choice: either to include or to exclude these words. Good News Translation included them (whoever believes in me) as a part of the scripture quotation; that is, As the scripture says, “Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will pour out from his heart.” But the translation could also read, “Whoever believes in me, as the scripture says, ‘Streams of living water will pour out from his heart.’ ” The alternative followed by Good News Translation is more natural. It is also the one generally followed by translators and commentators who accept the first alternative discussed above.
As noted in other passages, it is not possible in some languages to say the scripture says, for one cannot speak of “writings” as “speaking.” This phrase may be rendered as “as one may read in the writings” or “in accordance with the words of the writings.”
The phrase living water means “life-giving water.”
Some commentators take the phrase from his heart as a Christological reference. That is, since these words are taken as a quotation, they understand these words as a reference to Jesus, from whom streams of living water pour out for the believer. The basis for this viewpoint is that throughout John’s Gospel Jesus is the source of living water and of life in general. However, it seems more probable that in this particular context the believer is the source of life-giving water. Once a man has come to Jesus to drink, he himself becomes the source of life-giving water for others. This also is a more natural reading of the grammar of the Greek text. If the receptor language requires the translation to be explicit, it is suggested that the reference be to the believer. If, however, the receptor language does not require the translation to be explicit, a third person reference (his heart) may be used, thus allowing either interpretation. However, the best solution may be to place one interpretation in the text and indicate the possibility of the other in a marginal note.
From his heart is literally “from his stomach.” Some translators render it literally. Others translate as Good News Translation does. Some have “from his body” and others “from within him.” In support of Good News Translation is the observation that in Hebrew thought the “stomach” was often considered the seat of emotions, but for English speakers the “heart” symbolically has that function. Others point out that the Hebrew word “stomach” is restricted to passages where strong emotions are involved, and so they believe that heart is not an adequate translation here. However, in the present context it seems doubtful that “stomach” has an emotive connotation. Since most commentators agree that there is a tie between this verse and 19.34, where blood and water poured from Jesus’ side, a more general phrase, such as “from within him,” would seem to be the best rendering.
The order of elements in the quotation ‘Whoever believes in me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart’ is awkward in English. The introductory phrase Whoever believes in me is an element which should be in focus, but this arrangement can be misleading, especially if it is translated literally into another language. It may be more satisfactory to say “Streams of life-giving water will pour out from the one who believes in me” or “… from anyone who believes in me.”
As suggested above, streams of life-giving water may be rendered “streams with water which causes life” or “… causes people to really live.”
Since in some languages the idea of a stream flowing from a source would indicate a “spring,” it may be more satisfactory to say “springs of water which give life.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Whoever believes in Me: This refers to anyone and everyone who believes on Jesus Christ. For example:
If anyone believes in me (New Century Version)
believes in Me: This phrase includes the idea of believing the facts about who Jesus was and what he did. But it also includes the idea of trusting Jesus instead of trusting oneself or someone else. Both ideas are very closely related. If someone believes the facts about Jesus, it should result in trusting him. See how you translated similar phrases in 1:12b, 7:5, and 7:31a. Here are other ways to translate this idea:
Have faith in me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
trusts in me
7:38b
as the Scripture has said: This clause probably refers to Isaiah 58:11, which says, “You will be like…a spring whose waters never fail” (New International Version). But it is not an exact quotation, and several OT passages talk about God giving water to his people. Those passages include Ezekiel 47:1–12 and Zechariah 14:8.
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
As the scripture says (Good News Translation)
-or-
according to God’s written word
7:38c
Streams of living water will flow from within him: This is a further development of the metaphor in 7:37c. Refer to the story of the woman at the well, 4:10–15, to see how Christ used this metaphor earlier. Here, as there, it refers to the Holy Spirit as the one who brings true and plentiful life. It is good to keep the metaphor because Scripture uses it in other places.
Here are other ways to translate this sentence:
Rivers of living water will flow from his heart. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
You will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
in his heart will be ⌊that which gives life which will be like⌋ water that flows from a spring
Streams of living water will flow: This expression indicates that the living water will flow and be plentiful. In some languages it may be natural to leave the idea of Streams implicit. Instead, you can indicate that the water is plentiful in the verb flow or in an adjective. For example:
shall flow/rush plentiful life-giving water
-or-
water flowing (Contemporary English Version)
Streams of living water: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as living in this context means “life-giving,” something that gives life. See also 4:14c and the notes there, and the note on living water at 4:10d. Here is another way to translate this phrase:
streams of life-giving water (Good News Translation)
from within him: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as from within him is more literally “out of his stomach.” The pronoun “his” in the Greek probably refers to whoever believes in Jesus (7:38a). The New International Version uses a plural pronoun here because there are many who believe in Jesus. However, the Greek text has a singular pronoun to refer to “the one believing in me.” The Berean Standard Bible, like nearly all English translations, uses a singular pronoun.
The most probable Scripture that this refers to is Isaiah 58:11. There the pronoun is “you” (“You will be like…a spring”). See the previous note at 7:38b.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
From his heart (New Jerusalem Bible)
within him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as within him is more literally “his stomach.” At that time, people saw the stomach as the center of one’s feelings and desires. Today, most English speakers see the heart that way, so some English translations translated the phrase as “his heart.” Other English translations just refer to inside a person without saying a specific body part. For example:
there will flow what gives true life, coming from inside him, like a spring of water
-or-
you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you (Contemporary English Version)
Translate this word in a way that is natural in your language. You may mention a specific body part that people see as the center or source of feelings and desires. Or you may just refer to the water coming from inside a person.
General Comment on 7:38a–c
This verse can be difficult to understand because the phrase “as the Scripture has said” interrupts the flow of the sentence. It separates the subject (“Whoever believes in me”) from what Jesus said about him. It may be clearer to change the order of the sentence. For example:
38b Scripture says this about 38c the one who believes in me. 38a ‘Rivers of water that give life will flow from his heart.’
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