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NASB | John 7:38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 7:38 "He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, 'From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.'" [Is 58:11; John 4:14] |
Subject: When does the Baptism occur? |
Bible Note: Greetings Ray! It has been awhile since we have studied verses together, and I thank you for your response! John 7:37-38 is an interesting challenge here, and we can take a look at this verse with our "capitalization conscious" translations.. :-) As you know, the NASB does not capitalize "his" in John 7:38, but neither does the NKJV or the Amplified. I agree with the translators that 'his' should not be capitalized in John 7:38, and here is my reasoning behind it: When John speaks of a person's 'innermost being', a literal translation of this phrase could be 'out of his belly.' So could we conclude that the direct object of the phrase 'out of his belly' is the Holy Spirit? I believe that the direct object is "He who believes in Me..", not the Holy Spirit. So from the 'person' who believes in Christ will flow rivers of living water, and I believe that 'living water' describes the Holy Spirit. But I also agree with the translators (NAS, NKJ, Amplified) when they do not capitalize 'living water' because "living water" is not a "name" for the Holy Spirit, it is only describing the Holy Spirit. However, in John's explanation in verse 39, I believe that he is speaking of the Holy Spirit, and that "Spirit" should be capitalized, since in my view, John is clearly referencing the Holy Spirit and His coming after Jesus had ascended and was glorified. And I believe that the NASB, NKJV, and Amplified all show capitalization for Spirit in this verse. I guess I am a little "backwards" when it comes to my understanding of capitalization, since I have an almost totally opposite take on the capitalization in these verses than you do, my friend, but that is entirely appropriate! It is not entirely necessary for us to take the same side in capitalization.. :-) May the Lord bless you in your studies, Ray! Makarios |