In the last day, &c. Namely, the eighth day, when, according to the institution of Moses, (Leviticus 23:34; Leviticus 23:36; Numbers 29:35, where see the notes,) there was to be a holy convocation, or general and solemn assembly of the people, attended with some extraordinary sacrifices. This day is called the great day of the feast, on account of the high esteem in which the nation of the Jews held it, as a day kept holy solely on their own account. On the seven preceding days they held that sacrifices were offered, not so much for themselves as for the whole world; in the course of them, seventy bullocks being sacrificed for the seventy nations of the world: but the sacrifices of this day they considered as being offered for Israel alone, on whose behalf only several solemnities of the day were observed. Tremellius, on this text, observes, from the Talmud, that the Jews used on this day to march round the altar seven times, singing hosannas, with palm branches in their hands, in memory of the Israelites, in the days of Joshua, marching round Jericho seven times on the day of its fall. He informs us also, from the same authority, that on this day they drew water with great joy from the fountain or brook of Siloam, at the foot of mount Zion, and carried it to the priests in the temple, with the sound of the trumpet and great rejoicing, where they poured out part of it, mingled with wine, as a drink-offering, which they accompanied with prayers to God for rain. For, as at the passover, they offered an omer, to obtain from God his blessing upon the harvest; at pentecost, their first-fruits, to request his blessing on the fruits of the trees; so, at the feast of the tabernacles, they offered water, as a token of their desire for a plentiful rain to fall at the following seed-time; the people, in the mean time, singing, With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation, Isaiah 12:3. Part of the water they drank, with loud acclamations, in commemoration of the mercy shown to their fathers, who were relieved by the miracle of a great stream of water made to gush out of a rock, when the nation was ready to die with thirst, in a sandy desert, where there was neither river nor spring.
The Jewish writers pretend that Haggai and Zechariah were the institutors of these rites, and that in performing them they acted according to the directions of these prophets. Be this as it may, it is probable, as Dr. Lightfoot has shown, from some Jewish writers, that among other things intended to be expressed hereby, the ceremony was also meant to be emblematical of their desire and expectation of the coming of the Messiah, and of the effusion of the Holy Spirit under his dispensation. But whatever might be the original intention of these ceremonies, we learn from the same writer (Tremellius) that the Jews had miserably perverted it, by the addition of their own magical ceremonies. Christ, therefore, probably intended to lead them back to the principal design and meaning of the institution, and to draw their minds from the terrestrial water, and all earthly and temporal things, to the water of life, and to himself, the chief scope of this feast and of all other ceremonies. For, as it was his custom to raise moral and spiritual instructions from sensible occurrences, he took this opportunity of inviting, in the most solemn and affectionate manner, all who were in pursuit, whether of knowledge, holiness, or happiness, to come unto him, and drink, in allusion to the rite they were then employed about. Jesus stood Probably on some eminence, where he could be seen and heard by the surrounding multitude, as the priest did who poured out the water mentioned above; and cried “Intentâ voce, quo magis attentionem excitaret,” (Grotius,) with a loud voice, that he might excite the greater attention. If any man thirst That is, sincerely and earnestly desire true happiness, and long for the blessings promised under the administration of the Messiah; let him come unto me By faith. Let him believe that I am able and willing to satisfy his most ardent and enlarged desires, and rely on me to do it; and drink That is, he shall drink; he shall receive the blessings for which he thirsts; for I am most ready freely to communicate every needful blessing, and particularly those supplies of the Spirit, which you profess sincerely and earnestly to desire. Compare Isaiah 55:1.