He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. The words, "as the Scripture hath said," refer, of course, to the promise in the latter part of the verse-yet not so much to any particular passage as to the general strain of Messianic prophecy, as Isaiah 58:11; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:8; Ezekiel 47:1-12; in most of which passages the idea is that of waters issuing from beneath the Temple, to which our Lord compares Himself and those who believe in Him. The expression "out of his belly" means, out of his inner man, his soul, as in Proverbs 20:27. On the "rivers of living water," see the notes at John 4:13-14. There, however, the figure is "a fountain;" here it is "rivers." It refers primarily to the copiousness, but indirectly also to the diffusiveness, of this living water to the good of others.