Oct 6, 2025
The NRSV translates John 7:38, “Out of
the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” Behind
that stand entangled questions of the punctuation of the Greek
sentences (punctuation is lacking in the earliest manuscripts), the
meaning of the word κοιλία (koilia), and whose
koilia is in mind. Another translation could be, “Out of
Jesus’ womb flow rivers of living water,” which fits nicely with
John’s wider context. Dr. Jennifer McNeel is a NT professor at St.
Mary’s Ecumenical Institute in Baltimore, MD. She also teaches at
United Lutheran Seminary and is active in leading church retreats.
She has authored
Paul as Infant and Nursing Mother: Metaphor, Rhetoric, and Identity
in 1 Thessalonians 2:5-8 and
Under Her Wings: Mothers and Motherhood in the New
Testament.
Check out related programs at Wheaton College:
B.A. in Classical Languages (Greek, Latin,
Hebrew): https://bit.ly/489nuws
M.A. in Biblical Exegesis: https://bit.ly/3KurwWj