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John 7:39

in John 7

He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.

KJV

(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

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This verse in John 7

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
But this spake he of the Spirit,.... These are the words of the evangelist, explaining the figurative expressions of Christ; showing, that by rivers of living water, he meant the Spirit in his gifts and graces; and which is the plain sense of the passages referred to by him, particularly Isa 44:3, and which, as before observed, the Jews supposed were intimated by their drawing and pouring water at the feast of tabernacles.

This site's exposition

the Holy Ghost was not yet given

John supplies his own inspired commentary on the saying just given, this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, removing any doubt about what the living water pictures. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given explains why the crowd could not yet grasp the full sense, the gift awaiting a specific hour still future to this scene. Because that Jesus was not yet glorified ties the Spirit's coming directly to the cross and resurrection, this Gospel's own theology of glory naming the cross itself as the hour of the Son's exaltation rather than mere humiliation.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Of the Spirit - Of the Holy Spirit, that should be sent down to attend their preaching and to convert sinners. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given - Was not given in such full and large measures as should be after Jesus had ascended to heaven. Certain measures of the influences of the Spirit had been always given in the conversion and sanctification of the ancient saints and prophets; but that abundant and full effusion which the apostles were permitted afterward to behold had not yet been given. See Acts 2; Act 10:44-

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

In Joh 16:7 the Holy Ghost is represented not only as the gift of Christ, but a gift the communication of which was dependent upon His own departure to the Father. Now as Christ was not yet gone, so the Holy Ghost was not yet given.

How the passage was read

On John 7:1-53

On John 7:1-53

The water ceremony He interrupted

“The Feast of Booths” is Tabernacles, in Hebrew Sukkot: the autumn week when Israel lived (and Jewish families still eat) in leafy shelters remembering the wilderness. In Temple times each morning of the feast a priest carried water in gold from the pool of Siloam up to the altar and poured it out, praying for the year's rain, while the crowds sang: the Mishnah calls it the Rejoicing at the Place of the Water-Drawing, and the Talmud says whoever never saw it “has never seen rejoicing in his life” (Sukkah 51a).

That is the scene on “the last day of the feast, the great day,” when Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink”: a claim staged inside the feast's own ceremony, at the moment all Jerusalem was thinking about water from God.

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Sources: Mishnah Sukkah 4:9 (the water-drawing rite) · Sukkah 51a (“has never seen rejoicing”)

The words behind it

21 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 59:21“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.59 worksJoel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.32 worksActs 2:17‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.16 worksJohn 16:7But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.15 worksJohn 14:12Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.15 worksActs 1:4And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss.11 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
John 20:22When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.10 worksJohn 17:1When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.10 worksJohn 14:16–17And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—8 worksActs 2:33Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.7 worksJohn 14:26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.7 worksIsaiah 32:15until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.6 worksActs 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.6 worksJohn 12:16At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.6 worksIsaiah 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.5 worksActs 2:38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.5 worksJohn 12:23But Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.5 worksRomans 8:9You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.5 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joel 2:28

    And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 39:29

      And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Acts 2:16–21

      No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

    • Isaiah 32:15

      until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.

    • Acts 2:39

      This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

    • Acts 2:2–4

      Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

  • Through

    Acts 2:17

    ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

    it leads to

    • Joel 2:28–32

      And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

    • Isaiah 44:3

      For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Titus 3:4–6

      But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

Where this verse is studied

About John

The Word Made Flesh — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
The Word Made Flesh — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
John: the study guide →Read John 7 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in John 7 →