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Selected Verse: John 4:14 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Joh 4:14	King James	But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The water that I shall give him - Jesus here refers, without doubt, to his own teaching, his "grace," his "spirit," and to the benefits which come into the soul that embraces his gospel. It is a striking image, and especially in Eastern countries, where there are vast deserts, and often a great want of water. The soul by nature is like such a desert, or like a traveler wandering through such a desert. It is thirsting for happiness, and seeking it everywhere, and finds it not. It looks in all directions and tries all objects, but in vain. Nothing meets its desires. Though a sinner seeks for joy in wealth and pleasures, yet he is not satisfied. He still thirsts for more, and seeks still for happiness in some new enjoyment. To such a weary and unsatisfied sinner the grace of Christ is "as cold waters to a thirsty soul." Shall never thirst - He shall be "satisfied" with this, and will not have a sense of want, a distressing feeling that it is not adapted to him. He who drinks this will not wish to seek for happiness in other objects. "Satisfied" with the grace of Christ, he will not desire the pleasures and amusements of this world. And this will be forever - in this world and the world to come. "Whosoever" drinketh of this all who partake of the gospel - shall be "forever" satisfied with its pure and rich joys. Shall be in him - The grace of Christ shall be in his heart; or the principles of religion shall abide with him. A well of water - There shall be a constant supply, an unfailing fountain; or religion shall live constantly with him. Springing up - This is a beautiful image, It shall bubble or spring up like a fountain. It is not like a stagnant pool - not like a deep well, but like an ever-living fountain, that flows at all seasons of the year, in heat and cold, and in all external circumstances of weather, whether foul or fair, wet or dry. So religion always lives; and, amid all changes of external circumstances - in heat and cold, hunger and thirst, prosperity and adversity, life, persecution, contempt, or death - it still lives on, and refreshes and cheers the soul. Into everlasting life - It is not temporary, like the supply of our natural wants; it is not changing in its nature; it is not like a natural fountain or spring of water, to play a While and then die away, as all natural springs will at the end of the world. It is eternal in its nature and supply, and will continue to live on forever. We may learn here: 1. that the Christian has a never-failing source of consolation adapted to all times and circumstances. 2. that religion has its seat in the heart, and that it should constantly live there. 3. that it sheds its blessings on a world of sin, and is manifest by a continual life of piety, like a constant flowing spring. 4. that its end is everlasting life. It will continue forever; and "whosoever drinks of this shall never thirst, but his piety shall be in his heart a pure fountain "springing up to eternal joy."

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

The water that I shall give him - Jesus here refers, without doubt, to his own teaching, his "grace," his "spirit," and to the benefits which come into the soul that embraces his gospel. It is a striking image, and especially in Eastern countries, where there are vast deserts, and often a great want of water. The soul by nature is like such a desert, or like a traveler wandering through such a desert. It is thirsting for happiness, and seeking it everywhere, and finds it not. It looks in all directions and tries all objects, but in vain. Nothing meets its desires. Though a sinner seeks for joy in wealth and pleasures, yet he is not satisfied. He still thirsts for more, and seeks still for happiness in some new enjoyment. To such a weary and unsatisfied sinner the grace of Christ is "as cold waters to a thirsty soul."

Shall never thirst - He shall be "satisfied" with this, and will not have a sense of want, a distressing feeling that it is not adapted to him. He who drinks this will not wish to seek for happiness in other objects. "Satisfied" with the grace of Christ, he will not desire the pleasures and amusements of this world. And this will be forever - in this world and the world to come. "Whosoever" drinketh of this all who partake of the gospel - shall be "forever" satisfied with its pure and rich joys.

Shall be in him - The grace of Christ shall be in his heart; or the principles of religion shall abide with him.

A well of water - There shall be a constant supply, an unfailing fountain; or religion shall live constantly with him.

Springing up - This is a beautiful image, It shall bubble or spring up like a fountain. It is not like a stagnant pool - not like a deep well, but like an ever-living fountain, that flows at all seasons of the year, in heat and cold, and in all external circumstances of weather, whether foul or fair, wet or dry. So religion always lives; and, amid all changes of external circumstances - in heat and cold, hunger and thirst, prosperity and adversity, life, persecution, contempt, or death - it still lives on, and refreshes and cheers the soul.

Into everlasting life - It is not temporary, like the supply of our natural wants; it is not changing in its nature; it is not like a natural fountain or spring of water, to play a While and then die away, as all natural springs will at the end of the world. It is eternal in its nature and supply, and will continue to live on forever. We may learn here:

1. that the Christian has a never-failing source of consolation adapted to all times and circumstances.

2. that religion has its seat in the heart, and that it should constantly live there.

3. that it sheds its blessings on a world of sin, and is manifest by a continual life of piety, like a constant flowing spring.

4. that its end is everlasting life. It will continue forever; and "whosoever drinks of this shall never thirst, but his piety shall be in his heart a pure fountain "springing up to eternal joy."

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]
Whosoever drinketh (ὃς δ' ἂν πίῃ) So Rev. The A.V. renders the two expressions in the same way, but there is a difference in the pronouns, indicated, though very vaguely, by every one that and whosoever, besides a more striking difference in the verb drinketh. In the former case, the article with the participle indicates something habitual; every one that drinks repeatedly, as men ordinarily do on the recurrence of their thirst. In Joh 4:14 the definite aorist tense expresses a single act - something done once for all. Literally, he who may have drunk. Shall never thirst (οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα) The double negative, οὐ μὴ, is a very strong mode of statement, equivalent to by no means, or in nowise. It must not be understood, however, that the reception of the divine life by a believer does away with all further desire. On the contrary, it generates new desires. The drinking of the living water is put as a single act, in order to indicate the divine principle of life as containing in itself alone the satisfaction of all holy desires as they successively arise; in contrast with human sources, which are soon exhausted, and drive one to other fountains. Holy desire, no matter how large or how varied it may become, will always seek and find its satisfaction in Christ, and in Christ only. Thirst is to be taken in the same sense in both clauses, as referring to that natural craving which the world cannot satisfy, and which is therefore ever restless. Drusius, a Flemish critic, cited by Trench ("Studies in the Gospels"), says: "He who drinks the water of wisdom thirsts and does not thirst. He thirsts, that is, he more and more desires that which he drinks. He does not thirst, because he is so filled that he desires no other drink." The strong contrast of this declaration of our Lord with pagan sentiment, is illustrated by the following passage from Plato: "Socrates: Let me request you to consider how far you would accept this as an account of the two lives of the temperate and intemperate: There are two men, both of whom have a number of casks; the one man has his casks sound and full, one of wine, another of honey, and a third of milk, besides others filled with other liquids, and the streams which fill them are few and scanty, and he can only obtain them with a great deal of toil and difficulty; but when his casks are once filled he has no need to feed them any more, and has no further trouble with them, or care about them. The other, in like manner, can procure streams, though not without difficulty, but his vessels are leaky and unsound, and night and day he is compelled to be filling them, and if he pauses for a moment he is in an agony of pain. Such are their respective lives: And now would you say that the life of the intemperate is happier than that of the temperate? Do I not convince you that the opposite is the truth? "Callicles: You do not convince me, Socrates, for the one who has filled himself has no longer any pleasure left; and this, as I was just now saying, is the life of a stone; he has neither joy nor sorrow after he is once filled; but the life of pleasure is the pouring in of the stream. "Socrates: And if the stream is always pouring in, must there not be a stream always running out, and holes large enough to admit of the discharge? "Callicles: Certainly. "Socrates: The life, then, of which you are now speaking is not that of a dead man, or of a stone, but of a cormorant; you mean that he is to be hungering and eating? "Callicles: Yes. "Socrates: And he is to be thirsting and drinking? "Callicles: Yes, that is what I mean; he is to have all his desires about him, and to be able to live happily in the gratification of them" ("Gorgias," 494). Compare Rev 7:16,Rev 7:17. Shall be (γενήσεται) Rev., better, shall become, expressing the ever-developing richness and fresh energy of the divine principle of life. In Him A supply having its fountain-head in the man's own being, and not in something outside himself. A well (πηγὴ) The Rev. retains well, where spring would have been more correct. Springing up (ἀλλπμένου) Leaping; thus agreeing with shall become. "The imperial philosopher of Rome uttered a great truth, but an imperfect one; saw much, but did not see all; did not see that this spring of water must be fed, and fed evermore, from the 'upper springs,' if it is not presently to fail, when he wrote: 'Look within; within is the fountain of good, and ever able to gush forth if you are ever digging'" (Plutarch, "On Virtue and Vice"). Unto everlasting life Christ in a believer is life. This life ever tends toward its divine source, and issues in eternal life. Come hither (ἔρχωμαι ἐνθάδε) The best texts read διέρχωμαι, the preposition διά having the force of through the intervening plain.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]

Whosoever drinketh (ὃς δ' ἂν πίῃ)

So Rev. The A.V. renders the two expressions in the same way, but there is a difference in the pronouns, indicated, though very vaguely, by every one that and whosoever, besides a more striking difference in the verb drinketh. In the former case, the article with the participle indicates something habitual; every one that drinks repeatedly, as men ordinarily do on the recurrence of their thirst. In Joh 4:14 the definite aorist tense expresses a single act - something done once for all. Literally, he who may have drunk.

Shall never thirst (οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα)

The double negative, οὐ μὴ, is a very strong mode of statement, equivalent to by no means, or in nowise. It must not be understood, however, that the reception of the divine life by a believer does away with all further desire. On the contrary, it generates new desires. The drinking of the living water is put as a single act, in order to indicate the divine principle of life as containing in itself alone the satisfaction of all holy desires as they successively arise; in contrast with human sources, which are soon exhausted, and drive one to other fountains. Holy desire, no matter how large or how varied it may become, will always seek and find its satisfaction in Christ, and in Christ only. Thirst is to be taken in the same sense in both clauses, as referring to that natural craving which the world cannot satisfy, and which is therefore ever restless. Drusius, a Flemish critic, cited by Trench ("Studies in the Gospels"), says: "He who drinks the water of wisdom thirsts and does not thirst. He thirsts, that is, he more and more desires that which he drinks. He does not thirst, because he is so filled that he desires no other drink." The strong contrast of this declaration of our Lord with pagan sentiment, is illustrated by the following passage from Plato:

"Socrates: Let me request you to consider how far you would accept this as an account of the two lives of the temperate and intemperate: There are two men, both of whom have a number of casks; the one man has his casks sound and full, one of wine, another of honey, and a third of milk, besides others filled with other liquids, and the streams which fill them are few and scanty, and he can only obtain them with a great deal of toil and difficulty; but when his casks are once filled he has no need to feed them any more, and has no further trouble with them, or care about them. The other, in like manner, can procure streams, though not without difficulty, but his vessels are leaky and unsound, and night and day he is compelled to be filling them, and if he pauses for a moment he is in an agony of pain. Such are their respective lives: And now would you say that the life of the intemperate is happier than that of the temperate? Do I not convince you that the opposite is the truth?

"Callicles: You do not convince me, Socrates, for the one who has filled himself has no longer any pleasure left; and this, as I was just now saying, is the life of a stone; he has neither joy nor sorrow after he is once filled; but the life of pleasure is the pouring in of the stream.

"Socrates: And if the stream is always pouring in, must there not be a stream always running out, and holes large enough to admit of the discharge?

"Callicles: Certainly.

"Socrates: The life, then, of which you are now speaking is not that of a dead man, or of a stone, but of a cormorant; you mean that he is to be hungering and eating?

"Callicles: Yes.

"Socrates: And he is to be thirsting and drinking?

"Callicles: Yes, that is what I mean; he is to have all his desires about him, and to be able to live happily in the gratification of them" ("Gorgias," 494). Compare Rev 7:16,Rev 7:17.

Shall be (γενήσεται)

Rev., better, shall become, expressing the ever-developing richness and fresh energy of the divine principle of life.

In Him

A supply having its fountain-head in the man's own being, and not in something outside himself.

A well (πηγὴ)

The Rev. retains well, where spring would have been more correct.

Springing up (ἀλλπμένου)

Leaping; thus agreeing with shall become. "The imperial philosopher of Rome uttered a great truth, but an imperfect one; saw much, but did not see all; did not see that this spring of water must be fed, and fed evermore, from the 'upper springs,' if it is not presently to fail, when he wrote: 'Look within; within is the fountain of good, and ever able to gush forth if you are ever digging'" (Plutarch, "On Virtue and Vice").

Unto everlasting life

Christ in a believer is life. This life ever tends toward its divine source, and issues in eternal life.

Come hither (ἔρχωμαι ἐνθάδε)

The best texts read διέρχωμαι, the preposition διά having the force of through the intervening plain.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Will never thirst - Will never (provided he continue to drink thereof) be miserable, dissatisfied, without refreshment. If ever that thirst returns, it will be the fault of the man, not the water. But the water that I shall give him - The spirit of faith working by love, shall become in him - An inward living principle, a fountain - Not barely a well, which is soon exhausted, springing up into everlasting life - Which is a confluence, or rather an ocean of streams arising from this fountain.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

Will never thirst - Will never (provided he continue to drink thereof) be miserable, dissatisfied, without refreshment. If ever that thirst returns, it will be the fault of the man, not the water. But the water that I shall give him - The spirit of faith working by love, shall become in him - An inward living principle, a fountain - Not barely a well, which is soon exhausted, springing up into everlasting life - Which is a confluence, or rather an ocean of streams arising from this fountain.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Springing up into everlasting life - On this account he can never thirst: - for how can he lack water who has in himself a living, eternal spring? By this water our Lord means also his doctrine, explaining and promising the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, which proceed from Jesus Christ their fountain, dwelling in a believing heart. There is no eternal life without the Spirit; no Spirit without Christ; and no Christ to give the Spirit, without dwelling in the heart: this his whole doctrine proclaims.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Springing up into everlasting life - On this account he can never thirst: - for how can he lack water who has in himself a living, eternal spring? By this water our Lord means also his doctrine, explaining and promising the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, which proceed from Jesus Christ their fountain, dwelling in a believing heart. There is no eternal life without the Spirit; no Spirit without Christ; and no Christ to give the Spirit, without dwelling in the heart: this his whole doctrine proclaims.

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