John 7:38 – The non-quote
Here we have a ‘mystery quote’ at John 7:38 that nobody can seem to find.
In most translations, Jesus says:
‘as the Scripture says…’
Then it follows with words about waters flowing from someone. Yet nobody can find any scripture with that wording! What’s going on?
The answer is very simple. Jesus was not quoting a single verse (as he does many times elsewhere). This time, he was summarizing what many scriptures say.
There are multiple verses in prophecy that speak of water as being like God’s Spirit or the actions of His Spirit (e.g. Isaiah 44:3), water healing (e.g. Isaiah 55:1), and one even states that believers will be like springs of figurative ‘water’ (Isaiah 58:11).
Therefore, the most likely explanation is that the Greek manuscripts suffered a copyist error, and it should read:
‘as the Scriptures say…’
Indeed, the that’s what the Aramaic version of John says: scriptures (plural).