Ἡ κοιλία of the temple? Jn 7:38 revisited in the light of 1Kgs

Abstract

For many years biblical scholars have been trying to answer the question of what “Scripture” is fulfilled in the Jesus’ words in Jn 7:38. Two dominant interpretative trends – christological and anthropological – are often juxtaposed as complementary. The aim of this article, based on the intertextual approach, is to show another point of reference – the description of the first temple in Jerusalem in 1Kgs 6–7, which contains an unknown architectural element rendered by the Hebrew word בֶ טֶןּּ , simi-lar in meaning to κοιλία from Jn 7:38 – as well as to analyze both the christological and anthropological aspects of showing the temple as a human body and the human body as a temple, with the particular emphasis on the symbolism of flowing water in the context of the (new) birth.