Waters that Witness: How the Bible’s Rivers Help Convey its Message

Abstract

The rivers mentioned in the Bible are often significant. This narrative-exegetical study focuses on the Mesopotamian rivers, along with the Nile and the Jordan, with the latter leading from the Hebrew Bible on into the New Testament. The paper explores the ways in which these rivers convey divine revelation and mission, asking what the rivers say in expressing that revelation and also what the rivers do as part of its drama. A rich mixture of themes emerge: enabling life and reminding of loss; the nature of power, hubris and vulnerability; transition into new beginnings through crossing the rivers and through washing in them; and ultimately hope for a renewed creation through the flow of life-giving divine presence. In a variety of ways - symbolic, instrumental, sacramental and participatory – the rivers speak and act as partners with their creator.