ning, and remembered well. Now on the eighth day, when there was no water drawn, there seems a peculiar fitness in His crying, — " Come unto me and drink. The water of life that I give may be drawn, though the feast is over."
[Jesus stood and cried.] These words must mean that our Lord chose some high and prominent position, where He could " stand " and be seen and heard by many persons at once. If, as we may suppose, the worshippers at the feast of tabernacles were just turning away from the last of its ceremonies, one can easily imagine that our Lord "stood" in some commanding position close by the entrance of the temple. When it is said that "He cried," it means that He lifted up His voice in a load, and to Him unusual manner, in order to arrest attention, — like a herald making a public proclamation.
\lf any man thirst.. .come unto me and drink."] These words can have but one meaning. — They are a general invitation to all who are athirst about their souls, to come unto Christ in order to obtain relief. He declares Himself to be the fountain of life, — the reliever of man's spiritual wants, — the giver of satisfac- tion to weary consciences, — the remover and pardoner of sins. He recommends all who feel their sins and want pardon, to come unto Him, and promises that they shall at once get what they want. The idea is precisely the same as that in Matt. xi. 28, though the image employed is different.
It is probable, as almost all commentators remark, that our Lord chose this figure and imagery, because of the Jewish cus- tom of drawing water from the pool of Siloam during the feast of tabernacles, and carrying it in solemn procession to the tem- ple. And it is thought that our Lord purposely refers to this ceremony, of which the minds of many would doubtless be full: — "Does any one want true water of life, better than any water of Siloam? — Let him come to Me and by faith draw out of Me living waters, — even peace of conscience, and pardon of sins." — But it is fair to remember that this is only conjecture. This custom of drawing water from Siloam at the feast was a human invention, nowhere commanded in the law of Moses, or even mentioned in the Old Testament ; and it admits of doubt whether our Lord would have sanctioned it. Moreover, it is evident from John iv. 10, and vi. 35, that the figures of " water " and "thirst "were not unfrequently used by our Lord. — The figures at any rate were familiar to all Jews, from Isaiah lv. 1.
Some have thought, because the feast of tabernacles was specially intended to remind the Jews of their sojourn in the wilderness, that our Lord had in view the miraculous supply of water from the rock, which followed Israel everywhere, and that He wished the Jews to see in Him the fulfilment of that type, the true Rock. (1 Cor. x. 4.) The idea is deserving of attention.