Translation
17 The SPIRIT
and
the bride
say, “Come!”
Go to footnote numberAnd the one who is hearing this says, “Come!”
Go to footnote number
“The one who is thirsty let him come.
Go to footnote numberThe one who strongly desires it,
Go to footnote numberlet him
freely
Go to footnote numbertake hold of the water of life.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
The HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD that connects God and man, and also the faithful of God who by being pure are prepared to be united with God,
both say, “Come!”
And I John, the one who is hearing all this says, “Come!”
[Jesus says,] “The one who is thirsty let him come. The one who is extremely thirsty, let him freely reach out and take hold of the life-giving life.
Footnotes
1
It appears that, in this case, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us joins us in our call for Jesus to come. Humans will raise their voices in certain situations calling for Jesus to come to them, but it will not be out of selfish desire, but rather it will be a Spirit-inspired call for Jesus to come on the scene, do what only He can do and thus bring glory to His name and that of His Father.
2
We are not told clearly that Jesus is speaking, but He is the only one who can rightfully make the statements that follow.
3: “come"
While John, the rest of the true church of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who indwells the church, are all saying, “Come,” Jesus tells those who are thirsty to “come.” His “come” is an invitation, but it is also an exhortation indicating that the humans who seek Him also have a role to play. We must move toward God in order to accept what God is offering us.
4
The Greek word used here means “to yearn or desire.” But we know from context that the desire is for water because those who have that desire are told they can take from the water of life freely. It is thus a repetition of the sentence which immediately precedes it.
5
These calls for Christ to come to us, and the calls for people to come to Jesus, indicate that the opportunity is still open. Those who have not yet tasted of the water of life are still being offered that opportunity. While verse 11 above implies that the time for final judgment has come and there is no more time for repentance, but this verse indicates that such a time is not yet upon us. We can conclude that the final judgment will come soon, or at least unexpectedly, but for the moment there is still opportunity.
6: “water of life”
Here I am compelled once again to use that strange-sounding phrase, “life-giving life,” because of the layering of words or word pictures that mean life.