Water

The colourless, odourless liquid that is essential for sustenance of life in human beings and animals. God is described as the spring of living water, being the source of life and salvation to those who come to him.

Water for drinking

For human beings

2 Samuel 23:15–16 parallel 1 Chronicles 11:17–18 See also Genesis 21:14–19 God provides water for Hagar and Ishmael; Exodus 15:22–27, Exodus 17:1–3; Numbers 20:1–11; Deuteronomy 2:28; Judges 4:19, Judges 5:25; 1 Samuel 30:11–12; 1 Kings 17:10 Elijah asks the widow at Zarephath for a drink of water; 2 Kings 6:22; 2 Chronicles 18:25–26; Nehemiah 9:20; Job 6:19; Isaiah 33:16; Daniel 1:8–16 Daniel's resolve to live on vegetables and water; Hosea 2:5; Matthew 10:42 parallel Mark 9:41; John 4:7; 1 Timothy 5:23

David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead , he poured it out to the LORD,

For animals

2 Kings 3:9 See also Genesis 24:13–19, Genesis 29:1–10; Exodus 2:15–16, Exodus 17:3; 2 Kings 3:17; Psalm 104:10–11; Isaiah 43:20; Luke 13:15

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and after they had traveled a roundabout route for seven days, they had no water for their army or for their animals.

Water as a general descriptive term for liquid

Exodus 23:25 See also 1 Samuel 25:11; 1 Kings 13:6–22, 1 Kings 18:4; Job 22:7; Proverbs 25:21

So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

Abstention from water during fasting

Deuteronomy 9:9 See also Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:18; Ezra 10:6

When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.

Water for washing

For general hygiene

Genesis 18:4 See also Genesis 24:32, Genesis 43:24; Luke 7:44; John 13:1–17

Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

For ritual cleansing

Leviticus 17:15 See also Exodus 30:17–21; Leviticus 1:3–9, Leviticus 16:20–24; Numbers 19:7–9; John 2:6; Hebrews 10:22

And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.

Water for cooking

Exodus 12:9–10 See also Ezekiel 24:3–5

Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire— its head and legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.

Rainwater

Judges 5:4 See also Genesis 7:11–12; Job 5:10, Job 37:13, Job 38:25–28, Job 38:37; Psalm 77:17; Ecclesiastes 11:3; Hosea 6:3

O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.

Sources and stores of water

Wells

Genesis 26:19–20 See also Genesis 21:19, Genesis 24:11; Isaiah 37:25; John 4:6

Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.

Springs

James 3:11–12 See also Joshua 15:15–19 parallel Judges 1:11–15; Revelation 8:10–11, Revelation 14:7, Revelation 16:4

Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Cisterns

Jeremiah 2:13 See also Leviticus 11:36; 2 Kings 18:31 parallel Isaiah 36:16; Proverbs 5:15–16; Jeremiah 14:3, Jeremiah 38:6

“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns — broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Abundance of water as a sign of blessing

Deuteronomy 8:7 See also Numbers 24:7; Deuteronomy 10:7; Psalm 1:1–3; Jeremiah 17:7–8; Ezekiel 17:5–6, Ezekiel 19:10–11

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills;

Baptism in water

Matthew 3:11 parallels Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16 See also Matthew 3:13–17 parallels Mark 1:9–11, Luke 3:21–22, John 1:31–34; John 1:26–27, John 3:23; Acts 1:5, Acts 8:36–39, Acts 10:47, Acts 11:16; 1 Peter 3:20–22

I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Living water

Jeremiah 17:13 See also Zechariah 14:8–9; John 4:4–26, John 7:37–39; Revelation 7:13–17, Revelation 21:6–8, Revelation 22:1–2, Revelation 22:17

O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.

Metaphorical references to water