164 Karl Olav Sandnes whither. The claim of the Jews is: oidamen povqen ejstivn (v. 27). When [ the Messiah comes, however, no one will have proper knowledge of his identity (29). This claim to know from where Jesus comes, is, however, an irony (30). The controversy reveals their failure to understand who Jesus is, which will also become increasingly clear throughout the Gospel (31) The Jews judge according to appearance (kat∆ o[yin), an outward judgement according to the flesh (cf. 8,15). To understand the whence and whither of Jesus, some likeness to him is required. This is pointed out in various ways in the controversy. In v. 29 this claim becomes an epistemological notion in terms of likeness: Jesus knows God because he has been with Him (cf. 1,18). The Jews claim to know the whence of Jesus, but they are wrong because they fail to understand this in the light of the “above – below” pattern of the Christology in John’s Gospel. In this way they resemble Nicodemus, who also missed this basic pattern; they both falsely claimed to know the identity of Jesus. The epistemological perspective on the controversy in chap. 7 sheds light on the role of vv. 37-39. These verses are in many ways enigmatic, particularly since the passage seems detached from the Christological controversy that frames it. Following the punctuation of Nestle-Aland 27th ed., we take ejk th'" koiliva" aujtou' to refer to believers. It is objected that Christ as the source of living water is more dominant in the Gospel (32). Christ is indeed the giver of the Spirit according to John, but this particular text is not simply reiterating this. Christ’s role as the giver of the Spirit is implicit in v. 37: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me”. V. 39 shifts the emphasis to the believers’ reception of the Spirit and is a comment on v. 38 by the narrator. Furthermore, the 3rd person singular (aujtou') is indicative of this. If it was a comment about Jesus himself, we should expect (ej)mou'. This can hardly be explained as a supposed quotation (33), since v. 38 is a (29) A reference to the hidden Messiah; see R.E. BROWN, The Gospel according to John I-XII (AncB; London etc.,1971) 53. John has adapted this to his own thought on the mysterious Christ. (30) JULIAN, Jesus and Nicodemus, 90 says that “…on the lips of the Jews, the verb oi[damen is, almost always used ironically” with reference to John 3,2; 6,42; 7,27; 9,24. 29. (31) So also MEEKS, “The Man from Heaven”, 60. (32) Thus e.g. WAI-YEE NG, Water Symbolism in John. An Eschatological Interpretation (Studies in Biblical Literature 15; New York etc. 2001) 78-81. (33) Pace BROWN, Spirit, 156.