LIVING WATER — and in ordinary Greek that simply means RUNNING water, a spring or stream as against the still water of a cistern (Hebrew mayim chayyim does the same job, and certain purifications require it). This is why the woman at the well is not being slow when she hears an offer of fresh water: she is hearing the phrase correctly in its everyday sense. The same device as anothen one chapter earlier — the misunderstanding is a real possibility of the Greek, not a failure of the hearer. → first discussed at John 4:10