mayim

Semantic range

1. 1water, literal
2. 2the sea, the deep
3. 3figuratively: danger, chaos, and also life and cleansing

Water in scripture runs in two directions at once. It is the chaos over which the Spirit broods and the flood that destroys; it is also the river of Eden, the rock in the wilderness, and the living water Christ offers the Samaritan woman (John 4:10–14). Both meanings are present at every baptism: a burial and a birth (Romans 6:3–5).

Ezekiel 47's temple river, rising from the threshold and deepening until it cannot be crossed, is the image the Restoration takes up when it speaks of the temple as a source rather than a destination.

See also

• תְּהוֹםtəhôm
• βαπτίζωbaptizō