Five-minute study · Day 150 · Revelation 22
Revelation 22:17
A word worth stopping on: come ἔρχομαι erchomai
The Bible's last page. The vision is ending. John has seen the new Jerusalem descend, the river of life flow, the tree of life bear its twelve kinds of fruit. The story that began with a garden, a river, and a tree in Genesis 2 closes with a city, a river, and a tree in Revelation 22. Then, in the final verses, three voices speak. The Spirit says come. The bride says come. And then the text opens the door to anyone listening: 'Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.' The Greek word is erchomai. Come. The last invitation the Bible extends before it closes.
Word study: come
- Greek
- ἔρχομαι
- Pronounced
- erchomai
- Strong's
- G2064
- Definition
- To come, to go, to arrive, to appear, to make one's appearance. In the imperative: come! An invitation, a summons, a command. One of the most common verbs in the New Testament.
Erchomai is among the most frequently used verbs in the Greek New Testament, appearing over 600 times. It is ordinary vocabulary, the kind of word a child learns early. Come here. Come to dinner. Come home. Its ordinariness is the point. When Revelation closes the entire biblical canon with erchomai, it does not reach for an exotic theological term. It uses the simplest word available. Come.
Revelation 22:17 layers the invitation three ways. First, the Spirit and the Bride say erchou (imperative singular: come!). This is addressed to Christ, an echo of the Aramaic Maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22), the church calling for the Lord's return. Second, the one who hears is told to say erchou, joining the cry. Third, the invitation pivots to the thirsty: 'let him that is athirst come' (erchestho, third-person imperative). The same word serves both directions. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, thirsty human. The invitation faces outward and upward simultaneously.
David Aune's Word Biblical Commentary on Revelation notes that the threefold 'come' likely reflects early Christian liturgical practice. The eucharistic liturgy in the Didache (10:6) includes 'Let grace come, and let this world pass away... Maranatha.' The invitation to come was woven into the church's communal worship from the earliest period. Revelation 22:17 may be preserving a liturgical exchange: the Spirit speaks through the congregation, the bride (the church) responds, and the invitation extends outward to anyone who will listen.
The final clause is striking: 'let him take the water of life freely.' The Greek is dorean, meaning as a gift, without cost, gratis. The same word appears in Romans 3:24, where justification comes 'freely by his grace.' The last offer in the Bible is free. No entrance fee. No qualification exam. No prerequisite. Thirst is the only requirement. If you want it, come. Take it. It costs you nothing because it cost someone else everything.
Historical context · Late first century AD, circa AD 95
The Last Word of the Last Book
Revelation was written during the reign of Domitian (AD 81-96), according to the earliest external testimony from Irenaeus (Against Heresies 5.30.3). John was on the island of Patmos, a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea approximately 60 kilometers southwest of Ephesus. Patmos was used by the Roman authorities as a place of banishment. John says he was there 'for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ' (1:9), indicating exile or penal relegation under Roman authority.
The seven churches addressed in Revelation 2-3 were real congregations in the Roman province of Asia (modern western Turkey). They faced pressures ranging from outright persecution (Smyrna, Pergamum) to complacency and compromise (Sardis, Laodicea). The imperial cult was especially strong in Asia. Temples to Augustus, Tiberius, and Domitian stood in several of the seven cities. Domitian reportedly insisted on being addressed as dominus et deus (lord and god), a title that put Christians in an impossible position. Worship the emperor or refuse and face consequences. Revelation was written into that pressure.
The book's closing verses (22:6-21) function as an epilogue, wrapping up the vision and returning the reader to the present moment. The angel speaks. Jesus speaks. John speaks. The boundaries between voices blur intentionally. 'I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches' (22:16). Then the invitation: come. The structure mirrors the opening of the book, where the revelation passes from God to Christ to the angel to John to the churches (1:1). The closing reverses the chain: from the vision back through the voices to the listener. The final movement is toward the reader.
The water of life imagery connects to Isaiah 55:1 ('Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters') and John 7:37 ('If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink'). The image spans the canon. Isaiah invited. Jesus invited. The Spirit and the Bride invite. The Bible's final word on the subject is the same as its first: if you are thirsty, the water is here. Come and drink. It is free.
For reflection
The Bible ends with an invitation, not a conclusion. The Spirit says come. The Bride says come. The thirsty person is told to come and take the water freely. After sixty-six books, 1,189 chapters, and centuries of prophecy, law, poetry, Gospel, and apocalyptic vision, the final word is a door held open. Are you standing in the doorway, reading about the water? Or have you walked through and taken the cup? There is a difference between studying an invitation and accepting one.
Dorean: freely, as a gift, without payment. The same word Paul used in Romans 3:24 for justification by grace. The water costs you nothing. That is the most scandalous sentence in the Bible.
Sources: BDAG Lexicon; Aune, 'Revelation' (WBC); Bauckham, 'The Theology of the Book of Revelation'