MARSHALL The Meaning of the Verb 'Baptize' 15
holiness from every irreverent deed. He will sprinkle over him the spirit of
truth like lustral water (in order to cleanse him)' (1QS 4.20-21). Earlier the
Spirit and water are placed in parallel to each other:
For, by the spirit of the true counsel concerning the paths of man all his sins
are atoned so that he can look at the light of life. And by the spirit of holi-
ness which links him with his truth he is cleansed of all his sins. And by the
spirit of uprightness and of humility his sin is atoned. And by the compli-
ance of his soul with all the laws of God his flesh is cleansed by being
sprinkled with cleansing waters and being made holy with the waters of
repentance (1QS 3.7-9).Two other passages speak of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the
members of the community (1QH 4 [old 17J.26; 15 [old 7].6-7).
In the Test. Jud. 24.2-3, we have the same thought of the pouring out of
the Spirit in a passage which may reflect Christian influence; with refer-
ence to the Messiah the author states: 'And the heavens will be opened
upon him to pour out the spirit as a blessing of the Holy Father. And he
will pour the spirit of grace on you. And you shall be sons in truth.'^20
The Spirit is also regarded in 'liquid' terms in the New Testament itself.
In Jn 7.38-39 the Spirit is spoken of both as water that may be drunk and
as a stream that flows from the heart of Christ or the believer.^21 J.D.G.
Dunn has also drawn attention to 1 Cor. 12.13 where he interprets the
phrase KOCI TTCXVTES ev TTV6U|ja 6TTOTia0r||jsv in terms not of drinking the
Spirit but rather of being drenched with the Spirit like a field being
watered with rain.^22 Whether the traditional or the new explanation be
accepted, in either case the Spirit is being conceived as a liquid.^23 It is,
- H.C. Kee, in OTP, I, p. 801. Closely associated with this passage is Test. Levi
18, but here Christian influence seems even more probable. - Commentators debate whether the 'quotation' from Scripture is meant to apply
to Jesus or the believer. The issue is unimportant for the present discussion. On the
whole, the imagery of the Spirit being poured out from above is dominant; the concept
of a stream flowing at ground level is confined to this verse. But note that in John 4 the
gift of Christ is living water which becomes a spring welling up in the believer. Here,
however, the water is not explicitly seen as an image of the Spirit. - Dunn, Baptism, pp. 127-31, esp. p. 131.
- Dunn's view is independently supported by GJ. Cuming, 'ETTOTII0HMEN
(1 Corinthians 12.13)', NTS 27 (1980-81), pp. 283-85, who notes that this was the
interpretation of Chrysostom; see further TLNT, III, pp. 145-48. It is disputed by E.R.
Rogers,' ETTOTII0HMEN Again', NTS 29 (1983), pp. 139-41, who argues that ev
TTveuna is more naturally taken as the accusative of that which is drunk; G.D. Fee, The
First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), p. 605 n. 28,