Spring: Corrupt
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In biblical literature, the term "spring" often symbolizes a source of life, purity, and renewal. However, when associated with corruption, it denotes a perversion of what is intended to be pure and life-giving. The imagery of a corrupt spring is used to illustrate the distortion of truth and the moral decay that can infiltrate the hearts and minds of individuals and communities.

Proverbs 25:26 provides a vivid depiction of this concept: "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked." Here, the proverb warns against the compromise of righteousness. Just as a spring becomes undrinkable when contaminated, so does a person lose their integrity and influence when they yield to wickedness. This imagery underscores the importance of maintaining purity and steadfastness in one's moral and spiritual life.

The New Testament also touches upon the theme of corruption in springs, particularly in the context of false teachings and hypocrisy. James 3:11-12 asks, "Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." James uses the metaphor of a spring to emphasize the inconsistency and duplicity that can arise from a corrupt heart. Just as a spring cannot produce both fresh and salt water, a person cannot simultaneously produce good and evil deeds without revealing a fundamental corruption.

The concept of a corrupt spring is further explored in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. In Jeremiah 6:7, the prophet laments the moral decay of Jerusalem: "As a well gushes forth its water, so she pours out her wickedness. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me." Here, the city is likened to a well that overflows with wickedness instead of life-giving water, illustrating the pervasive nature of sin and its consequences on a community.

In the broader biblical narrative, the idea of a corrupt spring serves as a cautionary symbol. It warns against the dangers of allowing sin and falsehood to infiltrate one's life, leading to spiritual and moral decay. The imagery calls believers to guard their hearts and minds, ensuring that they remain sources of truth, purity, and life, reflecting the character of God.

The Bible consistently contrasts the corrupt spring with the pure and life-giving water that God provides. In John 4:14, Jesus offers the Samaritan woman living water, saying, "But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life." This promise of living water stands in stark contrast to the corrupt springs of the world, offering a source of eternal life and purity that can only be found in Christ.

In summary, the biblical motif of a corrupt spring serves as a powerful metaphor for the dangers of moral and spiritual compromise. It calls believers to remain vigilant, ensuring that their lives reflect the purity and truth of God's Word, and to seek the living water that only Christ can provide.
Nave's Topical Index
Proverbs 25:26
A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.
Nave's Topical Index

James 3:11
Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Nave's Topical Index

Library

Original Sin Arose from Adam's Depraved Will. Whence the Corrupt ...
... from nature, then nature is evil," I request him to answer, if he can, to this effect:
As it is manifest that all evil works spring from a corrupt will, like ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/chapter 48 original sin arose from.htm

That the Rational Part of Our Soul is Corrupt.
... that the rational part of your mind and soul is corrupt, that part namely from which
the faults of presumption and vainglory for the most part spring. ...
/.../cassian/the conferences of john cassian/chapter xvi that the rational.htm

The Good Tree in the Gospel that Cannot Bring Forth Evil Fruit ...
... not rather of men's two wills, the good and the evil, calling one of these the good
tree, and the other the corrupt tree, inasmuch as good works spring out of ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/chapter 43 the good tree in.htm

The Preceding Argument is in no Wise Inconsistent with the Saying ...
... there was at first no source from which an evil will could spring, except the ... make
the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his ...
/.../augustine/the enchiridion/chapter 15 the preceding argument is.htm

Justification
... Justification by Christ is a spring of the water of life. To have the poison
of corrupt doctrine cast into this spring is damnable. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/3 justification.htm

Repentance
... If the spring be corrupt, no pure stream can run from it. But though repentance
begins at the heart, it does not rest there, but changes the life. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/4 2 repentance.htm

The First Fruits of the Spirit
... in themselves, yet are they endued with power from on high to trample it continually
under foot, so that it cannot "spring up to ... No corrupt communication comes ...
/.../wesley/sermons on several occasions/sermon 8 the first fruits.htm

The State of Misery to which Adam's Sin Reduced Mankind, and the ...
... to the wicked angels (without which their existence would soon come to an end);
or, in the case of mankind, who spring from a condemned and corrupt stock, to ...
/.../augustine/the enchiridion/chapter 27 the state of misery.htm

Chapter xx.
... Every one, however, endeavours to corrupt what he does not wish to remain uninjured:
but ... And hence, inasmuch as dogs spring at a thing in order to tear it in ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/augustine/our lords sermon on the mount/chapter xx 2.htm

The Law of Sin with Its Guilt in Unbaptized Infants. By Adam's Sin ...
... When Adam sinned, he was changed from that pure olive, which had no such corrupt
seed whence should spring the bitter issue of the wild olive, into a wild ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/chapter 37 xxxii the law of.htm

Resources
What is the origin of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs? | GotQuestions.org

What happened at the Pool of Siloam? | GotQuestions.org

Is it a sin to cuss / swear / curse? | GotQuestions.org

Spring: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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Subtopics

Spring

Spring: Corrupt

Spring: of Water: Hot

Spring: Season of, Promised Annual Return of

Spring: Season of, Promised Annual Return of Described

Related Terms

Water-spring (16 Occurrences)

Well-spring (3 Occurrences)

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Wellspring (3 Occurrences)

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Fresh (41 Occurrences)

Yields (21 Occurrences)

Leap (20 Occurrences)

Works (379 Occurrences)

Emmaus (1 Occurrence)

Bound (175 Occurrences)

Siloam (4 Occurrences)

Swallow (38 Occurrences)

Bud (23 Occurrences)

Fountain (57 Occurrences)

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Nazareth (29 Occurrences)

Jar (45 Occurrences)

Rebekah (31 Occurrences)

Shelah (18 Occurrences)

Well (2882 Occurrences)

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Jerusalem (782 Occurrences)

Rise (417 Occurrences)

Kiriath (34 Occurrences)

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Cistern (21 Occurrences)

Jearim (19 Occurrences)

Gin (10 Occurrences)

Grow (139 Occurrences)

Field (390 Occurrences)

Fuller's (4 Occurrences)

Falls (79 Occurrences)

Trumpets (52 Occurrences)

Rains (16 Occurrences)

Ramp (9 Occurrences)

Rimmon (22 Occurrences)

Reservoir (1 Occurrence)

En-

En (19 Occurrences)

En-tappuah (1 Occurrence)

Entappuah (1 Occurrence)

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Barrel (3 Occurrences)

Arise (235 Occurrences)

Ain (6 Occurrences)

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Start (50 Occurrences)

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Showers (20 Occurrences)

Stairs (12 Occurrences)

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Sychar (1 Occurrence)

Springtime (1 Occurrence)

Bethesda (1 Occurrence)

Figtree

Wanderings (7 Occurrences)

Grass (92 Occurrences)

Watered (28 Occurrences)

Caused (468 Occurrences)

Head (4291 Occurrences)

Spring whose waters never fail
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