Potamos denotes a river or flowing watercourse, whether encountered as a physical feature or used in vivid water imagery.

The term most often identifies a physical river or rivers: waterways beside which people gather, in which baptism occurs, which can endanger travelers, strike houses, or receive poured-out judgment. A smaller group uses river imagery for water flowing from within the believer, from the throne, or from the dragon’s mouth.

1. Physical waterways and their force · dominant

   The noun identifies actual waterways in settings of travel, gathering, baptism, and judgment: in Acts 16:13 the APB renders people going beside “the river,” while Matthew 3:6 places baptisms in the Jordan River. In Luke 6:48 the river strikes a well-founded house, and in 2 Corinthians 11:26 rivers are among the dangers encountered on journeys.

   Acts 16:13Matthew 3:6Luke 6:48Luke 6:492 Corinthians 11:26Revelation 16:12
2. River imagery of flowing water · occasional

   In John 7:38 the nominative plural form occurs in the declaration that “rivers of living water will flow” from the believer’s belly. In Revelation 22:1 the singular occurs in the vision of a river of life flowing from the throne, while Revelation 12:15 describes water thrown from the dragon’s mouth “like a river.”

   John 7:38Revelation 22:1Revelation 22:2Revelation 12:15Revelation 12:16

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB generally presents the term as “river” or “rivers,” including the Jordan and Euphrates and waters that strike, flow, are dried up, or are swallowed. In Revelation 12:15 it uses “like a river”; these are verse-level renderings rather than definitions.