Lively; Living
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [1]
lı̄v´li , liv´ing ( חי , ḥay ; ζάω , záō ): "Living," sometimes "lively," is the translation of ḥay (often also translated "life"); it denotes all beings possessed of life ( Genesis 1:21 , Genesis 1:24; Genesis 2:7 , Genesis 2:19; Exodus 21:35 , "live"); we have frequently the phrase, "the land of the living" (as contrasted with she'ōl , the abode of the dead), e.g. Job 28:13; Psalm 27:13; Psalm 52:5; Isaiah 38:11; the characteristically Biblical expression, "the living God," also frequently occurs ( Joshua 3:10; 1 Samuel 17:26 , 1 Samuel 17:36; 2 Kings 19:4; Psalm 84:2 ); also frequently in the New Testament as the translation of zaō ( Matthew 16:16; Matthew 26:63; John 6:57 , "the living Father"; Acts 14:15 ); "lively" in Exodus 1:19 ( ḥāyeh ) and Psalm 38:19 denotes fullness of life, vigor; ḥayyāh , "a living being," is mostly confined to Ezekiel, translated "living creatures" ( Ezekiel 1:5 , Ezekiel 1:13 , Ezekiel 1:14 , etc.), also Genesis 1:28; Genesis 8:17 , "living thing"; "living" is sometimes applied figuratively to that which is not actually alive; thus we have the phrase "living waters" ( Jeremiah 2:13; Jeremiah 17:13; Zechariah 14:8 , "Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem") in contrast with stagnant waters - waters that can give life ; so John 4:10 , John 4:11 (bubbling up from the spring at bottom of the well); John 7:38; Revelation 7:17 the King James Version; "living bread" ( John 6:51 ); a new and living way ( Hebrews 10:20 ), perhaps equivalent to "ever-living" in Christ; "living stones" ( 1 Peter 2:4 , 1 Peter 2:5 ) are those made alive in Christ; a "living hope" (a hope full of life), 1 Peter 1:3; "living" ( zaō )is sometimes also "manner of life" ( Luke 15:13; Colossians 2:20 ); diágō , "to lead or go through," is also so translated ( Titus 3:3 ); bı́os is "means of life," translated "living" ( Mark 12:44; Luke 8:43 ); "living," in this sense, occurs in Apocrypha as the translation of zōḗ , "Defraud not the poor of his living" (Ecclesiasticus 4:1).
The Revised Version (British and American) has "living" for "alive" ( Leviticus 14:4 ), for "the lively" ( Acts 7:38 ), for "quick" ( Hebrews 4:12 ), for "lively" ( 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 2:5 ), for "conversation" ( 1 Peter 1:15; 2 Peter 3:11 ); "living creatures" for "beasts" ( Revelation 4:6; Revelation 5:6 , etc.); "every living thing" for "all the substance" ( Deuteronomy 11:6 ); "living things" for "beasts" ( Leviticus 11:2 , Leviticus 11:47 twice); for "living" ( Psalm 58:9 ), "the green" (thorns under the pots), margin "Wrath shall take them away while living as with a whirlwind"; for "the book of the living" ( Psalm 69:28 ), "the book of life"; for "(I am) he that liveth" ( Revelation 1:18 ), "the Living one"; for "living fountains of waters" ( Revelation 7:17 ), "fountains of waters of life"; for "trade" ( Revelation 18:17 ), "gain their living," margin "work the sea"; for "Son of the living God" ( John 6:69 ), "the Holy One of God" (emended text).
