Live
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
"to live, be alive," is used in the NT of "(a) God, Matthew 16:16; John 6:57; Romans 14:11; (b) the Son in Incarnation, John 6:57; (c) the Son in Resurrection, John 14:19; Acts 1:3; Romans 6:10; 2—Corinthians 13:4; Hebrews 7:8; (d) spiritual life, John 6:57; Romans 1:17; 8:13; Galatians 2:19,20; Hebrews 12:9; (e) the present state of departed saints, Luke 20:38; 1—Peter 4:6; (f) the hope of resurrection, 1—Peter 1:3; (g) the resurrection of believers, 1—Thessalonians 5:10; John 5:25; Revelation 20:4 , and of unbelievers, Revelation 20:5 , cp. Revelation 20:13; (h) the way of access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, Hebrews 10:20; (i) the manifestation of Divine power in support of Divine authority, 2—Corinthians 13:4; cp. 2—Corinthians 12:10; 1—Corinthians 5:5; (j) bread, figurative of the Lord Jesus, John 6:51; (k) a stone, figurative of the Lord Jesus, 1—Peter 2:4; (l) water, figurative of the Holy Spirit, John 4:10; 7:38; (m) a sacrifice, figurative of the believer, Romans 12:1; (n) stones, figurative of the believer, 1—Peter 2:5; (o) the oracles, logion, Acts 7:38 , and word, logos, Hebrews 4:12; 1—Peter 1:23 , of God; (p) the physical life of men, 1—Thessalonians 4:15; Matthew 27:63; Acts 25:24; Romans 14:9; Philippians 1:21 (in the infinitive mood used as a noun, with the article, 'living'),22; 1—Peter 4:5; (q) the maintenance of physical life, Matthew 4:4; 1—Corinthians 9:14; (r) the duration of physical life, Hebrews 2:15; (s) the enjoyment of physical life, 1—Thessalonians 3:8; (t) the recovery of physical life from the power of disease, Mark 5:23; John 4:50; (u) the recovery of physical life from the power of death, Matthew 9:18; Acts 9:41; Revelation 20:5; (v) the course, conduct, and character of men, (1) good, Acts 26:5; 2—Timothy 3:12; Titus 2:12; (2) evil, Luke 15:13; Romans 6:2; 8:13; 2—Corinthians 5:15; Colossians 3:7; (3) undefined, Romans 7:9; 14:7; Galatians 2:14; (w) restoration after alienation, Luke 15:32 .
1—Thessalonians 5:10 1—Corinthians 15:51 John 11:25 1—Corinthians 15:52-54
"to live together with" (sun, "with," and zao, "to live"), may be included with zao in the above analysis as follows: (g) Romans 6:8; 2—Timothy 2:11; (s), 2—Corinthians 7:3 .
ana, "again," and zao, denotes "to live again," "to revive," Luke 15:24; cp. (w) in list above, and Romans 7:9 , to manifest activity again." * [* From Notes on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 173,174.]
Acts 10:42 2—Timothy 4:1 1—Peter 4:5 Hebrews 4:12
"to spend life, to pass one's life," is used in 1—Peter 4:2 .
used metaphorically, in the Middle Voice, "to conduct oneself, behave, live," is translated "to live," in Hebrews 13:18 ("honestly"); in 2—Peter 2:18 ("in error"). See Abide , Behave , etc.
denotes "to preserve alive" (from zoos, "alive," and ginomai, "to come to be, become, be made"); in Luke 17:33 , "shall preserve (it)," i.e., his life, RV marg., "save (it) alive;" cp. the parallels sozo, "to save," in Matthew 16:25 , and phulasso, "to keep," in John 12:25; in Acts 7:19 , "live," negatively of the efforts of Pharaoh to destroy the babes in Israel; in 1—Timothy 6:13 , according to the best mss. (some have zoopoieo, "to cause to live"), "quickeneth" (RV, marg., "preserveth ... alive," the preferable rendering). See Preserve , Quicken.
is used of time in the sense of passing a life, 1—Timothy 2:2 , "(that) we may lead (a tranquil and quiet, RV) life;" Titus 3:3 , "living (in malice and envy)."
"to be a citizen (polites), to live as a citizen," is used metaphorically of conduct as in accordance with the characteristics of the heavenly community; in Acts 23:1 , "I have lived;" in Philippians 1:27 , "let your manner of life (AV, conversation) be." See Citizenship , No. 4, Note.
"to be in existence, to be," is translated "live (delicately)" in Luke 7:25 . See Being.
1—Corinthians 9:13
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words [2]
A. Verb.
Châyâh ( חָיָה , Strong'S #2421), “to live.” This verb, which has cognates in most other Semitic languages (except Akkadian), occurs 284 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods. In the ground stem this verb connotes “having life”: “And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years …” (Gen. 5:3). A similar meaning appears in Num. 14:38 and Josh. 9:21.
The intensive form of châyâh means “to preserve alive”: “… Two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee …” (Gen. 6:19). This word may also mean “to bring to life” or “to cause to live”: “… I dwell … with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa. 57:15).
“To live” is more than physical existence. According to Deut. 8:3, “man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.” Moses said to Israel: “… Love the Lord thy God … that thou mayest live and multiply” (Deut. 30:16).
B. Noun.
Chay ( חַי , Strong'S #2416), “living thing; life.” The use of this word occurs only in the oath formula “as X lives,” literally, “by the life of X”: “And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you” (Judg. 8:19). This formula summons the power of a superior to sanction the statement asserted. In Judg. 8:19 God is the witness to Gideon’s pledge to kill his enemies and this statement that they brought the penalty on themselves. A similar use appears in Gen. 42:15 except that the power summoned is Pharaoh’s: “Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.” In 1 Sam. 1:26 Hannah employs a similar phrase summoning Eli himself to attest the truthfulness of her statement: “And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.” Only God swears by His own power: “And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num. 14:20-21).
The feminine form of the word, chayyah , means “living being” and is especially used of animals. When so used, it usually distinguishes wild and undomesticated from domesticated animals; the word connotes that the animals described are untamed: “And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark …” (Gen. 8:1). Job 37:8 uses chayyah of rapacious beasts: “Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.” This same word may also connote “evil beast”: “Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him …” (Gen. 37:20). In another nuance the word describes land animals as distinct from birds and fish: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28).
Infrequently chayyah represents a domesticated animal: “And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts” (Num. 35:3). Sometimes this word is used of “living beings” in general: “Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures: (Ezek. 1:5). In such passages the word is synonymous with the Hebrew word nepesh.
The plural of the noun chay , chayyim , is a general word for the state of living as opposed to that of death. This meaning is in Deut. 30:15: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.” Notice also Gen. 27:46: “And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth.…” In a second nuance the plural signifies “lifetime,” or the days of one’s life: “… And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Gen. 3:14). The phrase “the years of one’s life” represents the same idea: “And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah” (Gen. 23:1). The “breath of life” in Gen. 2:7 is the breath that brings “life”: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (cf. Gen. 6:17).
The “tree of life” is the tree which gives one eternal, everlasting “life.” Therefore, it is the tree whose fruit brings “life”: “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden …” (Gen. 2:9). In another nuance this word suggests a special quality of “life,” life as a special gift from God (a gift of salvation): “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deut. 30:19). The plural of the word can represent “persons who are alive,” or living persons: “And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed” (Num. 16:48).
C. Adjective.
Chay ( חַי , Strong'S #2416), “alive; living.” This word has cognates in Ugaritic, Canaanite, Phoenician, Punic, and Aramaic. It occurs about 481 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods.
The word chay is used both as an adjective and as a noun. Used adjectivally it modifies men, animals, and God, but never plants. In Gen. 2:7 the word used with the noun nepech —(“soul, person, being”) means a “living” person: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” The same two words are used in Gen. 1:21 but with a slightly different meaning: “And God created … every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind.…” Here a living nepesh —(“creature”) is an animal. Deut. 5:26 refers to God as the “living” God, distinguishing Him from the lifeless gods/idols of the heathen.
In a related nuance chay describes flesh (animal meat or human flesh) under the skin, or “raw flesh.” In Lev. 13:10 one reads that leprosy involved seeing quick (alive), raw ( chay ) flesh: “And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising.…” The same words ( bashar—chay ) are applied to dead, raw (skinned) animal flesh: “Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have [boiled] flesh of thee, but raw” (1 Sam. 2:15).
Applied to liquids, chay means “running”; it is used metaphorically describing something that moves: “And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water” (Gen. 26:19). In Jer. 2:13 the NASB translates “living” waters, or waters that give life (cf. Jer. 17:13; Zech. 14:8). The Song of Solomon uses the word in a figure of speech describing one’s wife; she is “a well of living waters” (4:15). The emphasis is not on the fact that the water flows but on its freshness; it is not stagnant, and therefore is refreshing and pleasant when consumed.
King James Dictionary [3]
LIVE, 54
1. To abide to dwell to have settled residence in any place. Where do you live? I live in London. He lives in Philadelphia. He lives in a large house on Second street. The Swiss live on mountains. The Bedouin Arabs live in the dessert. 2. To continue to be permanent not to perish.
Men's evil manners live in brass their virtues we write in water.
3. To be animated to have the vital principle to have the bodily functions in operation, or in a capacity to operate, as respiration, circulation of blood, secretions, &c. applied to animals.
I am Joseph doth my father yet live? Genesis 45 .
4. To have the principles of vegetable life to be in a state in which the organs do or may perform their functions in the circulation of sap and in growth applied to plants. This tree will not live, unless watered it will not live through the winter. 5. To pass life or time in a particular manner, with regard to habits or condition. In what manner does your son live? Does he live according to the dictates of reason and the precepts of religion?
If we act by several broken views, we shall live and die in misery.
6. To continue in life. The way to live long is to be temperate. 7. To live, emphatically to enjoy life to be in a state of happiness.
What greater curse could envious fortune give, than just to die, when I began to live?
8. To feed to subsist to be nourished and supported in life as, horses live on grass or grain fowls live on seeds or insects some kinds of fish live on others carnivorous animals live on flesh. 9. To subsist to be maintained in life to be supported. Many of the clergy are obliged to live on small salaries. All men in health may live by industry with economy, yet some men live by robbery. 10. To remain undestroyed to float not to sink or founder. It must be a good ship that lives at sea in a hurricane.
Nor can our shaken vessels live at sea.
11. To exist to have being.
As I live, saith the Lord - Ezekiel 18 .
12. In Scripture, to be exempt from death, temporal or spiritual.
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. Leviticus 18 .
13. To recover from sickness to have life prolonged.
Thy son liveth. John 4 .
14. To be inwardly quickened, nourished and actuated by divine influence or faith. Galatians 2 . 15. To be greatly refreshed, comforted and animated.
For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 3 .
16. To appear as in life or reality to be manifest in real character.
And all the writer lives in every line.
1. To live with, to dwell or to be a lodger with. 2. To cohabit to have intercourse, as male and female.
LIVE, 54
1. To continue in constantly or habitually as, to live a life of ease. 2. To act habitually in conformity to.
It is not enough to say prayers, unless they live them too.
LIVE, a.
1. Having life having respiration and other organic functions in operation, or in a capacity to operate not dead as a live ox. 2. Having vegetable life as a live plant. 3. Containing fire ignited not extinct as a live coal. 4. Vivid, as color.
Webster's Dictionary [4]
(1): ( v. i.) To be maintained in life; to acquire a livelihood; to subsist; - with on or by; as, to live on spoils.
(2): ( a.) Being in a state of ignition; burning; having active properties; as, a live coal; live embers.
(3): ( v. i.) To make one's abiding place or home; to abide; to dwell; to reside.
(4): ( v. i.) To outlast danger; to float; - said of a ship, boat, etc.; as, no ship could live in such a storm.
(5): ( a.) Full of earnestness; active; wide awake; glowing; as, a live man, or orator.
(6): ( v. i.) To enjoy or make the most of life; to be in a state of happiness.
(7): ( v. i.) To pass one's time; to pass life or time in a certain manner, as to habits, conduct, or circumstances; as, to live in ease or affluence; to live happily or usefully.
(8): ( v. t.) To spend, as one's life; to pass; to maintain; to continue in, constantly or habitually; as, to live an idle or a useful life.
(9): ( v. t.) To act habitually in conformity with; to practice.
(10): ( v. i.) To be or continue in existence; to exist; to remain; to be permanent; to last; - said of inanimate objects, ideas, etc.
(11): ( v. i.) To be alive; to have life; to have, as an animal or a plant, the capacity of assimilating matter as food, and to be dependent on such assimilation for a continuance of existence; as, animals and plants that live to a great age are long in reaching maturity.
(12): ( v. i.) To feed; to subsist; to be nourished or supported; - with on; as, horses live on grass and grain.
(13): ( a.) Having life; alive; living; not dead.
(14): ( v. i.) To have a spiritual existence; to be quickened, nourished, and actuated by divine influence or faith.
(15): ( a.) Vivid; bright.
(16): ( a.) Imparting power; having motion; as, the live spindle of a lathe.
(17): ( n.) Life.
