International Standard Bible Encyclopedia LIVELY; LIVING liv'-li, liv'-ing (chay; zao): "Living," sometimes "lively," is the translation of chay (often also translated "life"); it denotes all beings possessed of life (Genesis 1:21, 24; Genesis 2:7, 19 Exodus 21:35, "live"); we have frequently the phrase, "the land of the living" (as contrasted with she'ol, 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, 36 2 Kings 19:4 Psalm 84:2); also frequently in the New Testament as the translation of zao (Matthew 16:16; Matthew 26:63 John 6:57, "the living Father"; Acts 14:15); "lively" in Exodus 1:19 (chayeh) and Psalm 38:19 denotes fullness of life, vigor; chayyah, "a living being," is mostly confined to Ezekiel, translated "living creatures" (1:5, 13, 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, 11 (bubbling up from the spring at bottom of the well); 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, 5) are those made alive in Christ; a "living hope" (a hope full of life), 1 Peter 1:3; "living" (zao)is sometimes also "manner of life" (Luke 15:13 Colossians 2:20); diago, "to lead or go through," is also so translated (Titus 3:3); bios is "means of life," translated "living" (Mark 12:44 Luke 8:43); "living," in this sense, occurs in Apocrypha as the translation of zoe, "Defraud not the poor of his living" (Ecclesiasticus 4:1).
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