Keraia
Lexicon

ζάω

zaōto liveHow to read Greek
greekNew TestamentVerb140 occurrences20 books124 verses

Definition

ζάω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for חיה (most frequently ptcp., ζῶν, inf., ζῆν, for חַי ;]

1. prop., to live, be alive (see Syn., see word βίος; in cl. usually of animal life, but sometimes of plants, as Arist., Eth. N, i, 7, 12): Acts 20:12, Romans 7:1-3, 1 Corinthians 7:39, Revelation 19:20, al.; ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν, Acts 17:28; ἐμοὶ τὸ ζῆν Χριστός, Philippians 1:21; διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν (M, Pr., 215, 249), Hebrews 2:15; ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, Galatians 2:20; ζῇ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός, Galatians 2:20; (ὁ) ζῶν, of God (אֵל חַי and cognate phrases, Joshua 3:10, Hosea 2:1 (1:10), Isaiah 37:4, al.; see DCG, ii, 39a), Matthew 16:16, John 6:57, Romans 9:26, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, Hebrews 3:12, Revelation 7:2, al.; in juristic phrase, ζῶ ἐγώ (חַי־אָנִי, Numbers 14:21, al.), as I live, Romans 14:11; ζῆν ἐπ᾽ ἄρτῳ, Matthew 4:4, al.; ἐκ, 1 Corinthians 9:14; of coming to life, Mrk.16:[11], Romans 6:10; 14:9, 2 Corinthians 13:4; opposite to νεκρός, Revelation 1:18; 2:8; metaphorically, Luke 15:32; ζῆν ἐκ νεκρῶν, Romans 6:13; of the spiritual life of Christians, Luke 10:28, John 5:25, Romans 1:17; 8:13; εἰς τ. αἰῶνα, John 6:51, 58; σὺν Χριστῷ, 1 Thessalonians 5:10; ὄνομα ἔχεις ὅτι ζῇς, Revelation 3:1.

2. As sometimes in cl., = βιόω, to live, pass one's life: Luke 2:36, Acts 26:5, Romans 7:9, Colossians 2:20; ἐν πίστει, Galatians 2:20; ἐν τ. ἁμαρτίᾳ, Romans 6:2; εὐσεβῶς, 2 Timothy 3:12; ἀσώτως, Luke 15:13; with dative (cl.), ἑαυτῳ (Field, Notes, 164), Romans 14:7, 2 Corinthians 5:15; τ. δικαιοσύνῃ, Luke 20:38, Romans 6:10, 11, Galatians 2:19; τ. Χριστῷ, 2 Corinthians 5:15; τ. θεῷ, 1 Peter 2:24; πνεύματι, Galatians 5:25; κατὰ σάρκα, Romans 8:12, 13;

3. Of inanimate things, metaphorically: ὕδωρ ζῶν (i.e. springing water, as opposite to still water), in a spiritual sense, John 4:10, 11; 7:38 (DCG, ii, 39f.): ἐλπὶς ζῶσα, 1 Peter 1:3; ὁδὸς ζῶσα, Hebrews 10:20 (cf. ἀνα-, συν-ζάω; Cremer, 270, 721).

Hebrew words it translates

The Hebrew words that the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament renders as ζάω:

Usage patterns

Old TestamentNew Testament

Occurrences

140 total
  1. Matthew 4:4ζήσεται · shall not live
    But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
  2. Matthew 9:18ζήσεται · she will live
    While Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.”
  3. Matthew 16:16ζῶντος · living
    Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
  4. Matthew 22:32ζώντων · of [the] living
    ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
  5. Matthew 26:63ζῶντος · living
    But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
  6. Matthew 27:63ζῶν · He was alive
    “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
  7. Mark 5:23ζήσῃ · live
    …and pleaded with Him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live.”
  8. Mark 12:27ζώντων · of [the] living
    He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
  9. Mark 16:11ζῇ · [Jesus] was alive
    And when they heard that Jesus was alive and she had seen Him, they did not believe it.
  10. Luke 2:36ζήσασα · She had been married
    There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years,
  11. Luke 4:4ζήσεται · shall not live
    But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
  12. Luke 10:28ζήσῃ · you will live
    “You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
  13. Luke 15:13ζῶν · living
    After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.
  14. Luke 15:32ἔζησεν · is alive again
    But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
  15. Luke 20:38ζώντων · of [the] living; ζῶσιν · are alive
    He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”
  16. Luke 24:5ζῶντα · living
    As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
  17. Luke 24:23ζῆν · was alive
    …but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive.
  18. John 4:10ζῶν · living
    Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
  19. John 4:11ζῶν · living
    “Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water?
  20. John 4:50ζῇ · will live
    “Go,” said Jesus. “Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at His word and departed.
  21. John 4:51ζῇ · was alive
    And while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive.
  22. John 4:53ζῇ · will live
    Then the father realized that this was the very hour in which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and all his household believed.
  23. John 5:25ζήσουσιν · will live
    Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
  24. John 6:51ζῶν · living; ζήσει · he will live
    I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”
  25. John 6:57ζῶν · living; ζῶ · live; ζήσει · will live
    Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me.
  26. John 6:58ζήσει · will live
    This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
  27. John 7:38ζῶντος · of living
    Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
  28. John 11:25ζήσεται · will live
    Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
  29. John 11:26ζῶν · lives
    And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
  30. John 14:19ζῶ · live; ζήσετε · will live
    In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
  31. Acts 1:3ζῶντα · [that] He was alive
    After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
  32. Acts 7:38ζῶντα · living
    He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.
  33. Acts 9:41ζῶσαν · alive
    Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.
  34. Acts 10:42ζώντων · [the] living
    And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.
  35. Acts 14:15ζῶντα · [the] living
    “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
  36. Acts 17:28ζῶμεν · we live
    ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
  37. Acts 20:12ζῶντα · [home] alive
    And the people were greatly relieved to take the boy home alive.
  38. Acts 22:22ζῆν · to live
    The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
  39. Acts 25:19ζῆν · to be alive
    They only had some contentions with him regarding their own religion and a certain Jesus who had died, but whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
  40. Acts 25:24ζῆν · to live
    Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him, both here and in Jerusalem, crying out that he ought not to live any longer.
  41. Acts 26:5ἔζησα · I lived as
    They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.
  42. Acts 28:4ζῆν · to live
    When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
  43. Romans 1:17ζήσεται · will live
    For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
  44. Romans 6:2ζήσομεν · live
    Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
  45. Romans 6:10ζῇ · He lives
    The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.