חַי
chay
Modern Summary of Strong’s Concordance (1890)
The word "חַי" (chay) primarily means "alive" or "living," and can refer to life itself or living things. It is used to describe something fresh, strong, or raw, such as flesh, plants, water, or even a year. The term can also be applied figuratively to concepts like vitality, a group of living beings, or the maintenance of life.
life; alive, living
The Hebrew word chay means "life; alive, living," encompassing related ideas including age, alive, appetite, beast.
Its Greek parallels include ζάω (zaō), ζωή (zōē), revealing shared conceptual ground across the biblical languages.
The semantic range of chay — spanning meanings like age, alive, appetite — suggests a word whose full significance cannot be captured by a single English term.
Lexical data derived from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. See full disclaimer
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