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Bible Dictionaries
Life, Living
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or The words βίος, ζωή, ψυχή and πνεῦμα are all translated 'life,' but there is a great deal of difference between them.
βίος is the manner or means of life, or subsistence in this world. The poor widow cast in all her living. Mark 12:44 . We pray for the powers that be "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life." 1 Timothy 2:2 . "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life." 2 Timothy 2:4 . "The pride of life is not of the Father." 1 John 2:16 .
ζωή denotes more life in its activity and vigour: not merely existence, but existence in relation to a proper sphere. "In him [Christ] was life." John 1:4 . The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of life," and the Lord Jesus is "the Prince of life." Romans 8:2; Acts 3:15 . The word is often used in conjunction with everlasting or eternal, Matthew 19:29; Matthew 25:46 , etc. Of some the Lord said, "Ye have no life in you," John 6:53; they were spiritually dead, "alienated from the life of God." Ephesians 4:18 .
ψυχή is life in the sense of the living soul. See Matthew 10:28,39; Matthew 16:25,26; John 10:11,15,17; Acts 15:24,26; Acts 20:10 , and other passages, where the word is translated both 'life' and 'soul.'
πνεῦμα (from πνέω, 'to breathe') is 'breath,' 'spirit,' and is only once translated 'life' in the A.V., Revelation 13:15 , where it should be 'breath.'
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Life, Living'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/l/life-living.html. 1897.
