Bible Lexicons

ζωή, ζωῆς, ἡ (from ζάω, ζῶ), the Sept. chiefly for חַיִּים; life;

1. universally, life, i. e. the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate: 1 Peter 3:10 (on which see ἀγαπάω); Hebrews 7:3, 16; αὐτός (ὁ Θεός) διδούς πᾶσιν ζωήν καί πνοήν, Acts 17:25; πνεῦμα ζωῆς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, the vital spirit, the breath of (i. e. imparting) life, Revelation 11:11 (Ezekiel 37:5); πᾶσα ψυχή ζωῆς, genitive of possess, every living soul, Revelation 16:3 G L T Tr text WH; spoken of earthly life: ἡ ζωή τίνος, Luke 12:15; Acts 8:33 (see αἴρω, 3 h.); James 4:14; ἐν τῇ ζωή σου, whilst thou wast living on earth, Luke 16:25 (ἐν τῇ ζωή αὐτοῦ, Sir. 30:5 Sir. 50:1); ἐν τῇ ζωή ταύτῃ, 1 Corinthians 15:19; πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς ζωῆς τίνος, Luke 1:75 Rec. (Genesis 3:14; Psalm 127:5 (); Sir. 22:12 (10)). ἐπαγγελία ζωῆς τῆς νῦν καί τῆς μελλούσης, a promise looking to the present and the future life, 1 Timothy 4:8; ζωή and θάνατος are contrasted in Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 3:22; Philippians 1:20; of a life preserved in the midst of perils, with a suggestion of vigor, 2 Corinthians 4:12 (the life of Paul is meant here, which exerts a saving power on the Corinthians by his discharge of his apostolic duties); of the life of persons raised from the dead: ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς, figuratively spoken of a new mode of life, dedicated to God, Romans 6:4; of the life of Jesus after his resurrection, Acts 2:28; Romans 5:10; of the same, with the added notion of vigor, 2 Corinthians 4:10f.

2. used emphatically,

a. "of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic λόγος and to Christ" in whom the λόγος put on human nature: ὥσπερ ὁ πατήρ ἔχει ζωήν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, οὕτως ἔδωκεν καί τῷ υἱῷ ζωήν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, John 5:26; ἐν αὐτῷ (namely, τῷ λόγῳ) ζωή ἦν καί ἡ ζωή ἦν τό φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, in him life was (comprehended), and the life (transfused from the Logos into created natures) was the light (i. e. the intelligence) of men (because the life of men is self-conscious, and thus a fountain of intelligence springs up), John 1:4; ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς, the Logos having life in itself and communicating it to others, 1 John 1:1; ἡ ζωή ἐφανερώθη, was manifested in Christ, clothed in flesh, 1 John 1:2. From this divine fountain of life flows forth that life which is next to be defined: viz.

b. life real and genuine, vita quae sola vita nominanda (Cicero, de sen. 21, 77), "a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last forever" (the writers of the O. T. have anticipated the conception, in their way, by employing חַיִּים to denote a happy life and every kind of blessing: Deuteronomy 30:15, 19; Malachi 2:5; Psalm 33:13 () 13; Proverbs 8:35; Proverbs 12:28, etc.): John 6:51, 63; John 14:6; Romans 7:10; Romans 8:6, 10; 2 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:16; (Colossians 3:4); 2 Peter 1:3; 1 John 5:11, 16, 20; with the addition of τοῦ Θεοῦ, supplied by God (Winer's Grammar, 186 (175)), Ephesians 4:18; ἡ ἐν Χριστῷ, to be obtained in fellowship with Christ, 2 Timothy 1:1; μεταβεβηκέναι ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς ζωήν, John 5:24; 1 John 3:14; ὄψεσθαί τήν ζωήν, John 3:36; ἔχειν ζωήν, John 5:40; John 10:10; 1 John 5:12; with ἐν ἑαυτῷ (or ἑαυτοῖς) added, John 5:26; (); διδόναι, John 6:33; χάρις ζωῆς, the grace of God evident in the life obtained, 1 Peter 3:7; τό πνεῦμα τῆς ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, the Spirit, the repository and imparter of life, and which is received by those united to Christ, Romans 8:2; ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς (see ἄρτος, at the end), John 6:35, 48; τό φῶς τῆς ζοης, the light illumined by which one arrives at life, John 8:12. more fully ζωή αἰώνιος and ἡ ζωή ἡ αἰώνιος ((cf. Buttmann, 90 (79)); see below): John 4:36; (John 12:50); ; 1 John 1:2; 1 John 2:25; (ῤήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου, John 6:68); εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον, unto the attainment of eternal life (cf. εἰς, B. II. 3 c. δ., p. 185a), John 4:14; John 6:27; διδόναι ζωήν αἰώνιον, John 10:28; John 17:2; 1 John 5:11; ἔχειν ζωήν αἰώνιον, John 3:15 (and John 3:16) (opposed to ἀπολλυσθαι), John 3:36; John 5:24, 39; John 6:40, 47, 54; John 20:31 L brackets; 1 John 5:13; οὐκ ἔχειν ζωήν αἰώνιον ἐν ἑαυτῷ, 1 John 3:15; (in Enoch 15:4,6 the wicked angels are said before their fall to have been spiritual and partakers of eternal and immortal life). ζωή and ἡ ζωή, without epithet, are used of the blessing of real life after the resurrection, in Matthew 7:14; John 11:25; Acts 3:15; Acts 5:20; Acts 11:18; Romans 5:17, 18 (on which see δικαίωσις, at the end); 2 Corinthians 5:4; Colossians 3:3; 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus 1:2; Titus 3:7; ζωή ἐκ νεκρῶν, life breaking forth from the abode of the dead, Romans 11:15; εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τήν ζωήν, Matthew 18:8; Matthew 19:17; Mark 9:43, 45; ἀνάστασις ζωῆς equivalent to εἰς ζωήν (2 Macc. 7:14), John 5:29 (on the genitive, cf. Winer's Grammar, 188 (177)); στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς equivalent to ἡ ζωή ὡς στέφανος, James 1:12; Revelation 2:10; ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς, the tree whose fruit gives and maintains eternal life, Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2, 14, 19 (G L T Tr WH) (cf. Genesis 2:9; Proverbs 3:18; δένδρον ζωῆς, Proverbs 11:30; Proverbs 13:12); cf. Bleek, Vorless. üb.

d. Apokalypse, p. 174f; ὕδωρ ζωῆς, water the use of which serves to maintain eternal life, Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1, 17; in the same sense ζωῆς πηγαί ὑδάτων, Revelation 7:17 G L T Tr WH; ἡ βίβλος and τό βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς, the book in which the names of those are recorded to whom eternal life has been decreed: Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:12, 15; Revelation 21:27; (Revelation 22:19 Rec.; cf. Lightfoot on Philippians, the passage cited), more fully ἡ ὄντως (Rec. αἰώνιος) ζωή, 1 Timothy 6:19; ζωή αἰώνιος (cf. above) (Justin Martyr, de resurr. i., p. 588 c. ὁ λόγος ... διδούς ἡμῖν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τήν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν καί τήν μετά ταῦτα ζωήν αἰώνιον), Matthew 25:46 (opposed to κόλασις αἰώνιος); Acts 13:46, 48; Romans 2:7; Romans 6:22; Galatians 6:8; 1 Timothy 6:12; after ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ, Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; ἔχειν ζωήν αἰώνιον Matthew 19:16; κληρονομεῖν, Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:17; Luke 10:25; Luke 18:18; εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον, unto the attainment of life eternal, John 12:25; Romans 5:21; 1 Timothy 1:16; Jude 1:21 (Daniel 12:2; 4 Macc. 15:2; ἀενναος ζωή, 2 Macc. 7:36; ἀΐδιος ζωή, Ignatius ad Eph. 19 [ET]). Cf. Köstlin, Lehrbegriff des Ev. Johann. etc., pp. 234ff, 338ff; Reuss, Johann. Theologie (in Beiträge zu d. theol. Wissenschaften, vol. i.), p. 76ff (cf. his Hist. de la Theol. Chret., book vii., chapter xiv.); Lipsius, Paulin. Rechtfertigungslehre, pp. 152ff 185f; Güder in Herzog viii. 254 (2nd edition, 509ff); B. B. Brückner, De notione vocis ζωή in N. T. Lipsius 1858; Huther,

d. Bedeut. d. Begriffe ζωή u. πιστεύειν im N. T., in the Jahrbb. f. deutsche Theol. 1872, p. 1ff (For the relations of the term to heathen conceptions cf. G. Teichmüller, Aristotle, Forsch. iii., p. 127ff) Some, as Bretschneider, Wahl, Wilke, especially Käuffer (in his book De biblica ζωῆς αἰωνίου notione. Dresd. 1838), maintain that ζωή αἰώνιος everywhere even in John's writings refers to life after the resurrection; but in this way they are compelled not only to assume a prophetic use of the perfect in the saying ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου μεταβεβηκέναι εἰς τήν ζωήν (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14), but also to interpret the common phrase ἔχει ζωήν αἰώνιον as meaning he has eternal life as his certain portion though as yet only in hope, as well as to explain ζωήν αἰώνιον οὐκ ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ μένουσαν (1 John 3:15) of the hope of eternal life. (Synonym: see βίος, at the end.)