חֲיָא
cha.ya
to live
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word for Life: חֲיָא (chaya) The Hebrew verb חֲיָא (chaya) carries the fundamental meaning "to live" and appears 282 times throughout the biblical text, making it one of the language's most frequently used words. This high frequency alone signals its importance to biblical thought and expression. The term operates at the most basic semantic level, denoting the state or condition of being alive as opposed to being dead. Given its prevalence across 282 occurrences, this verb likely functions across a range of contexts—from literal descriptions of physical survival to more metaphorical or theological applications about spiritual vitality. The sheer number of uses suggests that concepts of living, survival, and continuity of existence were central preoccupations in biblical literature. Without additional lexical data specifying particular nuances or contexts, we can conclude that חֲיָא served as the primary Hebrew vehicle for expressing the notion of life itself, whether in narrative, law, wisdom literature, or prophetic texts. The word's foundational role in biblical vocabulary underscores that "life" was not a peripheral concern but a theme woven throughout Scripture. Its frequency implies that biblical authors regularly needed to discuss, command, promise, or reflect upon the condition of living—whether referring to individuals, communities, or the relationship between humanity and the divine.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
282 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Then they brought out the king’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the covenant, and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Long live the king!”
2 Chronicles 25:25Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.
Nehemiah 2:3I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
Nehemiah 4:2He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”
Nehemiah 5:2For there were some who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.”
Nehemiah 6:11I said, “Should a man like me flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”
Nehemiah 9:6You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you.
Nehemiah 9:29and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.
Esther 4:11“All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
Job 7:16I loathe my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
Job 14:14If a man dies, will he live again? I would wait all the days of my warfare, until my release should come.
Job 21:7“Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
Job 33:4The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Job 36:6He doesn’t preserve the life of the wicked, but gives justice to the afflicted.
Job 42:16After this Job lived one hundred forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, to four generations.
Psalms 22:26The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
Psalms 22:29All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
Psalms 30:3Yahweh, you have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Psalms 33:19to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine.
Psalms 41:2Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
Exodus 33:20He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”
Psalms 49:9that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.
Psalms 69:32The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live.
Psalms 71:20You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
Psalms 72:15They shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. Men shall pray for him continually. They shall bless him all day long.
Psalms 80:18So we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call on your name.
Psalms 85:6Won’t you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
Psalms 89:48What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?
Psalms 118:17I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works.
Psalms 119:17Do good to your servant. I will live and I will obey your word.
Psalms 119:25My soul is laid low in the dust. Revive me according to your word!
Psalms 119:37Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
Psalms 119:40Behold, I long for your precepts! Revive me in your righteousness.
Psalms 119:50This is my comfort in my affliction, for your word has revived me.
Psalms 119:77Let your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
Psalms 119:88Preserve my life according to your loving kindness, so I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
Psalms 119:93I will never forget your precepts, for with them, you have revived me.
Psalms 119:107I am afflicted very much. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your word.
Psalms 119:116Uphold me according to your word, that I may live. Let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Psalms 119:144Your testimonies are righteous forever. Give me understanding, that I may live.
Psalms 119:149Hear my voice according to your loving kindness. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your ordinances.
Psalms 119:154Plead my cause, and redeem me! Revive me according to your promise.
Psalms 119:156Great are your tender mercies, Yahweh. Revive me according to your ordinances.
Psalms 119:159Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, Yahweh, according to your loving kindness.
Psalms 119:175Let my soul live, that I may praise you. Let your ordinances help me.
Psalms 138:7Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me.
Psalms 143:11Revive me, Yahweh, for your name’s sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
Proverbs 4:4He taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live.
Proverbs 7:2Keep my commandments and live! Guard my teaching as the apple of your eye.
Proverbs 9:6Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding.”