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חַי

𐤇𐤉

chay

H2416 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Living, alive; that which possesses life, animate as opposed to inanimate. Used adjectivally to describe living beings—human, animal, plant—or living conditions. As a substantive (noun), designates life itself, a living being or creature, those who are alive, or vitality. By extension, can denote raw, fresh, vigorous, or lively aspects (as in raw meat, fresh plants, or flowing water).

Semantic Range

alive (of persons or animals), living (creature or thing), raw (flesh), fresh (plants, water), vigorous, subsistence or sustenance (life-source), oath formula ('as YHWH lives'), duration of life (lifetime), company or group of living beings (troop, multitude), appetite (as sign of life)

Root / Etymology

From the root חיה (ḥ-y-h), meaning 'to live' or 'to be alive.' The adjective חַי (ḥay) derives directly from this root, signifying 'living' or 'alive.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

חַי serves a broad lexical role in biblical Hebrew. As an adjective, it stands in contrast to deadness or inanimacy and is regularly used to describe living humans (e.g., 'as YHWH lives'—a frequent oath formula), animals ('the living creatures'), and even substances (fresh water). As a noun, it often appears in both masculine plural (חַיִּים ḥayyim—'lives, life') and feminine singular (חַיָּה ḥayyah—'living thing,' especially animals). In early Israelite literature, it is opposed to death and non-being, serving as a general marker of vitality and presence in the land of the living. Raw or fresh matter (e.g., meat, plants, water) are described as 'living' in the sense of being unspoiled or active. In the priestly and prophetic texts, חַי is foundational in the conceptual opposition between life and death, ritual purity and impurity. The term is more general than more specialized words for specific kinds of animals or for human life (נֶפֶשׁ, רוּחַ). Later translations often collapse these nuances by rendering חַי and related forms as simply 'life' or 'living thing,' missing idiomatic uses or liturgical/formulaic employment.

Translation Consistency

primary "living" 322 occurrences

Most natural and frequent English rendering across contexts (adjectival: 'living creatures'; substantive: 'the living'; qualities: 'living water', 'living flesh'). It captures the primary sense 'alive/vivid' used in the Hebrew and is flexible for oath/duration and collective uses, making it the most consistent choice for all forms of H2416.

Alternatives (181 occurrences):
"life" (65x) "living-being of" (35x) "live" (15x) "alive" (12x) "lives" (8x) "yahweh lives" (7x) "living-thing of" (6x) "life of" (5x) "beasts" (3x) "wild beast" (3x) "living-years" (3x) "living-creature" (2x) "lifetime" (2x) "beast" (2x) "than my life" (2x) "beasts of" (2x) "lived" (1x) "battle" (1x) "troop of" (1x) "soul lives" (1x) "rather than life" (1x) "wild animal" (1x) "than life" (1x) "animal of" (1x) "beast of" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from חָיָה; alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively; [phrase] age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, [phrase] merry, multitude, [phrase] (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.

Bantu Hebrew

Language Bantu Word Transliteration Meaning
Kikuyu hī alive
Swahili hai alive, living

Root Family

חיה (ḥ-y-h) — to live, be alive

Root חיה to live, be alive
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H2417 חַי the living one
H2418 חֲיָא Live!
H2421 חָיָה I will cause to live
H2422 חָיֶה living ones
H2423 חֵיוָא living creature

Word Forms

65 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H2416-10 חָֽי chay HAamsa lives living living 117
H2416-29 חַיִּ֑ים chayim HNcmpa of life lives livings 85
H2416-12 חַיַּ֨ת chayat HNcfsc beast living-being of living-being of 33
H2416-36 הַֽ/חַיִּים֙ hachayim HTd/Ncmpa of life the living ones the living ones 27
H2416-35 הַֽ/חַיָּ֣ה hachayah HTd/Aafsa the living creature the living being the living being 26
H2416-11 חַיָּ֑ה chayah HAafsa living living one living one 23
H2416-18 חַיַּ֔/י chayay HNcmpc/Sp1cs my life my lives my livings 17
H2416-20 חַיָּ֔י/ו chayayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms of his life his lives his life 14
H2416-23 חַיֵּ֣י chayey HNcmpc the life of lives of livings of 12
H2416-26 חַיֶּֽי/ךָ chayeykha HNcmpc/Sp2ms of your life your lives your life 12

Occurrences in Scripture

503 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H2416-11 Genesis 1:20 חַיָּ֑ה chayah HAafsa living living one living one
H2416-35 Genesis 1:21 הַֽ/חַיָּ֣ה hachayah HTd/Aafsa living the living being the living being
H2416-11 Genesis 1:24 חַיָּה֙ chayah HAafsa living living one living one
H2416-60 Genesis 1:24 וְ/חַֽיְתוֹ vechayeto HC/Ncfsc and beasts and his living-creature and his living-creature
H2416-12 Genesis 1:25 חַיַּ֨ת chayat HNcfsc the beasts living-being of living-being of
H2416-11 Genesis 1:28 חַיָּ֖ה chayah HNcbsa living thing living one living one
H2416-12 Genesis 1:30 חַיַּ֣ת chayat HNcfsc beast living-being of living-being of
H2416-11 Genesis 1:30 חַיָּ֔ה chayah HAafsa of life living one living one
H2416-29 Genesis 2:7 חַיִּ֑ים chayim HNcmpa of life lives livings
H2416-11 Genesis 2:7 חַיָּֽה chayah HAafsa being living one living one
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