חַי chay

Hebrew word for “alive” · Strong’s H2416 · used 498 times in 449 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

adj; 1) living, alive;

Senses in the lexicon

• alive (242)
• life (145)
• living thing (106)
• community (4)
• kinsfolk (1)

How it is translated

Glosses given for chay in context, with how often each is used:

• life 232
• living 90
• alive 40
• animal 37
• animals 34
• living creatures 12
• living creature 11
• lives 8
• living one 7
• living thing 6
• more than life 4
• living person 3

Where it is used

Also in 17 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

Leviticus 14 (8), Ezekiel 1 (8), Genesis 9 (7), Ezekiel 32 (7), Genesis 1 (6), Genesis 3 (6), Genesis 7 (5), Leviticus 11 (5), 1 Kings 3 (5), Job 33 (5)

Forms

• חי 123
• חיים 85
• חית 33
• חיי 29
• החיים 27
• החיה 26
• חיה 23
• החי 15
• חייו 14
• חייך 12

Words used with it

Words that share verses with chay more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• נֶפֶשׁ nephesh “soul” 61
• אִם im “if” 57
• שָׂדֶה sadeh “land” 40
• עוֹף oph “bird” 25
• מוּת mut “to die” 37
• אֲנִי ani “I” 37
• עוֹד od “still” 31
• מָוֶת mavet “death” 23
• רָאָה raah “to see” 38
• אֵת et “with” 30
• מִן־ min “from” 32
• נְאֻם neum “utterance” 23

Key verses

The verses using chay that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• Genesis 8:21 — And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s…
• Deuteronomy 4:9 — Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the…
• Joshua 1:5 — There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake…
• 1 Kings 17:1 — And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew…
• Psalms 27:1 — [A Psalm of David.] The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
• Psalms 27:4 — One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the…
• Jeremiah 2:13 — For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no…
• Jeremiah 10:10 — But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide…
• Ezekiel 5:11 — Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations,…
• Ezekiel 33:11 — Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye…
• Daniel 12:2 — And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
• Hosea 1:10 — Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place…

See all 449 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.