חָיָה chayah

Hebrew word for “to live” · Strong’s H2421 · used 282 times in 257 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

1) to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health;

How it is translated

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

• will live 74
• lived 50
• preserve alive 21
• live 21
• may live 17
• may he live 11
• certainly 11
• will let live 7
• will preserve alive 5
• may it live 4
• preserving alive 3
• may preserve alive 3

Where it is used

Also in 15 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

Genesis 5 (17), Genesis 11 (16), Psalms 119 (16), Ezekiel 18 (11), Ezekiel 33 (7), 2 Kings 8 (6), Ezekiel 37 (6), Genesis 19 (4), Exodus 1 (4), 1 Kings 1 (4)

Forms

• ויחי 47
• יחיה 34
• וחי 20
• תחיה 12
• יחי 11
• וחיה 10
• וחיו 10
• יחיו 9
• חיה 9
• חיני 9

Words used with it

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

• שָׁנָה shaneh “year” 46
• יָלַד yalad “to beget” 37
• מוּת mut “to die” 39
• מֵאָה meah “hundred” 27
• נֶפֶשׁ nephesh “soul” 27
• מִשְׁפָּט mishpat “justice” 20
• בַּת bat “daughter” 19
• אַחַר achar “after” 20
• שׁוּב shuv “to return” 22
• הָלַךְ halakh “to go” 24
• רָאָה raah “to see” 22
• אַתָּה attah “you(m.s.)” 19

Key verses

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

• Genesis 20:7 — Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou…
• Deuteronomy 4:1 — Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land…
• Deuteronomy 32:39 — See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
• Nehemiah 9:29 — And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned…
• Isaiah 26:19 — Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth…
• Isaiah 55:3 — Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
• Isaiah 57:15 — For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and…
• Ezekiel 3:18 — When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the…
• Ezekiel 18:24 — But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth,…
• Ezekiel 20:13 — But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even…
• 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…
• Habakkuk 3:2 — O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember…

See all 257 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.