Myths about the Greek Word for “Life”

This article will address the popular myths about the Greek word zōē “life” and its related verb zaō “to live”.

Myth 1: Zōē refers strictly to the divine life that God lives.

Zōē certainly can and does refer to the divine life of God in some places. However, this is not always the case. Zōē can also be used to refer to the natural life of a human being.

In Luke 12:15, Jesus said to the crowd, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life [zōē] is not in the abundance of his possessions.” (HCSB)

In 1 Timothy 4:8, the Apostle Paul says that “the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life [zōē] and also for the life to come.” (HCSB)

The verb zaō “to live” refers to the activity of a being which possesses zōē. A human being is referred to as a “living [zaō] soul” in 1 Corinthians 15:45 (cf. Genesis 2:7).

Living human beings are said to zaō—Matthew 9:18; 27:63; Mark 5:23; Luke 2:36; 24:23; John 4:50, 51, 53; Acts 1:3; 9:41; 17:28; 20:12; 22:22; 25:19, 24; 28:4; Romans 7:1, 3.

Myth 2: Zōē refers to life of the highest quality, which only believers have.

As we have already seen, human beings possess zōē by virtue of being alive in the natural sense. Hence, in that natural sense, even unbelievers also possess zōē.

In the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man, Abraham says to the dead unsaved rich man, “Child, remember that you received your good things in your life [zōē].” (Luke 16:25)

The Apostle Paul says that God “gives to all life [zōē] and breath.” (Acts 17:25)

Before his conversion, the Apostle Paul said that he “lived [zaō] as a Pharisee.” (Acts 26:5)

In the Book of Revelation, the clearly hell-bound beast “has the wound of the sword and lived [zaō].” (13:14) That beast and the false-prophet “were thrown still living [zaō], the two of them, into the lake of the fire which burns in brimstone.” (19:20) The unrighteous dead ones “did not live [zaō] until the thousand years were completed.” (20:5)

Myth 3: Believers who do not live according to God’s ways do not have the “zōē-life.”

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus tells of the prodigal son “living [zaō] unsavedly.” (Luke 15:13)

In Romans 8:13, the Apostle Paul warns: “If you live [zaō] according to flesh, you are going to die!”

Myth 4: Animals do not have zōē.

Unfortunately, nowhere in the New Testament Scriptures are animals explicitly said to zaō or possess zōē. Fortunately, we are not left without any other resource to examine.

The Septuagint is a body of Greek translations of the Old Testament Scriptures which was used by Jesus and the first Christians. Hence, examining its translation choices is useful in determining what the word zōē and the verb zaō meant to the writers of the New Testament Scriptures.

Animals are said to possess zōē in Genesis 1:30, where they are referred to as “[that] which has in itself a soul of life [zōē].”

Like human beings, animals are also referred to as “living [zaō] souls”—Genesis 1:20, 21, 24; 2:19; 9:10, 12, 15, 16; Leviticus 11:10; Ezekiel 47:9.

Animals are said to be “living” (zaō)—Exodus 21:35; 22:3; Leviticus 14:6, 52, 53; 16:10, 20, 21.

Conclusion

So, what does zōē really mean? On its own, the Greek word zōē simply means “life” in opposition to “death"; no more than that is implied in the word itself. This is why zōē can refer to the natural life of human beings, saved or unsaved, and even animals!

Whether zōē refers to the divine life of God, or the spiritual, eternal life experienced only by true believers in Jesus Christ, depends solely on the context in which zōē is used. Such nuances cannot be determined by the meaning of the word zōē itself.