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Bible Dictionaries
Living
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or 1. Outside of the Gospels ‘living’ does not occur as a noun in the Authorized Version of the NT, but is found three times in the Revised Version , viz. in 1 Peter 1:15, 2 Peter 3:11, where it denotes the manner of life (Authorized Version ‘conversation,’ Gr. ἀναστροφή), and in Revelation 18:17, where ‘gain their living (i.e. means of life) by sea’ represents the Authorized Version ‘trade by sea,’ the Revised Version margin ‘work the sea,’ Gr. τὴν θάλασσαν ἐργάζονται.
2. ‘Living’ as a verb is found in both the Authorized Version and the Revised Version of Colossians 2:20, ‘living in the world,’ where the Gr. is ζῶντες; and Titus 3:3, ‘living in malice’ (Gr. διάγοντες).
3. The adj. ‘living’ (Gr. ζῶν) occurs frequently and is used with various shades of meaning.-(1) In the ordinary sense of being alive in contrast with dead (Romans 12:1; Romans 14:9, Revised Version of Revelation 1:18). In Acts 10:42, 2 Timothy 4:1, 1 Peter 4:5 both the Authorized Version and the Revised Version translate ζῶντες by ‘quick.’ In the ‘living soul’ of 1 Corinthians 15:45 and Revelation 16:3 the word has the same meaning; in the latter passage, however, the literal rendering of the Gr. is ‘soul of life’ (Revised Version margin).-(2) The ‘living creatures’ (Revised Version ; Authorized Version ‘beasts’; Gr. ζῷα, being the Septuagint equivalent of חַיוֹת in Ezekiel 1:5, etc.) of Revelation 4:6; Revelation 4:8, etc., are so called as being not alive merely, but instinct with life and activity (cf. Ezekiel 1:14).-(3) With an intensified force the word is used of God, who is called ‘the living God’ (Acts 14:15, Romans 9:26, 2 Corinthians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 Timothy 6:17 [Authorized Version ], Hebrews 3:12; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:31; Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 7:2) not only as being self-existent, but as possessing the fullness of life in absolute perfection.-(4) Figuratively, the expression is applied to the oracles given by God to Moses (Acts 7:38, Authorized Version ‘lively’); to the word of God generally (Hebrews 4:12, Authorized Version ‘quick’); to the way into the holy place which Jesus dedicated for us (Hebrews 10:20); to the hope unto which God has begotten us by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3, Authorized Version ‘lively’); to the Stone rejected of men but with God elect, precious (1 Peter 2:4), and the stones built up on that foundation into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5, Authorized Version ‘lively’); to the fountains of waters to which the Lamb shall lead His people (Revelation 7:17 TR [Note: Textus Receptus, Received Text.] and Authorized Version ; Revised Version ‘fountains of waters of life’). The precise force of ‘living’ in each of these cases is determined by the word to which it is attached and the context in which it is set. The word of God is living because, being God’s, it is instinct with His own life; the way into the holy place because it is real and efficacious, as contrasted with the mere ceremony of entrance into the earthly sanctuary; the Christian hope because it is the result of a Divine begetting, and is therefore lasting and certain of fruition as human hopes are not; the heavenly fountains because they are ever ‘springing up unto eternal life’ (cf. John 4:10; John 4:14). The elect Stone and the stones built upon it are living stones because the persons whom they metaphorically represent are living persons-the One alive with the very life of God, the others sharing in that life through their union with Him.
J. C. Lambert.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Living'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/l/living.html. 1906-1918.
