Day 9 of 75 · The reign foundations
Ḥ-Y-Y
ḥayye: life
חיא
ܚܰܝܶܐ
The feel
Ḥayye means life, the life a breathing, moving body has. The word is plural in form and appears 144 times in the Gospels. It also means the living, and it names the life that the hard way leads to (Matthew 7:14). The adjective ḥayyā means living, and when used of flesh it means raw.
The root family
| Word | Pattern | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|
| ḥayye | noun, plural in form · 144× | ܚܰܝܶܐ | life | life; the living |
| ḥayyā | adjective | ܚܝܐ | alive, living | living; of flesh, raw |
| ḥayyutā | noun | ܚܝܘܬܐ | animal | living creature |
The verb has two stems, the simple Peal ḥyā, to live or be alive, and the causative Aphel aḥḥi, to make alive or give life.
In his voice
Matthew 7:14
But narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life, and few find it.
l-ḥayye, "to life." The plural noun with the preposition l-, to. This is where the narrow gate and the hard way lead.
Matthew 19:17
Yeshua said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commands."
ḥayye, "life." Here life is something a person enters. The young man asked about having life, and Yeshua answers about entering it.
Matthew 22:32
'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
ḥayye, "the living." The same plural that means life here names the people who are alive, set against the dead.
Practice
Sit still and find your pulse at the wrist or neck. Count ten beats, then say ḥayye aloud in two clear beats, ḥay-ye.
Connections