Words · Greek Words · Lesson 5, word 2 of 5
ζωήzoe
Life, natural life, and the life of the age to come.
Why this word is here. John's great word ('I am the life', 'eternal life'), paired in sermons with bios in another contrast that needs the same gentle correction as kairos.
What it means
Abbott-Smith: life, in early Greek used interchangeably with bios; later distinguished as existence, the life by which we live, as distinct from bios, the life we live (one's course or manner of life, livelihood). In the New Testament: of natural life (Luke 16:25; 1 Corinthians 15:19); of the life of one risen from the dead; and of the life of the kingdom of God, the present life of grace and the life of glory to follow, with the adjective aionios, 'eternal life', which in John is defined as knowing God (John 17:3).
Zoe aionios is not merely life that lasts: it is the life of the coming age, begun now in those who believe.
Where you meet it
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 1:4 (BSB)
'In Him was life (zoe), and the life was the light of men.' Zoe located in a person from the Gospel's first page.
Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
John 17:3 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'This is eternal life (zoe aionios): that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.' The Bible defines its own term: life is knowledge of God, in the relational, yada sense.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (BSB)
'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (zoe aionios) in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Why it matters
Zoe is the New Testament's promise in one word: the life Adam lost and Christ gives, resurrection life that starts at faith and completes at the resurrection. John's Gospel uses it nearly forty times, and its definition (knowing God) binds eternal life to relationship rather than mere duration.
Watch out
The sermon contrast, 'zoe is God's spiritual life, bios is mere physical existence', overstates, the same fallacy as the kairos case. Abbott-Smith notes the words are interchangeable in early Greek, and zoe itself is used of plain natural life (Luke 16:25, 'in your lifetime you received good things'; Acts 17:25, God gives 'life and breath'). The strong distinction is a tendency of New Testament usage, especially John's, not a law built into the letters. Preach the tendency; do not legislate it.
In this lesson
- kairos (καιρός): A definite, appointed, opportune time.
- eirene (εἰρήνη): Peace, concord, security, and the shalom of God.
- doulos (δοῦλος): A slave, owned, and (in Christ) honoured by the title.
- pneumatikos (πνευματικός): 'Spiritual', belonging to, or actuated by, the Spirit.
Sources
- Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (1889)
- STEP Bible lexicon data (Abbott-Smith)
- SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
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