3 Greek Words for Life in the New Testament and How They Apply to Us

The word life appears numerous times in the New Testament. But have you ever wondered what this word means? For instance, when Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly,” what did He mean? Was He saying He would help us have a better life, or that He would enrich or improve our life?

The New Testament was originally written in Greek, a language richer than English in the diversity and complexity of its vocabulary. For example, there are three Greek words for life used in the New Testament: bios, psuche, and zoe. These words have different meanings, but they’re all translated into English as life. So if we want to know which meaning life has in a particular verse, we need to know which Greek word is being used. 

In this post, we’ll explore the meaning of each of these three Greek words for life using verses and notes from the New Testament Recovery Version, with a special focus on zoe.

Bios, psuche, and zoe

Let’s see some examples where bios, psuche, and zoe appear in the New Testament. 

1. Bios 

The Greek word translated as life in Luke 8:14 is bios:

 “And that which fell into the thorns, these are those who heard and, going away, are utterly choked by anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, and do not bring any fruit to maturity.” 

Bios here refers to the life of the physical body. The English word biology comes from bios.

2. Psuche 

Now let’s come to Matthew 6:25. In this verse, the Greek word psuche is translated as life:

“Because of this, I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you should eat or what you should drink; nor for your body, what you should put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing?”

Note 1 on life says:

“Lit., soul. Referring to the soul-life, where the desire, the appetite, for food and clothing resides (Isa. 29:8).”

 Psuche refers to the psychological life of the human soul, that is, the mind, emotion, and will. The English word psychology comes from psuche.

3. Zoe 

The Greek word translated as life in John 1:4 is zoe:

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Zoe refers to the uncreated, eternal life of God, the divine life.

A closer look at zoe

Now, let’s take a closer look at zoe. First John 5:12 says:

“He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”

Here the Greek word zoe is translated life. Note 1 on this verse says:

“Because the life is in the Son (John 1:4) and the Son is the life (John 11:25; 14:6; Col. 3:4), the Son and the life are one, inseparable. Hence, he who has the Son has the life, and he who does not have the Son does not have the life.”

With the help of this verse and the note, we can see that zoe is the divine person of Christ. Christ was incarnated as the man Jesus, whom the apostles could see with their eyes and even handle with their hands. Zoe isn’t something indefinite; it’s the wonderful person of our dear Lord Jesus! If we have Him, we have zoe.

Having, enjoying, and living by the divine life

Now let’s revisit John 10:10, which was mentioned at the beginning of this post. Here the Greek word zoe is used for life. Let’s read it again, replacing life with zoe:

“I [Christ] have come that they may have zoe and may have itit abundantly.”

Christ as the eternal life came so we could have the eternal, divine life. This is vastly different from thinking Christ came so that we could have a better or improved human life. He came so we could have Him, the divine life.

By our physical birth, we possess only the physical life (bios) and the soulish life (psuche). No one has the divine life (zoe) when they’re born. But when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we received Christ into us. We were born again with the divine life! 

So now that we’ve received Christ, the divine life, our Christian life must be fully involved with Him. What Christ wants is for us to enjoy His life, live by His life, and let that life grow in us. Then the riches of His divine, eternal life will be expressed through us, and He will be manifested to the people all around us. 

Focusing on zoe daily

When we realize that God’s desire is for us to have His divine, eternal, life (zoe), and even have it abundantly, we’ll focus on Him enjoying Him in our spirit. We can do this by feeding on the riches in God’s Word, spending time with Christ in prayer, and experiencing Him day by day. As we enjoy the eternal life we’ve received, that life will increase within us, and little by little, we’ll express Christ in our daily life.

Of course, every aspect of zoe can’t be covered in any blog post. But if you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version to read the verses, their references, and the accompanying commentary to receive more light.