zao denotes being alive, living in a stated manner, and life promised in the face of death.

The dominant use marks persons or God as alive or presently existing, often in contrast with death. The occurrences also describe a manner or aim of life, apply present participles to things called living, and speak of life given or continuing in contexts of death, resurrection, and enduring promise.

1. Being alive or remaining among the living · dominant

   Present forms identify someone as alive in an immediate contrast or condition: in 1 Corinthians 7:39 the husband’s present status sets the duration of the wife’s binding, and in Hebrews 9:17 the maker of a covenant is contrasted with the dead. Present participles likewise distinguish those remaining alive from those who have fallen asleep in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17; in 1 Peter 4:5, living people stand alongside the dead before judgment.

   1 Corinthians 7:39Hebrews 9:171 Thessalonians 4:151 Thessalonians 4:171 Peter 4:5Acts 25:19
2. Living as a present quality of God or a thing · common

   Present active participles modify God in clauses contrasting God with idols or dead works, as in Acts 14:15 and Hebrews 9:14. The same participial form modifies other nouns: 1 Peter 2:4 calls the stone living, while Hebrews 4:12 describes the word of God as living and effective.

   Acts 14:151 Thessalonians 1:9Hebrews 9:141 Peter 2:4Hebrews 4:12Acts 7:38
3. Living by a pattern, source, or goal · common

   The verb can describe how life is conducted or sustained. In 1 Corinthians 9:14 the APB renders the clause about gospel proclaimers as living from the gospel; Galatians 2:14 contrasts living in Gentile and Jewish fashion, and Galatians 2:19 states the aim as living to God. In 2 Timothy 3:12, the infinitive occurs with the desire to live piously in Christ Jesus.

   1 Corinthians 9:14Galatians 2:14Galatians 2:19Galatians 2:202 Timothy 3:12Colossians 3:7
4. Life in the face of death or as future promise · occasional

   Future forms occur where death does not end the stated prospect: in John 11:25, the person trusting in Jesus will live even if he dies, and in John 5:25 those hearing the Son’s voice will live. In 2 Corinthians 13:4, present life and future life are both linked to the power of God; 1 John 4:9 and 1 Peter 2:24 use aorist subjunctives in purpose clauses about living through him and living to righteousness.

   John 11:25John 5:25John 6:582 Corinthians 13:41 John 4:91 Peter 2:24

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses “lives,” “living,” and “alive,” and it sometimes frames the clause with expressions such as “will live” or “living and the dead.” Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, those English choices confirm the clauses’ overall presentation without fixing a separate English equivalent in every instance.