alive
chay describes a person, creature, or God as living rather than dead, and appears in affirmations and oaths.
The term chiefly marks someone or something as living in contrast to death, whether a disputed child, a captive, a soul, or the one who lives forever. It also occurs in oath-like statements affirming that the LORD, a king, or a person’s soul lives, and in clauses measuring the days people live on the land.
Senses in use
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Living in contrast to death · dominant
The masculine singular adjective identifies the disputed child as the one not to be killed in 1 Kings 3:26; the APB renders the clause "give her the living child who was born and do not kill him." Plural forms describe captives seized rather than immediately killed in 1 Kings 20:18 and 2 Kings 10:14, while 1 Kings 21:15 contrasts Naboth's being "not alive" with his death. The same life-status description is applied to every "living soul" reached by the river in Ezekiel 47:9 and to "the one who lives forever" in Daniel 12:7.
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Life affirmed in an oath formula · common
Masculine singular forms occur in statements introduced by the APB as "As the LORD ... lives," followed by a pledge or declaration, as in 1 Kings 17:1 and 1 Samuel 19:6. The same formula can invoke a person's soul or life, as in 1 Samuel 1:26 and 1 Samuel 20:3.
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The span of life on the land · occasional
Masculine plural adjective forms occur with "all the days" in instructions concerning continued life on the land. In Deuteronomy 12:1 the APB renders "all the days that you live on the land," and 1 Kings 8:40 similarly speaks of days "which they are alive upon the face of the land."
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses "alive," "living," and "lives," including the formula "As the LORD... lives." It also expresses the term through phrases about days people "live" on the land; Its wording is only a guide to the clause-level presentation.