Word studies · Greek · Strong's G2222
ζωή · zōḗ · appears 136 times in the New Testament
In one line: God's own life, given now and unending.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
John 10:10
Zōē is life itself — vitality as such, and in John's Gospel the eternal life God gives in His Son.
The New Testament uses zōē for ordinary aliveness but far more often for the life of the age to come, already given to those who believe. John's Gospel promises it in the present tense: whoever believes “has eternal life,” a quality of life with God that begins now and death cannot end.
Zōē comes from zaō, “to live,” and Greek distinguished it from bios, which meant a lifetime or a way of making a living. Zōē is the deeper word — life as a principle rather than a span — which is why bios gives English “biography” while zōē gives “zoology,” the study of living things as such.
“Eternal life” in English sounds mainly like duration, a very long time. The Greek phrase names a kind of life belonging to the coming age — so the emphasis falls on whose life it is, not merely how long it lasts.
Zōē (G2222) appears 136 times in the New Testament, and more than a third of those are in John's Gospel alone.
Making life a present possession rather than a future reward reframes salvation: the believer is not waiting to begin living with God but has already crossed “from death to life.” Jesus locates that life in Himself — “I am the resurrection and the life” — so it is never a substance dispensed apart from Him.
Ask whether you are treating eternal life as something owed later or something given now. Name one way the life of the coming age could show up in your Tuesday.
life (literally or figuratively)
But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:14If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.
Mark 9:43One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher, he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Luke 10:25In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 1:4You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’
Acts 2:28To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.
Romans 2:7Press and hold life in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.