ζωογονέω

From the study of 1 Timothy 6:13

Range of meaning

Literally 'to beget or produce life.' In use it means (1) to give life, bring into being, and (2) far more often in biblical Greek, to keep alive, spare, preserve someone's life.

Against the English

'Gives life to all things' (BSB, WEB) is accurate but can sound only like creation in the past. YLT's 'is making all things alive' keeps the ongoing present tense. KJV's 'quickeneth' (from the variant ζωοποιέω) is accurate in older English, but most modern readers no longer know the word.

How it drifted

'Quicken' once meant 'make alive' ('the quick and the dead' means the living and the dead). It now usually means 'speed up.'

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Exodus 1:17–18, 22: the Hebrew midwives 'kept the male children alive' against Pharaoh's order. Also Judges 8:19; 1 Samuel 27:9, 11; 2 Kings 7:4 (to be spared alive). NT: Luke 17:33, 'whoever loses his life will preserve it alive (ζῳογονήσει)'; Acts 7:19, infants exposed 'so that they would not be kept alive.'

From the study of Acts 7:19

Range of meaning

Literally 'to bring forth alive'. In Hellenistic Greek it usually means 'to keep alive, preserve alive, let live'. It can also mean 'to give life' (1 Timothy 6:13, of God).

Against the English

ESV 'would not be kept alive' and YLT 'might not live' are close. 'So they would die' (BSB, NIV, NLT) gives the same outcome but turns 'not be preserved' into a positive statement, which loses the echo of Exodus 1.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Exodus 1:17–18: the midwives 'kept the male children alive' (ezōogonoun). Exodus 1:22: Pharaoh orders, 'every female, keep alive'. Elsewhere in the Greek Old Testament: Judges 8:19 and 1 Samuel 27:9, 11 (David 'did not leave alive' man or woman). Luke 17:33: whoever loses his life 'will preserve it alive'.

From the study of Luke 17:33

Range of meaning

In classical and scientific Greek: to produce living young, to engender life (Aristotle). In biblical Greek: to keep alive, spare, preserve alive, and of God, to give life. It occurs three times in the NT: Luke 17:33; Acts 7:19; 1 Tim 6:13 ("God, who gives life to all things").

Against the English

BSB, KJV and WEB have "preserve"; ESV-type versions "keep"; NLT "save". These are all acceptable. "Keep" or "preserve" can sound like simply holding on to something you already have. The Greek is a life word: the life is kept alive, and the word can mean "given life".

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament: Exod 1:17–18 (the midwives "kept alive" the male children); Exod 1:22 ("every girl you shall keep alive"); 1 Sam 2:6 ("The Lord kills and keeps alive"); 1 Sam 27:9, 11; 1 Kings 20:31; Judg 8:19. Acts 7:19 uses it of Pharaoh's order that Hebrew babies "not be kept alive".