1 Samuel 25:29

25:29 When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag ¹  of the living by the Lord your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket!

Job 12:10

12:10 in whose hand ²  is the life ³  of every creature

and the breath of all the human race. ⁴ 

Psalms 36:9

36:9 For you are the one who gives

and sustains life. ⁵ 

Psalms 66:9

66:9 He preserves our lives ⁶ 

and does not allow our feet to slip.

Luke 20:38

20:38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, ⁷  for all live before him.” ⁸ 

John 5:26

5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,

John 11:25

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ⁹  even if he dies,

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ¹⁰  in him.

Hebrews 1:3

1:3 The Son is ¹¹  the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, ¹²  and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ¹³ 

¹ tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”

² tn The construction with the relative clause includes a resumptive pronoun referring to God: “who in his hand” = “in whose hand.”

³ tn The two words נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) and רוּחַ (ruakh) are synonymous in general. They could be translated “soul” and “spirit,” but “soul” is not precise for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), and so “life” is to be preferred. Since that is the case for the first half of the verse, “breath” will be preferable in the second part.

⁴ tn Human life is made of “flesh” and “spirit.” So here the line reads “and the spirit of all flesh of man.” If the text had simply said “all flesh,” that would have applied to all flesh in which there is the breath of life (see Gen 6:17; 7:15). But to limit this to human beings requires the qualification with “man.”

⁵ tn Heb “for with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Water (note “fountain”) and light are here metaphors for life.

⁶ tn Heb “the one who places our soul in life.”

⁷ sn He is not God of the dead but of the living. Jesus’ point was that if God could identify himself as God of the three old patriarchs, then they must still be alive when God spoke to Moses; and so they must be raised.

⁸ tn On this syntax, see BDF §192. The point is that all live “to” God or “before” God.

⁹ tn That is, will come to life.

¹⁰ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

¹¹ tn Grk “who being…and sustaining.” Heb 1:1-4 form one skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments to correspond to contemporary English usage, which does not allow for sentences of this length and complexity.

¹² tn Grk “by the word of his power.”

¹³ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.