←
ḥyyn, ḥyˀ (ḥayyīn, ḥayyē) n.m.pl. life
1
life, lifetime
Common Aramaic
4Q537 A:4↗ שני חיי‏ ; PTBer 10.d:51[2]↗ חמרא טבא לחיי רבנן ולתלמידיהון‏ : good wine to the life of the Rabbis and their students ; PTBB 16.b:63[2]↗ ולמה לא תבעתינון בחייה‏ : why didn't you claim them when she was alive? ; BT Ber 8a(19)↗ אקדימו ואחשיכו לבי כנישתא כי הכי דתאריכו חיי‏ : attend the synagogue early and late, for thus you will lengthen (your) life ; PJ Gen47:8↗ כמה אינון יומי שני חייך‏ : how many are the days of the years of your life? (i.e., how old are you?)
(1)
bḥyy_ : during the lifetime of
Common Aramaic
KTMW 2↗ ˀnk | ktmw | ˁbd | pnmw | żẏ | qnt | lẏ | nṣb | bḥyy : I am PN1 servant of PN2 who made this stela in my lifetime ; TAD B2.3 R.3↗ אנה יהבת לכי בחיי ובמותי‏ : I have given it to you while still alive and at my death ; PAT468:1.6↗ dy ˁbd lh bḥywhy lbt ˁlmh : who made his eternal resting place while he was still alive ; 5/6Hev 7..:24↗ בחיי ומן די אהך לבית עלמי ועד עלם‏ : during my lifetime and after I go to my eternal rest and forever ; TgO Deut7:10↗ דִאִינוּן עָבְדִין קְדָמוֹהִי בְחַיֵיהוֹן‏ ; PJ Gen3:24↗ על די פלחו בחייהון באולפן אורייתא בעלמא הדין‏ : because during their lifetime they worked studying Torah in this world
(2)
ˁl/l_ ḥyy : for the health and welfare of
Common Aramaic
Fakh.7↗ lḥyy | nbšh | wlmˀrk | ywmwh ; SharBr.1.1↗ זי יהב רפא לחיי נפשה‏ ; IranSilLab↗ lgdy ˀlhˀ lḥywhy wlḥyy ˀḥwhy wdwdhy ; Teima.20 1.2↗ text not cited ; Ezra 6:10↗ וּמְצַלַּיִן לְחַיֵּי מַלְכָּא וּבְנוֹהִי‏ : praying for the life of the king and his sons ; PAT247:1.2↗ ˁl ḥywhy wḥyˀ bnwhy : for his and his children’s welfare ; Obodat2↗ ˁl ḥyy ḥrtt mlk nbṭw ; H 20:.3↗ ˁl ḥyyhy ddh wdˀḥyhy wdmn drḥym lh klh : for his own life and that of his brethren and of all who love him ; Assour4..6↗ text not cited
(3)
in an oath formula, often elliptical for "by the life of"
OAEast, JLAtg, Gal, Syr, JBA, LJLA
AECT.58 1.12↗ mn ˁl mn yšb ḥyy šhr wḥyy [ml]k : whoever reneges against the other, by the life of Sehr and the life of the King [shall be liable] ; TgJ 1Sam17:55↗ חַיֵי נַפשָך מַלכָא אִם יָדַע אְנָא‏ : I swear by your life, king, if I know ; PTTan 66.d:8[2]↗ חייוי דההוא גברא שמייא מיעבד ניסין ומטרא מחות ושתא מצלחא‏ : by this man's life, the sky will make miracles, rain will fall, and the year will be prosperous ; PaulQentos 85↗ ܚܝ̈ܝܟܘܢ ܐܚ̈ܝ ܕܗܐ ܬܠܬܝܢ ܘܚܡܫ ܫ̈ܢܝܢ ܐܝܬ ܠܝ ܕܩܐܡ ܐܢܐ ܒܗܕܐ ܕܘܟܬܐ‏ : by your life, brothers, I have been staying in this place for 35 years ; JosephBenjamin 8↗ ܚܲܝ ܗ̄ܽܘ ܡܵܪܝܵܐ ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ ܘܚܲܝܲܘ̈ܗܝ ܕܡܲܠܟܵܐ ܕܡܸܨܪܸܝܢ݁ ܕܒܼܝܫܬܵܐ ܠܵܐ ܬܸܡܛܸܐ ܠܵܟ ܛܲܠܝܵܐ‏ : as the Lord God lives and the by the lives of the King of Egypt, evil shall not happen to you lad ; BT Pes 113b(7)↗ חייהו דרבנן קשישי דרארא‏ : by the lives of the scholars, the elders of the generation ; TgEsth2sup05.1-03:2↗ אמר ליה המן לחיי‏ : Haman said to him: I swear it by my life
(4)
(astron.) ܩܢܛܪܘܢ ܕܚܝ̈ܐ : a division of an astrolabe
Syr
2
salvation
Syr
OS LkSin1:77↗ ܕܢܬܠ ܡܕܥܐ ܕܚ̈ܝܐ ܠܥܡܗ ܒܫܘܒܩܢܐ ܕܚ̈ܛܗܝܗܘܢ‏ : to give the knowledge of salvation to his people by remission of their sins ; Rom13:11↗ ܐܸܬ݂ܩܲܪܲܒ݂ܘ ܠܲܢ ܚܲܝܲܝܢ̈‏
3
life force, health
Syr
PetrIb 9:17 ܡܪܝܪܐܝܬ ܡܬܛ݁ܠܩܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܚܝ̈ܝܗ݀ ܘܒܣܪܗ݀‏ : her life force and her flesh were wasting away bitterly
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On the common collocation ˁl ḥyy in dedicatory texts see in general K. Dijkstra, Life and Loyalty: A Study in the Socio-Religious Culture of Syria and Mesopotamia in the Graeco-Roman Period Based on Epigraphical Evidence (Leiden: Brill, 1995).
Page refs. in other dictionaries: LS2: 444[229]DJPA: 199aDJBA: 454aJastrow: 455Drower/Macuch: 143a, 118bPayne-Smith: 1254J. Payne-Smith: 139Levy Ch-W: 1:253Tal Sam: 267DJA: 49aQumran: 83

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Thu, 05 Nov 2026 22:13:32 -0500