To recover life (literally or figuratively)
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G326 means to live again, regain life, or spring to life again. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀναζάω (G326) · Open the biblical lexicon
G326 means to live again, regain life, or spring to life again. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include is alive again (1), sprang to life (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 15:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (1), Romans (1).
G326 means to live again, regain life, or spring to life again. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone. Its two New Testament uses are sharply different: the lost son is alive again, and sin springs to life when the commandment comes. Context decides whether the revival is restoration or danger.
This companion therefore treats the word as a Scripture-governed guide, not as a shortcut around exegesis. It helps teachers show that what comes alive matters. It should help readers ask better questions of the passage: who is speaking or acting, what covenant or gospel reality is in view, and how the surrounding context limits or strengthens the claim. It should not always be treated as resurrection language or as a positive image.
G326 appears in two contrasting settings: restored life in Luke 15 and sin springing to life in Romans 7.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
The father celebrates that his son was dead and is alive again.
Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
Sin sprang to life when the commandment came, and Paul died.
But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
The older brother is told it is fitting to celebrate because the lost brother is alive.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Resurrection to life—whether literal revival or moral/spiritual restoration from spiritual death
Resurrection to life—whether literal revival or moral/spiritual restoration from spiritual death
[in Al.: Gen.45:27 * ;] to live again, regain life (cf. cl. ἀναβιόω; Cremer, 722; and for other exx., v MM, VGT, see word): metaphorically of moral revival, Luk.15:24 (WH, mg., ἔζησεν); of sin, Rom.7:9.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I come to life again, revive
Read verseI come to life again, revive
Read verseI come to life again, revive
Read verseI come to life again, revive
Read verseI come to life again, revive
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 2 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 2 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀναζάω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Teach G326 as a rare word where context is everything. A faithful teacher should begin with the nearest passage, observe who acts, what is being named, what problem or promise is in view, and what response the text calls for, then move carefully to related passages. It lets teachers contrast the joy of restoration with the danger of sin awakened by law apart from deliverance in Christ.
The entry should help readers read Scripture more carefully, not replace the work of tracing the sentence, paragraph, book, and covenant setting. This keeps the word useful for shepherds, teachers, leaders, groups, families, and disciples without letting the word carry claims that belong to the whole passage or canon.
Luke.15.24
The compound verb means to live again or revive. Its tone depends on the subject.
Luke\'s lost-and-found restoration and Romans\'s law-and-sin argument draw on Old Testament categories.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain