CHAPTER 42

Living [ḥay] is a term denoting a being that grows and is sentient. Thus: Every moving thing that liveth.¹ It is also a term denoting recovery from a very severe illness. Thus: And lived² from his illness;³ In the camp till they lived.⁴ Similarly in the expression: A living flesh.⁵ Similarly death [maveth] is a term denoting both death and severe illness. Thus: And his heart died within him, and he became as a stone,⁶ which refers to the severity of his illness. On this account Scripture makes it clear with regard to the son of the woman of Zarephath—that his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.⁷ For if it had said: And he died, it would have been possible to interpret this as meaning that it was a case of severe illness in which the sick individual was near death, as Nabal was, when he heard the news. Some⁸ of the men of Andalusia⁹ interpret the verse as meaning that his breath was suspended so that no breath at all could be perceived in him—as happens to people struck with apoplexy or with asphyxia deriving from the womb, so that it is not known if the one in question is dead or alive and the doubt remains a day or two. The term [living] is often used also in the sense of acquisition of knowledge. Thus: So shall they be life unto thy soul;10 For whoso findeth me findeth life;¹¹ For they are life unto those that find them.¹² This use is frequent. In accordance with it, correct opinions are called life and false opinions death. God, may He be exalted, says accordingly: See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and so on.¹³ He has thereby made it clear that good is life and that evil is death [48a] and has explained these terms. I make a similar interpretation of His dictum, may He be exalted, That ye may live,14 analogous to the traditional interpretation¹⁵ of the dictum of Scripture: That it may be well with thee, and so on.¹⁶ Because of this figurative sense being generally known in the Hebrew language, the Sages have said: The righteous even in death are called living, [whereas] the wicked even in life are called dead.¹⁷ Know this.