El Chai — The Living God
אֵל חַי
The Living God — set against every lifeless idol.
The polemic name: idols have mouths that cannot speak, but this God lives. Peter's confession crowns it in the NT — 'the Son of the Living God' (Matt 16:16).
First occurrence
Josh 3:10 — 'By this you shall know the Living God is among you'
Key passages
Ps 42:2 — 'My soul thirsts for God, for El Chai'
Jer 10:10 — 'YHVH is the true God; He is the living God'
Dan 6:20 — 'Servant of the living God' — at the lions' den
In the Greek Scriptures
Θεὸς ζῶν