Meaning
(1) chayah,
(2) michyah,
(3) ruach, and
(4) zao.
Of these words (1) and (4) had simply the sense of life, and this idea was in 1611 adequately given, by the word "quick," although this sense of the word has long been somewhat obscured. As the translation of ruach (Isa 11:3) "quick" as found in the King James Version signified "acute." In this passage the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "delight" for "quick understanding." In Lev 13:10, Lev 13:24 the Revised Version (British and American) retains the rendering "quick," although originally the word michyah must in some way have involved the conception of life, which no longer belongs to the English word "quick." It is not clear exactly in what sense the flesh in the sore or scar was thought of as living, especially as it was plainly regarded as in an unhealthy condition. Possibly the condition under consideration resembled what is sometimes idiomatically styled in English "proud flesh," and was thought of as a peculiar manifestation of life.
To quicken also means a reviving, a refreshing, an increasing of life (Psa 71:20, Psa 85:6, Psa 119:37, Psa 119:40, Psa 119:88, Isa 57:10). It often has reference to the resurrection from the dead (1Co 15:36) and is so used in many places in the King James Version. Where it refers to the giving of spiritual life the American Standard Revised Version has changed it in every case (Eph 2:1, Eph 2:5, Col 2:13; compare Joh 5:21).
David Foster Estes
