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times in the Hebrew Bible.
"
occurs twice in the first verse in which it is found:
“And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three
measures of fine meal …” (Gen. 18:6).
"
often has an adverbial use when it is used with another verb, such as in Gen.
18:7: “… hasted to prepare it” (or, “quickly prepared it”). Anyone who yields to
seduction is likened by the wise man to a bird that rushes into a snare (Prov. 7:23).
MALE
A. Noun.
(
'
, 2145), “male.” Cognates of this word appear in Akkadian, Aramaic, and
Arabic. It occurs 82 times and usually in early prose (Genesis through Deuteronomy),
only 5 times in the biblical prophets, and never in biblical wisdom or poetical literature.
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emphasizes “maleness” as over against “femaleness”; this word focuses on the
sex of the one so named. Thus, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. 1:27). The word can be used not
only of an “adult male” but also of a “male child” (Lev. 12:7).
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is used collectively
in many passages—in singular form, with a plural reference (Judg. 21:11).
In some contexts the word represents a “male animal”: “And of every living thing of
all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they
shall be male and female” (Gen. 6:19).
B. Adjective.
(
'
, 2145), “male.” Sometimes
is used as an adjective: “Number all the
firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward …” (Num.
3:40). The word appears in Jer. 20:15: “A man child is born unto thee; making him very
glad.”
MAN
A. Nouns.
(
$
, 120), “man; mankind; people; someone (indefinite); Adam (the first
man).” This noun appears in Ugaritic, Phoenician, and Punic. A word with the same
radicals occurs in old South Arabic meaning “serf.” In late Arabic the same radicals mean
not only “mankind” but “all creation.” Akkadian
$
signifies “child.” The Hebrew
word appears about 562 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew.
This noun is related to the verb
, “to be red,” and therefore probably relates to
the original ruddiness of human skin. The noun connotes “man” as the creature created in
God’s image, the crown of all creation. In its first appearance
is used for mankind,
or generic man: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness …”
(Gen. 1:26). In Gen. 2:7 the word refers to the first “man,” Adam: “And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.”
Throughout Gen. 2:5-5:5 there is a constant shifting and interrelationship between the
generic and the individual uses. “Man” is distinguished from the rest of the creation
insofar as he was created by a special and immediate act of God: he alone was created in
the image of God (Gen. 1:27). He consisted of two elements, the material and the