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appears in Gen. 7:2, where the word represents male animals: “Of every clean beast thou
shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female.…”
One special nuance of
appears in passages such as Gen. 3:6, where it means
“husband,” or one responsible for a wife or woman and revered by her: "[And she] gave
also unto her husband with her: and he did eat.” This emphasis is in Hos. 2:16 where it is
applied to God (cf. the Hebrew word
).
Sometimes this word connotes that the one so identified is a “man”
@
.
As such he is strong, influential, and knowledgeable in battle: “Be strong, and quit
yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews …” (1
Sam. 4:9).
In a few places
is used as a synonym of “father”: “We are all sons of one man
…” (Gen. 42:11,
RSV
). In other passages the word is applied to a son (cf. Gen. 2:24).
In the plural the word can be applied to groups of men who serve or obey a superior.
Pharaoh’s men escorted Abraham: “And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him:
and they sent him away …” (Gen. 12:20). In a similar but more general sense, the word
may identify people who belong to someone or something: “For all these abominations
have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled” (Lev.
18:27).
Infrequently (and in later historical literature) this word is used as a collective noun
referring to an entire group: “And his servant said, … Should I set this before a hundred
men?” (2 Kings 4:43).
Many passages use
in the more general or generic sense of “man” (
), a
human being: “He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death” (Exod.
21:12). Even if one strikes a woman or child and he or she dies, the attacker should be put
to death. Again, notice Deut. 27:15: “Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or
molten image.…” This is the sense of the word when it is contrasted with animals: “But
against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast
…” (Exod. 11:7). The same nuance appears when man over against God is in view: “God
is not a man, that he should lie …” (Num. 23:19).
Sometimes
is indefinite, meaning “somebody” or " someone” (“they”): “And I
will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the
earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered” (Gen. 13:16). In other passages the word
suggests the meaning “each” (Gen. 40:5). Closely related to the previous nuance is the
connotation “every” (Jer. 23:35).
The word
means “little man.” This diminutive form of the noun, which appears
3 times, has a cognate in Arabic. Although it literally means “little man,” it signifies the
pupil of the eye and is so translated (cf. Deut. 32:10,
NASB
;
RSV
and
KJV
, “apple of his
eye”).
(582), “man.” This common Semitic word is the usual word for “man”
(generic) in biblical Aramaic (This meaning is served by Hebrew
). It occurs 25
times in biblical Aramaic and 42 times in biblical Hebrew. Hebrew uses