אִישׁ2166 H0376
Man (as opposed to woman), husband, each one; covers individual males, persons in general, and distributive pronominal use.
Ish is the Hebrew word for 'man' in the most concrete, embodied sense — the male human being as distinct from woman (ishah), from child, and from beast. It first appears at the climax of Eden's narrative: 'she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man' (Gen 2:23), establishing the ish/ishah pair that echoes throughout Scripture. But ish is far more versatile than English 'man': it serves as the standard word for 'husband' (often with possessive suffixes — 'her ish'), as an indefinite pronoun ('a certain man,' 'each one,' 'anyone'), and in construct chains that define social roles ('men of war,' 'men of the city'). Arabic rajul, Spanish hombre/varon, Korean saram/namja, and German Mann all track the core meaning, but the distributive-pronominal function — 'each man to his tent' — is a distinctly Semitic feature that other languages handle with separate pronouns.
1. man, person, human male — The primary sense: a man, male person, human individual — 2,130 occurrences spanning narrative, law, poetry, and prophecy. This covers named individuals ('the man Moses'), generic references ('if a man does...'), collective designations ('the men of Israel'), and construct chains denoting social function ('men of valor,' 'men of the city'). Arabic rajul, Spanish hombre/varon, French homme, German Mann, Korean namja/saram, and Swahili mtu all deploy their basic 'adult male human' vocabulary. The breadth of this cluster reflects ish's role as the unmarked, default word for a male person in Hebrew — parallel to Latin vir rather than homo, though it occasionally shades toward the latter in inclusive contexts like 'blessed is the man who...' (Ps 1:1). 2130×
AR["أَحَدٌ","إِنْسَانٍ","رَجُلًا","رَجُلٌ","رَجُلٍ","كُلُّ","كُلُّ-وَاحِدٍ","لَا-أَحَدٌ"]·ben["একজন-পুরুষ","একজন-লোকের","জন","তার-ভাইয়ের-সঙ্গে","পুরুষ","প্রত্যেকে","ব্যক্তিকে","মানুষ"]·DE["Mann","ein-Mann","einem-Mann","einen-Mann","jeder-Mann"]·EN["a-man","each-man","man"]·FR["chaque-homme","homme","un-homme"]·heb["איש"]·HI["एक-मनुष्य","कोई","कोई-व्यक्ति","पुरुश","पुरुष","प्रत्येक","प्रत्येक-ने","मनुष्य","मनुष्य-को","मनुष्य-ने"]·ID["Jangan-seorang-pun","laki-laki","masing-masing","orang","seorang","seorang-pun","seseorang"]·IT["ciascuno-uomo","un-uomo","uomo"]·jav["Tiyang","Tiyang-jaler","saben-tiyang","satunggal-tiyang","tiyang","tiyang-jaler"]·KO["남자가","사람과","사람마다","사람에게","사람을","사람이"]·PT["Homem","homem"]·RU["Никто","каждый","муж","мужа","мужей","никто","человек","человека"]·ES["hombre","varón"]·SW["kila-mtu","mtu","mtu-yeyote","yote"]·TR["adam","adamı"]·urd["آدمی","آدمی-ایک","آدمی-نے","آدمی-کو","کوئی-آدمی","ہر-ایک-نے"]
Gen 26:31, Gen 31:50, Gen 33:1, Gen 38:1, Gen 41:38, Gen 45:1, Exod 2:1, Exod 7:12, Exod 11:2, Exod 12:4, Exod 16:15, Exod 16:19 (+38 more)
▼ 3 more senses below
Senses
2. husband — Husband, spouse — 42 occurrences where ish specifically denotes a woman's marriage partner. Typically appearing with feminine possessive suffixes: ishah ('her husband,' Gen 3:16; 16:3) or in explicit marital contexts like the sotah ritual (Num 5:19-20). Arabic zawj ('husband/spouse'), Spanish marido/esposo, French mari, German Ehemann, and Korean nampyeon all select dedicated 'husband' vocabulary distinct from generic 'man,' confirming a genuine lexicalized sense boundary. The legal and narrative contexts make the marital reference unambiguous: 'she took him as husband' (Gen 16:3), 'your desire shall be for your husband' (Gen 3:16). 42×
AR["رَجُلُها","رَجُلِهَا","زَوجُها","زَوْجُهَا","زَوْجِهَا","لِ-رَجُلِها","لِـ-زَوْجِهَا"]·ben["তাঁর-স্বামী","তার-স্বামী","তার-স্বামীকে","তার-স্বামীর","স্বামী-তার"]·DE["Mann","ihr-husband","ihrem-Mann","zu-ihr-husband"]·EN["her-husband","to-her-husband"]·FR["sa-mari","son-mari","à-sa-mari"]·heb["איש","איש-ה","אישה","ל-אישה"]·HI["अपने-पति","अपने-पति-से","उसका-पति","पति","पति-उसका","पति-उसके","पति-के","पति-से"]·ID["kepada-suaminya","suaminya"]·IT["a-lei-marito","a-suo-marito","lei-husband","lei-marito","suo-marito"]·jav["bojonipun","dhateng-garwa-nipun","dhateng-garwanipun","garwa-nipun","garwanipun","garwanipun-jaler","priyanipun"]·KO["-에게-그녀-의-남편","그녀-의-남편","그녀의-남편에게","그녀의-남편은","그녀의-남편의","그녀의-남편이","남편-그녀의","에게-그녀의-남편"]·PT["a-marido-dela","ao-marido-dela","marido-dela","seu-marido"]·RU["муж-её","мужа-её","мужем-её","мужу-её","мужу-своему"]·ES["a-su-marido","esposo-suyo","marido-de-ella","su-esposo","su-marido"]·SW["kwa-mume-wake","mume-wake"]·TR["kocası","kocası-onun","kocasına","kocasının","kocasının-onun","kocasıyla"]·urd["اُس-کا-شوہر","اُس-کے-شوہر","اپنے-شوہر","اپنے-شوہر-سے","اپنے-شوہر-کے","خاوند-اس-کا","خاوند-اس-کے-نے","خاوند-اپنے-کے","شوہر-اُس-کا","شوہر-اپنے-سے","شوہر-اپنے-کو"]
3. each one, everyone (distributive) — Distributive pronoun: each one, everyone, anyone, no one — 13 occurrences where ish functions not as a noun designating a specific male but as an indefinite or distributive pronoun. 'Let each man put his sword on his side' (Exod 32:27), 'let no man put on his ornaments' (Exod 33:4), 'no man shall come up with you' (Exod 34:3). This pronominal use, often in the formula ish...ish ('each...each') or with negation (lo ish, 'no one'), is a distinctive Semitic construction. Spanish cada uno ('each one'), French chaque un, and German jeder distinguish this from the noun sense by using pronoun forms, while Korean uses gakgak ('each') — none of them use their 'man' word here, confirming that this is functionally a pronoun rather than a gender-marked noun. 13×
AR["أَحَدٌ","الْوَاحِدُ-","رَجُلٌ","رَجُلٌ-","رَجُلٍ","كُلُّ-","وَ-أَحَدٌ","وَ-كُلُّ","وَ-كُلُّ-واحِدٍ"]·ben["একটি-","এবং-কেউ","এবং-প্রত্যেক","এবং-প্রত্যেকে","কেউ","প্রতিটি-মানুষ-","প্রত্যেক","প্রত্যেক-","প্রত্যেকে-","মানুষ"]·DE["Mann","anyone","jeder-eins","nein-eins","und-jeder","und-nein-eins"]·EN["Each-","Each-man","and-each","and-no-one","anyone","each-","each-one","man","no-one"]·FR["chaque-un","et-chaque","et-non-un","homme","non-un","quiconque"]·heb["איש","איש-","ו-איש"]·HI["आदमी-","एक","और-कोई","और-पुरुष","और-हर-एक","किसी-ने","कोई","पुरुश","मनुष्य-"]·ID["Dan-seseorang","Masing-masing-","Orang","dan-masing-masing","masing-masing","masing-masing-","satu-sama-lain","seseorang"]·IT["anyone","ciascuno-uno","e-ciascuno","e-no-uno","no-uno","uomo"]·jav["Lan-tiyang-jaler","Setunggal-","Tiyang","lan-saben-tiyang","lan-tiyang-jaler","saben-tiyang-","tiyang","tiyang-","tiyang-jaler"]·KO["각각이","그리고-사람","그리고-사람은","사람마다","사람을","사람이","사람이-"]·PT["Cada-um-","E-homem","cada-um","e-homem","homem"]·RU["И-муж","и-каждый","и-муж","каждого","каждый-","муж","человек"]·ES["Cada-uno-","Y-nadie","hombre","hombre-","nadie","y-cada-uno","y-hombre"]·SW["Kila-mtu","kila-mmoja","kila-mtu-","moja","mtu","na-kila-mtu","na-mtu"]·TR["Biri-","Herkes","Ve-adam","adam","her-biri-","herkes-","ve-adam"]·urd["آدمی-نے","اور-آدمی","اور-کوئی-آدمی","اور-ہر-ایک","ایک","کوئی-آدمی","ہر-آدمی-","ہر-ایک","ہر-ایک-","ہر-ایک-نے"]
Exod 32:27, Exod 32:27, Exod 33:4, Exod 34:3, Exod 34:3, Exod 34:24, 1 Sam 20:15, 1 Kgs 22:36, 2 Kgs 18:31, 2 Chr 18:16, 2 Chr 20:23, Job 41:17 (+1 more)
4. sense 4 — Male (of animals or in gender-classification contexts) — 2 occurrences at Gen 7:2, where Noah is instructed to take animals 'male and its mate.' Here ish designates biological sex rather than human personhood, paired with ishtoh ('its female/mate'). Spanish varon, French male, German Mannchen, and English 'male' all shift from their person-designating vocabulary to biological-sex terminology, confirming that this zoological usage is semantically distinct from the human 'man' sense. The rarity (only 2 occurrences) suggests this is an extension by analogy from the human ish/ishah pair rather than a primary sense. 2×
AR["ذَكَرًا"]·ben["পুরুষ"]·DE["das-Männchen"]·EN["male"]·FR["mâle"]·heb["איש"]·HI["नर"]·ID["jantan"]·IT["maschio"]·jav["jaler"]·KO["남자"]·PT["macho"]·RU["самца"]·ES["varón"]·SW["dume"]·TR["erkek"]·urd["نر"]
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H0001 1. father, immediate male parent (1031×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H0251 1. brother (blood sibling) (573×)H0120 1. man, human being (individual/generic) (527×)H0802 1. woman, female person (519×)G0444 1. human being, person (469×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3962 1. father or divine Father (413×)G3326 1. with (368×)G0080 1. brother, fellow believer (343×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)H0802 2. wife, spouse (255×)H0517 1. mother, female parent (217×)G0435 1. man, male person (202×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)G1135 1. woman, adult female (190×)H2233 1. offspring, descendants (172×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אִישׁ2166 n.m. man (= vir) (MI, SI, Ph. אש, perh. also Sab. אסם cf. Prät l.c., but DHMZMG 1883, 330)—א׳ abs. Gn 2:23 +; cstr. Gn 25:27 +; sf. אִישִׁי Gn 29:32 +, etc.; pl. אִישִׁים ψ 141:4 + 2 textual (Ph. אשם); usually אֲנָשִׁים Gn 12:20 +, fr. √ אנשׁ q.v.; cstr. אַנְשֵׁי Ju 6:27 +; sf. אֲנָשַׁי 1 S 23:12 etc.;—man, opp. woman Gn 2:23, 24 Lv 20:27 Nu 5:6 Dt 17:2f Jos 6:21; 8:25 Je 40:7, emph. on…