H0582 H0582
Man, human being (individual or generic); mankind, humanity collectively; mortal, frail human (poetic emphasis).
The Hebrew noun enosh belongs to the cluster of words for 'man' alongside adam and ish, but carries a distinctive poetic and existential coloring. Concentrated in Job (18 times) and the Psalms (13 times), it appears almost exclusively in elevated discourse — wisdom poetry, lament, and theological reflection. Where adam names the species and ish the individual, enosh evokes fragility: 'What is enosh that you are mindful of him?' (Ps 8:4). Spanish hombre, French mortel, and German Mensch serve for the basic sense, but French mortel and German der Sterbliche in poetic contexts reveal the vulnerability enosh uniquely carries. A collective sense, 'mankind,' surfaces in Deuteronomy 32:26 and Isaiah 51:7.
Senses
1. man, human being — An individual human person, used generically or specifically to refer to a man or human being — the basic lexical meaning covering most occurrences. This dominant sense (39 occurrences) appears across Job's anguished questions ('Is not the life of enosh a hard service?' Job 7:1), prophetic oracles (Isa 13:12; 56:2), and the Psalms (Ps 55:14, where 'a man, my equal, my companion' uses enosh for the intimate betrayer). Spanish hombre, French homme, and German Mensch all render this with their standard 'man/human' vocabulary. The parallelism with ben-adam ('son of man') in passages like Isaiah 56:2 and Psalm 8:4 confirms enosh as a poetic synonym for 'human being.' 39×
AR["إنسانٌ", "إِنسانٌ", "إِنْسانٌ", "إِنْسانٍ", "الإنسان", "الإِنْسانُ", "الإِنْسَانُ", "الْإِنْسَانُ", "الْإِنْسَانِ", "بَشَراً", "بَشَرٌ", "لِإِنْسانٍ"]·ben["মর্ত্য", "মানুষ", "মানুষকে", "মানুষের", "সেই-মানুষ"]·DE["Mensch", "[אנוש]", "ein-Mensch"]·EN["a-man", "is-man", "man", "men"]·FR["mortel", "Énosch"]·heb["אנוש"]·HI["मनुष्य", "मनुष्य-की", "मनुष्य-के", "मनुष्यों-को"]·ID["manusia", "orang"]·IT["Enos", "mortale", "uomo"]·jav["Manungsa", "manungsa", "sanes"]·KO["사람-은", "사람-을", "사람-의", "사람-이", "사람-임을", "사람은", "사람의", "사람이", "인간이"]·PT["O-homem", "homem", "mortal", "o-homem", "que-são-mortais", "ser-humano", "é-o-homem", "ó-homem"]·RU["Человек", "человек", "человека", "что-люди"]·ES["Hombre", "el-hombre", "es-el-hombre", "hombre", "mortal"]·SW["mtu", "mwanadamu", "wanadamu"]·TR["adam", "insan", "insana", "insandır", "insanları", "insanın", "ölümlü"]·urd["آدمی", "انسان", "انسان-کو", "انسان-کی", "انسان-کے", "اِنسان"]
2. mankind, humanity collectively — Human beings collectively — mankind or the human race as a group, rather than a specific individual. With 2 occurrences, this collective sense appears in Deuteronomy 32:26 ('I would make the memory of them cease from among mankind') and Psalm 144:3 ('LORD, what is man that you take knowledge of him?'). Spanish mortal and French de-mankind shift from individual to collective framing, while German Mensch can serve both senses. The collective reading is confirmed by the parallelism: in Psalm 144:3, enosh parallels ben-adam in a universalizing rhetorical question about the dignity God bestows on the entire human species. 2×
AR["آدَمَ", "مِنَ-النَّاسِ"]·ben["মর্ত্যের", "মানুষের-থেকে"]·DE["Mensch", "von-mankind"]·EN["from-mankind", "mankind"]·FR["de-mankind", "mortel"]·heb["אנוש", "מ-אנוש"]·HI["मनुष्य-का", "मनुष्यों-से"]·ID["dari-manusia", "manusia"]·IT["da-mankind", "uomo"]·jav["manungsa", "saking-manungsa"]·KO["에서-사람", "인생의"]·PT["dentre-homens", "do-homem"]·RU["из-людей", "человеческий"]·ES["de-entre-los-hombres", "mortal"]·SW["binadamu", "kutoka-kwa-wanadamu"]·TR["insanlıktan-", "ölümlünün"]·urd["انسانوں-میں-سے", "اِنسان"]
3. mortal, frail human — A human being with emphasis on mortality, weakness, and frailty — a rhetorical use concentrated in wisdom and poetic contexts that highlights the limits of human nature before God. Only 1 clear occurrence at Job 4:17, where Eliphaz asks 'Can a mortal (enosh) be righteous before God?' Spanish mortal, French le mortel, and German der Mensch all carry the weight of fragility here. The etymological connection to the root anash ('to be weak, sick, incurable') may underlie this nuance, though it is debated. The rhetorical question format — 'Can enosh be...?' — frames human frailty against divine holiness, a motif that pervades Job's dialogues. 1×
AR["هَلِ-الإِنْسانُ"]·ben["কি-মর্ত্য"]·DE["der-Mensch"]·EN["can-a-mortal"]·FR["le-mortel"]·heb["ה-אנוש"]·HI["क्या-मनुष्य"]·ID["Apakah-manusia-fana"]·IT["il-mortale"]·jav["punapa-manungsa"]·KO["인간이"]·PT["o-mortal"]·RU["человек-ли"]·ES["¿El-mortal"]·SW["je-mwanadamu"]·TR["mi-insan"]·urd["کیا-آدمی"]
Related Senses
H0376 1. man, person, human male (2130×)H0251 1. brother (blood sibling) (573×)H0120 1. man, human being (individual/generic) (527×)H0802 1. woman, female person (519×)H0802 2. wife, spouse (255×)H0517 1. mother, female parent (217×)G0435 1. man, male person (202×)G1135 1. woman, adult female (190×)H2233 1. offspring, descendants (172×)H0001 2. ancestor, forefather (146×)H5288 1. Youth, young man (122×)H0269 1. sister (female sibling) (113×)H1755 1. generation, contemporaries (96×)G5043 1. child, offspring (89×)G0444 2. people, humankind (86×)H3206 1. child, boy, youth (86×)H2145 1. male (human being) (79×)G3384 1. mother (77×)H6485a 1. Qal passive participle: numbered ones, enrollment (76×)H1397 1. man (strong/mighty) (65×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אֱנוֹשׁ n.m. Jb 15:14 man, mankind, mostly poet. (18 times Jb, 13 times ψ, etc.) (Arabic أُنَاسٌ (coll.), Aramaic אֱנָשׁ, ܐ݈݇ܢܳܫܳܐ (coll.), Nab. אנוש, Palm. אנש, Sab. אנס DHMZMG 1883, 330, also Arabic نَاسٌ, Assyrian nišu, people, & cf. tenišêtu, humanity, human race, v. COTGloss. sub אנשׁ & נשׁ & HptKAT 2 497)—abs. Is 8:1 +; cstr. Je 20:10;— 1. of individ. Jb 5:17; 13:9 ψ 55:14, cf. Is 13:12…