H5347 H5347
female -- a woman or female animal, used for sex distinction especially in priestly and creation texts
The standard Hebrew noun for a female of any species, consistently paired with its opposite zakar ('male') to express the fundamental gender binary. It appears prominently in the creation account -- 'male and female he created them' (Gen 1:27; 5:2) -- and pervades Priestly legislation concerning sacrificial animals (Lev 3-5), purification after childbirth (Lev 12:5-7), and census exclusions (Num 5:3; 31:15). Jeremiah uses it strikingly in his oracle of reversal: 'a female shall encompass a man' (Jer 31:22). The Aramaic cognate nuqba preserves the same root.
Senses
1. female — A female creature, whether human (woman, girl) or animal, used to mark the sex distinction in legal, cultic, and narrative contexts. Nearly always appears opposite zakar ('male'). Dominant in Priestly texts covering creation (Gen 1:27; 5:2), the flood pairings (Gen 6:19; 7:3, 9, 16), sacrificial regulations (Lev 3-5), and purity laws (Lev 12; 15). Jeremiah 31:22 deploys it in an enigmatic prophetic reversal. Spanish hembra and French femelle both render the term straightforwardly, confirming its monosemous character. 22×
AR["أُنْثَى", "وَ-أُنْثَى", "وَ-لِ-ال-أُنْثَى", "وَ-لِلْأُنْثَى"]·ben["এবং-নারী", "এবং-স্ত্রীর", "এবং-স্ত্রীর-জন্য", "ও-নারী", "কন্যা", "নারীদের", "স্ত্রী", "স্ত্রীর"]·DE["ein-weiblich", "und-fuer-der-weiblich", "und-weiblich", "weiblich"]·EN["a-female", "and-female", "and-for-the-female", "female"]·FR["et-femelle", "et-pour-le-femelle", "femelle", "une-femelle"]·heb["ו-ל-ה-נקבה", "ו-נקבה", "נקבה"]·HI["और-नारी", "और-स्त्री-के-लिए", "कन्या", "मादा", "स्त्री", "स्राव"]·ID["betina", "dan-bagi-perempuan", "dan-betina", "dan-perempuan", "dan-untuk-perempuan", "perempuan"]·IT["e-femmina", "e-per-il-femmina", "femmina", "un-femmina"]·jav["estri", "lan-kanggé-tiyang-èstri", "lan-kanggé-èstri", "lan-èstri", "tiyang-èstri", "èstri"]·KO["그리고-여자", "그리고-여자-를-위해", "그리고-여자의", "암컷", "암컷을", "여자", "여자를", "여자아이-를", "여자의", "여자이면"]·PT["e-fêmea", "e-para-a-fêmea", "fêmea"]·RU["девочку", "женщина", "женщину", "женщины", "и-для-женщины", "и-женского-пола", "и-женщину", "и-самка", "и-самку", "самка", "самку"]·ES["hembra", "hembra?", "mujer", "y-hembra", "y-para-la-hembra", "y-para-la-mujer"]·SW["Nkbh", "jike", "mtoto-wa-kike", "mwanamke", "na-jike", "na-kwa-mwanamke", "na-mwanamke", "wa-kike"]·TR["dişi", "dişiyi", "kadın", "kadına", "kız", "ve--e-kadın", "ve-dişi", "ve-kadın-için"]·urd["اور-عورت-کے-لیے", "اور-مادہ", "عورت", "عورت-کو", "لڑکی", "مادہ"]
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
† נְקֵבָה n.f. female (perforata (BaNB 166); so Thes and most; > another view in Schwally ZAW xi (1891), 181 f.; Idiot. 57; NH = BH; Aramaic נוּקְבָּא, נוּקְבְּתָא, ܢܶܩܒܳܐ, ܢܶܩܒܬܳܐ );—always abs. נ׳ Je 31:22 + 21 times (all Pent., and all P except Dt 4:16): 1. woman (or female child) Je 31:22 (opp. גֶּבֶר), Gn 1:27; 5:2; Lv 12:5, 7; 15:33; 27:4, 5, 6, 7; Nu 5:3 (all opp. זָכָר), Nu 31:15. 2.…