אִישׁ
man
‘man’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
56 verses where H376 appears in the Absolute state in the Book of Proverbs. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Proverbs
- Proverbs 2:12 מֵ֝/אִ֗ישׁ prep + n c ms To deliver you from the way of evil, From the men who speak perverse things;
- Proverbs 5:21 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh. He examines all his paths.
- Proverbs 6:11 כְּ/אִ֣ישׁ prep + n c ms So your poverty will come as a robber, And your scarcity as an armed man.
- Proverbs 6:26 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
- Proverbs 6:27 אִ֓ישׁ n c ms Can a man scoop fire into his lap, And his clothes not be burned?
- Proverbs 6:28 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms Or can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?
- Proverbs 7:19 הָ/אִ֣ישׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms For my husband isn't at home. He has gone on a long journey.
- Proverbs 8:4 אִישִׁ֣ים n c mp "To you men, I call! I send my voice to the sons of mankind.
- Proverbs 12:8 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, But he who has a warped mind shall be despised.
- Proverbs 12:14 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.
- Proverbs 12:25 אִ֣ישׁ n c ms Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, But a kind word makes it glad.
- Proverbs 13:2 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms By the fruit of his lips, a man enjoys good things; But the unfaithful crave violence.
- Proverbs 13:8 אִ֣ישׁ n c ms The ransom of a man's life is his riches, But the poor hear no threats.
- Proverbs 14:7 לְ/אִ֣ישׁ prep + n c ms Stay away from a foolish man, For you won't find knowledge on his lips.
- Proverbs 14:12 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms There is a way which seems right to a man, But in the end it leads to death.
- Proverbs 14:14 אִ֣ישׁ n c ms The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; Likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.
- Proverbs 15:23 לָ֭/אִישׁ prep det + n c ms Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time!
- Proverbs 16:2 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; But Yahweh weighs the motives.
- Proverbs 16:7 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms When a man's ways please Yahweh, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
- Proverbs 16:14 וְ/אִ֖ישׁ conj + n c ms The king's wrath is a messenger of death, But a wise man will pacify it.
- Proverbs 16:25 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms There is a way which seems right to a man, But in the end it leads to death.
- Proverbs 17:12 בְּ/אִ֑ישׁ prep + n c ms Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, Rather than a fool in his folly.
- Proverbs 18:4 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.
- Proverbs 18:12 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms Before destruction the heart of man is proud, But before honor is humility.
- Proverbs 18:14 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms A man's spirit will sustain him in sickness, But a crushed spirit, who can bear?
- Proverbs 18:20 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
- Proverbs 19:21 אִ֑ישׁ n c ms There are many plans in a man's heart, But Yahweh's counsel will prevail.
- Proverbs 20:3 לָ֭/אִישׁ prep det + n c ms It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; But every fool will be quarreling.
- Proverbs 20:5 אִ֑ישׁ וְ/אִ֖ישׁ n c ms conj + n c ms cs Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; But a man of understanding will draw it out.
- Proverbs 20:6 אִ֣ישׁ וְ/אִ֥ישׁ n c ms conj + n c ms cs Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, But who can find a faithful man?
- Proverbs 20:17 לָ֭/אִישׁ prep det + n c ms Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, But afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.
- Proverbs 21:2 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But Yahweh weighs the hearts.
- Proverbs 21:8 אִ֣ישׁ n c ms The way of the guilty is devious, But the conduct of the innocent is upright.
- Proverbs 21:28 וְ/אִ֥ישׁ conj + n c ms A false witness will perish, And a man who listens speaks to eternity.
- Proverbs 21:29 אִ֣ישׁ n c ms A wicked man hardens his face; But as for the upright, he establishes his ways.
- Proverbs 22:7 לְ/אִ֣ישׁ prep + n c ms The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.
- Proverbs 22:29 אִ֤ישׁ n c ms Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings; He won't serve obscure men.
- Proverbs 24:29 לָ/אִ֣ישׁ prep det + n c ms Don't say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."
- Proverbs 24:30 אִישׁ n c ms I went by the field of the sluggard, By the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
- Proverbs 24:34 כְּ/אִ֣ישׁ prep + n c ms So shall your poverty come as a robber, And your want as an armed man.
- Proverbs 25:14 אִ֥ישׁ n c ms As clouds and wind without rain, So is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.
- Proverbs 25:18 אִ֥ישׁ n c ms A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor Is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.
- Proverbs 25:28 אִ֝֗ישׁ n c ms Like a city that is broken down and without walls Is a man whose spirit is without restraint.
- Proverbs 26:12 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Proverbs 26:19 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms Is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "Am I not joking?"
- Proverbs 27:8 אִ֝֗ישׁ n c ms As a bird that wanders from her nest, So is a man who wanders from his home.
- Proverbs 27:17 וְ֝/אִ֗ישׁ conj + n c ms Iron sharpens iron; So a man sharpens his friend's countenance.
- Proverbs 27:21 וְ֝/אִ֗ישׁ conj + n c ms The crucible is for silver, And the furnace for gold; But man is refined by his praise.
- Proverbs 28:11 אִ֣ישׁ n c ms The rich man is wise in his own eyes; But the poor who has understanding sees through him.
- Proverbs 28:24 לְ/אִ֣ישׁ prep + n c ms Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says, "It's not wrong." He is a partner with a destroyer.
- Proverbs 29:3 אִֽישׁ n c ms Whoever loves wisdom brings joy to his father; But a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
- Proverbs 29:6 אִ֣ישׁ n c ms An evil man is snared by his sin, But the righteous can sing and be glad.
- Proverbs 29:9 אִֽישׁ אִ֣ישׁ n c ms n c ms If a wise man goes to court with a foolish man, The fool rages or scoffs, and there is no peace.
- Proverbs 29:20 אִ֭ישׁ n c ms Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Proverbs 29:26 אִֽישׁ n c ms Many seek the ruler's favor, But a man's justice comes from Yahweh.
- Proverbs 30:2 מֵ/אִ֑ישׁ prep + n c ms "Surely I am the most ignorant man, And don't have a man's understanding.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, איש (ʼîysh) means “man.” The King James Version also renders it “every man,” a usage modern versions have dropped for “man” — see the renderings breakdown. Spanning 1,851 verses in 38 books, it ranks among the most common words of the Hebrew Bible. It first appears in Genesis 2:23. Ranging over 3 senses, it is not a single-sense word. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H376 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 1,851
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 1,851 distinct verses.
- 38 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 38 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #19
- by frequency
- Top 25 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 19 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 1,851 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 1,851 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 1,006 verses · 54%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 477 verses · 26%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 368 verses · 20%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Man 560×, Men 175×, Every man 154×
- American Standard Version: Man 521×, Men 165×, Every man 146×
- Berean Standard Bible: Man 556×, Men 188×, Each 97×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Man 921×, Men 425×, Men of 210×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H376 across 1,623 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 221 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 16 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H376 across 1,625 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 297 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H376 across 1,396 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 132 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 266 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H376 across 2,256 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 79 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in BDB
The 3 senses BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- man
- whosoever
- each (adjective)
Word origin
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 sexual distinction & relation Gn 19:8; 24:16; 38:25 Ex 22:15 Lv 15:16 (שִׁכְבַת זָ֑רַע) v 18 (וְאִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב אִישׁ אֹתָהּ שׁ׳־ז׳) 20:10f Nu 5:13f Dt 22:22f Is 4:1 +; thence = husband, especially c. sf. Gn 3:6, 16; 16:3; 29:32, 34 Lv 21:7 Nu 30:7f Dt 28:56 Ju 13:6f Ru 1:3f 1 S 25:19 Je 29:6 Ez 16:45 +; fig. of י׳ as husb. of Isr. אִישִׁי Ho 2:18 (opp. בַּעְלִי); man as procreator, father Ec 6:3; of male child Gn 4:1 cf. זֶרַע אֲנָשִׁים 1 S 1:11, man, opp. beast Ex 11:7 Lv 20:15 (cf. אָדָם); cf. fig. ψ 22:7 but also of male of animals Gn 7:2(×2) (אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ); man, opp. God Gn 32:29 Nu 23:19 לֹא אִישׁ אֵל וִיכַזֵּב (‖ וּבֶן־אָדָם וְיִתְנֶחָ֑ם); Jb 9:32; 32:13 Ho 11:9 cf. Is 31:8 Jb 12:10 (רוּחַ כָּל־בְּשַׂר־אִישׁ); hence in phrases to denote ordinary, customary, common שֵׁבֶט אֲנָשִׁים 2 S 7:14 (‖ נִגְעֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם); לֶחֶם אֲנָשִׁים Ez 24:17, 22 (cf. Is 8:1); אֲנָשִׁים Ez 24:17, 22 is textual error; We (ap. Sm) אֲנֻשִׁים; ToyHpt אוֹנִים (Ho 9:4). אַמַּת־אִישׁ Dt 3:11; but also contr. אָדָם ψ 49:3; 62:10; man, as valiant 1 S 4:9(×2) (וִהְיוּ לַאֲנָשִׁים) so 1 K 2:2 cf. 1 S 26:15; so אִישׁ חַיִל 31:12 2 S 24:9 1 K 1:42 +; also אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה Nu 31:49 Dt 2:14, 16 Jos 5:4, 6 +; even of י׳ Ex 15:3 יהוה אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה; oft. prefixed to other nouns in app. הא׳ אָדוֹן Gn 42:30, 33, א׳ שַׂר וְשֹׁפֵט Ex 2:14, א׳ כֹּהֵן Lv 21:9, א׳ סָרִיס Je 38:7; partic. bef. adj. gent. אִישׁ מִצְרִי Gn 39:1 Ex 2:11, 19 cf. Gn 37:28; 38:1, 2; 39:14 1 S 17:12; 30:11, 13 +; a man as resident in, or belonging to a place or people Nu 25:6 Ju 10:1 + (so Ph.); usually pl. אַנְשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל 1 S 7:11; 31:7(×2) cf. Jos 7:4, 5 +; also sg. coll. Dt 27:14 Jos 9:6, 7 Ju 20:11 1 S 11:8 (v. Dr) +; 2 S 10:6, 8 (א׳ טוֹב); (so MI 10. 13); men = retainers, followers, soldiers 1 S 18:27; 23:3f; 24:3; 25:13 + cf. Dt 33:8 sg. coll. v. Di; אִישׁ אֱלֹהִים man of God = proph. Dt 33:1 Jos 14:6 1 S 9:6f 1 K 12:22; 13:1f + (v. אלהים); in phrase sq. abstr. v. supr.; א׳ רִיב Ju 12:2 Je 15:10, א׳ שֵׂיבָה Dt 32:25, א׳ הַדָּמִים 2 S 16:7 cf. v. 8, א׳ הַבְּלִיַּעַל 2 S 16:7, א׳ מָוֶת 1 K 2:26, א׳ חָמָס ψ 140:12 Pr 3:31 +; sq. word of occupation, etc. א׳ שָׂדֶה Gn 25:27, א׳ הָאֲדָמָה Gn 9:20 (cf. Zc 13:5), א׳ הַבֵּנַיִם champion 1 S 17:4 (cf. Dr) v 23, א׳ בְּשֹׂרָה 2 S 18:20, אִישׁ עֲצָתוֹ his counsellor Is 40:13, cf. אִישׁ חֶרְמִי 1 K 20:42, א׳ רֵעִים Pr 18:24; oft. distrib. = each, every Gn 9:5; 10:5; 40:5(×2) Ex 12:3 +; incl. women Jb 42:11 1 Ch 16:3 וַיְחַלֵּק לְכָל־אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאִישׁ וְעַד אִשָּׁה לְאִישׁ כִּכַּר־לֶחֶם; of inanim. things 1 K 7:30, 36; also אִישׁ אִישׁ Ex 36:4 Nu 4:19, 49 Ez 14:4, 7 +; any one Ex 34:3(×2), 24 +; also אִישׁ אִישׁ Lv 15:2; 22:4, 18 +; of gods 2 K 18:33 = Is 36:18; one … another וְהִרְגוּ אִישׁ־אֶת־אָחִיו וְאִישׁ אֶת־רֵעֵהוּ וְאִישׁ אֶת־קְרֹבוֹ Ex 32:27, אִישׁ … אָחִיו Dt 1:16 Mi 7:2 (v. אָח), אִישׁ … רֵעֵהוּ Gn 11:3, 7 + (v. רֵעַ) of inanimate things Gn 15:10.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from אנוש (ʼĕnôwsh) (H582) — man.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
אִישׁ
- , v. אֱינָשׁ) being, man; husband; lord.—א׳ ירושלים a native or citizen of Jerusalem Aboth I, 4; a. fr.—Yoma I, 7 אִישִׁי כה"ג my lord the High-priest. Sot. 17ᵃ א׳ ואשה husband and wife; a. fr.—Pl. אֲנָשִׁים, v. אֱנוֹשׁ.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 285 distinct written forms H376 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 225 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H376, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
- איש ʼîysh H377 to be a man
- אישון ʼîyshôwn H380 pupil
- אישחיל ʼÎysh-Chayil H381 a mighty man, valiant man
- אשה ʼishshâh H802 woman
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- אנוש ʼĔnôwsh H583 Enos
- אישבשת ʼÎysh-Bôsheth H378 Ishbosheth
- אישהוד ʼÎyshᵉhôwd H379 Ishod
- אישטוב ʼÎysh-Ṭôwb H382 Ish-tob
- אשבעל ʼEshbaʻal H792 Eshbaal
- בןימיני Ben-yᵉmîynîy H1145 Benjamite
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 13 — not the complete family. 6 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 1,751 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 1,851 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 2:23
- Exodus 1:1
- Leviticus 7:8
- Numbers 1:4
- Deuteronomy 1:13
- Joshua 1:5
- Judges 1:4
- Ruth 1:1
- 1 Samuel 1:1
- 2 Samuel 1:2
- 1 Kings 1:5
- 2 Kings 1:6
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
