אִשָּׁה
woman
also: wife, female 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
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Page 2 of 2 — showing verses 201–271 of 271 distinct verses where H802 appears in the Construct state, across 28 books. 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.
1 Chronicles 12 verses
- 1 Chronicles 4:18 וְ/אִשְׁתּ֣/וֹ conj + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms His wife the Jewess bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.
- 1 Chronicles 4:19 אֵ֣שֶׁת n c fs cs The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
- 1 Chronicles 7:16 אֵֽשֶׁת n c fs cs Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she named him Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.
- 1 Chronicles 7:23 אִשְׁתּ֔/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms He went in to his wife, and she conceived, and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because it went evil with his house.
- 1 Chronicles 8:8 נָשָֽׁי/ו n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Shaharaim became the father of children in the field of Moab, after he had sent them away; Hushim and Baara were his wives.
- 1 Chronicles 8:9 אִשְׁתּ֑/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms He became the father of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcam,
- 1 Chronicles 8:29 אִשְׁתּ֖/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms In Gibeon there lived the father of Gibeon, [Jeiel], whose wife's name was Maacah;
- 1 Chronicles 9:35 אִשְׁתּ֖/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms In Gibeon there lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife's name was Maacah:
2 Chronicles 8 verses
- 2 Chronicles 11:21 נָשָׁי/ו֙ נָשִׁ֤ים n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms n c fp Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)
- 2 Chronicles 20:13 נְשֵׁי/הֶ֥ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp All Judah stood before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
- 2 Chronicles 21:14 וּ/בְ/נָשֶׁ֖י/ךָ conj + prep + n c fp cs + sfx pers 2ms behold, Yahweh will strike with a great plague your people, and your children, and your wives, and all your substance;
- 2 Chronicles 21:17 וְ/נָשָׁ֑י/ו conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms and they came up against Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
- 2 Chronicles 22:11 אֵשֶׁת֩ n c fs cs But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn't kill him.
- 2 Chronicles 29:9 וְ/נָשֵׁ֛י/נוּ conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 1cp For, behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
- 2 Chronicles 31:18 נְשֵׁי/הֶ֛ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp and those who were reckoned by genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their office of trust they sanctified themselves in holiness.
- 2 Chronicles 34:22 אֵ֣שֶׁת n c fs cs So Hilkiah, and they whom the king [had commanded], went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter;) and they spoke to her to that effect.
Ezra 1 verse
Nehemiah 3 verses
- Nehemiah 4:14 נְשֵׁי/כֶ֖ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 2mp I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Don't be you afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
- Nehemiah 5:1 וּ/נְשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews.
- Nehemiah 10:28 נְשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge, and understanding;
Esther 3 verses
- Esther 5:10 אִשְׁתּֽ/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Nevertheless Haman refrained himself, and went home; and he sent and fetched his friends and Zeresh his wife.
- Esther 5:14 אִשְׁתּ֜/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends to him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak you to the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go you in merrily with the king to the banquet. The thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
- Esther 6:13 אִשְׁתּ/וֹ֙ אִשְׁתּ֗/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, you shall not prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him.
Job 3 verses
- Job 2:9 אִשְׁתּ֔/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."
- Job 19:17 לְ/אִשְׁתִּ֑/י prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 1cs My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
- Job 31:10 אִשְׁתִּ֑/י n c fs cs + sfx pers 1cs Then let my wife grind for another, And let others sleep with her.
Psalms 3 verses
- Psalms 58:8 אֵ֝֗שֶׁת n c fs cs Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, Like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
- Psalms 109:9 וְ֝/אִשְׁתּ/וֹ conj + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow.
- Psalms 128:3 אֶשְׁתְּ/ךָ֤ n c fs cs + sfx pers 2ms Your wife will be as a fruitful vine, In the innermost parts of your house; Your children like olive plants, Around your table.
Proverbs 12 verses
- Proverbs 5:18 מֵ/אֵ֥שֶׁת prep + n c fs cs Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
- Proverbs 6:24 מֵ/אֵ֣שֶׁת prep + n c fs cs To keep you from the immoral woman, From the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.
- Proverbs 6:26 אִשָּׁ֥ה וְ/אֵ֥שֶׁת n c fs conj + n c fs cs For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
- Proverbs 6:29 אֵ֣שֶׁת n c fs cs So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
- Proverbs 9:13 אֵ֣שֶׁת n c fs cs The foolish woman is loud, Undisciplined, and knows nothing.
- Proverbs 11:16 אֵֽשֶׁת n c fs cs A gracious woman obtains honor, But violent men obtain riches.
- Proverbs 12:4 אֵֽשֶׁת n c fs cs A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, But a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.
- Proverbs 21:9 מֵ/אֵ֥שֶׁת prep + n c fs cs It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, Than to share a house with a contentious woman.
- Proverbs 21:19 מֵ/אֵ֖שֶׁת prep + n c fs cs It is better to dwell in a desert land, Than with a contentious and fretful woman.
- Proverbs 25:24 מֵ/אֵ֥שֶׁת prep + n c fs cs It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, Than to share a house with a contentious woman.
- Proverbs 27:15 וְ/אֵ֥שֶׁת conj + n c fs cs A continual dropping on a rainy day And a contentious wife are alike:
- Proverbs 31:10 אֵֽשֶׁת n c fs cs Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.
Isaiah 2 verses
- Isaiah 13:16 וּ/נְשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
- Isaiah 54:6 כְ/אִשָּׁ֧ה וְ/אֵ֧שֶׁת prep + n c fs conj + n c fs cs For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, says your God.
Jeremiah 12 verses
- Jeremiah 3:1 אִשְׁתּ/וֹ֩ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, will he return to her again? Won't that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 5:8 אֵ֥שֶׁת n c fs cs They were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.
- Jeremiah 8:10 נְשֵׁי/הֶ֜ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them: for everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely.
- Jeremiah 13:21 אֵ֥שֶׁת n c fs cs What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?
- Jeremiah 14:16 נְשֵׁי/הֶ֔ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp The people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them-them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness on them.
- Jeremiah 18:21 נְשֵׁי/הֶ֤ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men struck of the sword in battle.
- Jeremiah 29:23 נְשֵׁ֣י n c fp cs because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn't command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 35:8 נָשֵׁ֔י/נוּ n c fp cs + sfx pers 1cp We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;
- Jeremiah 38:23 נָשֶׁ֣י/ךָ n c fp cs + sfx pers 2ms They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.
- Jeremiah 44:9 נָשָׁ֔י/ו נְשֵׁי/כֶ֑ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms n c fp cs + sfx pers 2mp Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
- Jeremiah 44:15 נְשֵׁי/הֶם֙ הַ/נָּשִׁ֥ים n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp ptcl def.art + n c fp Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
- Jeremiah 44:25 וּ/נְשֵׁי/כֶ֜ם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 2mp Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.
Ezekiel 7 verses
- Ezekiel 18:6 אֵ֤שֶׁת אִשָּׁ֥ה n c fs cs n c fs and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,
- Ezekiel 18:11 אֵ֥שֶׁת n c fs cs and who does not any of those [duties], but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,
- Ezekiel 18:15 אֵ֥שֶׁת n c fs cs who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,
- Ezekiel 22:11 אֵ֣שֶׁת n c fs cs One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
- Ezekiel 23:44 אִשָּׁ֣ה אִשֹּׁ֖ת n c fs n c fp cs They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.
- Ezekiel 24:18 אִשְׁתִּ֖/י n c fs cs + sfx pers 1cs So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
- Ezekiel 33:26 אֵ֥שֶׁת n c fs cs You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and you defile everyone his neighbor's wife: and shall you possess the land?
Hosea 2 verses
- Hosea 1:2 אֵ֤שֶׁת n c fs cs When Yahweh spoke at the first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery against from Yahweh."
- Hosea 2:2 אִשְׁתִּ֔/י n c fs cs + sfx pers 1cs Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, Neither am I her husband; And let her put away her prostitution from her face, And her adulteries from between her breasts;
Amos 1 verse
Micah 1 verse
Zechariah 3 verses
- Zechariah 12:12 וּ/נְשֵׁי/הֶ֣ם וּ/נְשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
- Zechariah 12:13 וּ/נְשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם וּ/נְשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
- Zechariah 12:14 וּ/נְשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
Malachi 2 verses
- Malachi 2:14 אֵ֣שֶׁת וְ/אֵ֥שֶׁת n c fs cs conj + n c fs cs Yet you say, 'Why?' Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
- Malachi 2:15 וּ/בְ/אֵ֥שֶׁת conj + prep + n c fs cs Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
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.
“woman” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun אשה (ʼishshâh). Not a single-sense word: its full sense range also takes in “wife” and “female”. It appears 686 verses across 33 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its most common vocabulary. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 2:22. It shares a root with איש, איש and אישון. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H802 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 →
- 686
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 686 distinct verses.
- 33 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 33 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #60
- by frequency
- Top 100 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 60 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 686 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 686 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 282 verses · 41%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 267 verses · 39%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 137 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).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Wife 257×, Woman 163×, Wives 96×
- American Standard Version†: Wife 183×, Woman 152×, Women 84×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Wife 242×, Woman 151×, Wives 88×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Woman 213×, Wife 209×, Women 88×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H802 across 778† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 94 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 2 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H802 across 775† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 122 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H802 across 712† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 62 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 60 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H802 across 803† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 44 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 4 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. woman Gn 3:1, 2; 12:11 +; opp. man 2:22, 23 Ex 35:29; 36:6; Dt 17:2, 5; 22:22; 1 S 21:5 +; א׳ emphat. a genuine (or ideal) woman Ec 7:28 (‖ אדם); sim. of men as feeble, timid Je 50:37; 51:30; note especially הַטַּף בַּנָּשִׁים the children among the women, female children Nu 31:18 (P); as conceiving Ex 2:2; Lv 12:2; 2 S 11:5 +; travailing Je 13:21; bearing children Ju 13:24; 1 K 3:18; cf. Jb 14:1; 15:14; 25:4 +, etc.; suckling Is 49:15; אֹרַח כַּנָּשִׁים Gn 18:11; דֶּרֶךְ נָשִׁים 31:35; with adj., or app., א׳מֵינֶקֶת nursing woman, nurse Ex 2:7; א׳ זוֹנָה harlot Jos 2:1; 6:22; Ju 11:1; 16:1; 1 K 3:16; Pr 6:26; Je 3:3 Ez 16:30; 23:44; so א׳ זָרָה Pr 2:16; 7:5; cf. also Ez 23:44 supr.; א׳ מְנָאָ֑פֶת adulteress Pr 30:20 (cf. אֵשֶׁת אִישׁ 6:26), אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים Ho 1:2; נָשִׁים נָכְרִיּוֹת foreign women 1 K 11:1, 8; Ezr 10:2, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 44; Ne 13:26, 27 (cf. v 23); א׳ חֲכָמָה wise woman, one known as clever, shrewd 2 S 14:2; 20:16, etc.; also א׳ פִּילֶגֶשׁ concubine Ju 19:1, 27: א׳ אַלְמָנָה widow 2 S 14:5; 1 K 11:26; 17:9, 10; א׳ נְבִיאָה prophetess Ju 4:4; also cstr. bef. noun of quality אֵשֶׁתרָ֑ע Pr 6:24; א׳ כְּסִילוּת 9:13; א׳ חֵן 11:16; א׳ חַיִל 12:4; 31:10; Ru 3:11; א׳ מִדְיָנִים Pr 21:9; 25:24; 27:15; א׳ מ׳ וָכָ֑עַס 21:19. e.g. Genesis 3:1
- 2. Wife (woman belonging to a man, usually cstr. or sf.) Gn 2:24, 25; 3:8, 17; 4:1, 17 + often; of one betrothed (ארשׂ) Dt 20:7; 28:30; בַּעַל (הָ)אִשָּׁה Ex 21:3, 22; אִישׁ הָאִשָּׁה Ju 20:4; לְאִשָּׁה to wife Gn 12:19; 16:3; 34:21 + often (after לָקַח, נָתַן husband or father subj.); for wife (after הָֽיְתָה, woman subj.) Gn 20:12; Nu 36:3, 6(×2), 11, 12; Dt 22:19, 29 +; for unfaithful wife cf. 1; cstr. in phr. אֵשֶׁת חֵיקֶ֑ךָ Dt 13:7 cf. 28:54; א׳ נְעוּרֶיךָ Pr 5:18; Mal 2:14, 15; א׳ בְּרִיתֶ֑ךָ v 14; אֵשֶׁת אָב = step-mother Lv 18:8, 11; 20:11. e.g. Genesis 2:24
- 3. Female of animals Gn 7:2(×2); v. also sub 4. e.g. Genesis 7:2
- 4. With distrib. & recipr. sense, א׳ מֵאֵת רְעוּתָהּ each woman from her neighbour Ex 11:2 (E); cf. Ru 1:8, 9; Je 9:19; each one, of birds of prey Is 34:15 cf. v 16 (del. Bi Che); of cows (fig. of heartless women of Isr.) Am 4:3; of sheep (fig. of Isr.) Zc 11:9; & of inanimate things (P, & late) א׳ אֶל אֲחֹתָהּ Ex 26:3(×2), 5, 6, 17 (P) Ez 1:9 (del. Co) v 23; 3:13. e.g. Exodus 11:2
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. n.f. woman, wife, female (Arabic أُنْثَى, Sab. אנתֿת etc. DHMZK 1884, 360, Aramaic אִתְּתָא, אִנְתְּתָא, אִתָּא, ܐܰܢ̱ܬܬܴܐ, Palm. Nab. אנתתא, Ethiopic አንስት Ph. אשת, Assyrian aššatu COTGloss)—א׳ abs. Gn 2:23 +; cstr. אֵשֶׁת Gn 11:29 + (appar. abs. Dt 21:11; 1 S 28:7 ψ 58:9 but cf. Bö§ 728 Ges§ 130, 5); sf. אִשְׁתִּי Gn 20:11 +; אִשְׁתְּךָ Gn 12:18 + (אֶשְׁתְּךָ ψ 128:3), etc.; Pl. †אִשֹּׁת Ez 23:44 (Co לעשׂות); נָשִׁים Gn 4:19 +; cstr. נְשֵׁי Gn 4:23 +; sf. נָשַׁי Gn 30:26; 1 K 20:7; נְשֵׁיכֶם Ex 22:23 +, etc.;—
II. v. sub III. אנשׁ. אִשֶּׁה v. sub אֵשׁ.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from איש (ʼîysh) (H376) — 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.
אִשָּׁה
- v. איש,, const. אֵשֶׁת, woman, wife. Pes. VIII, 1. Ab. Zar. 25ᵇ א׳ כלי זיינה עליה woman carries her weapon with her, is protected against murder by gentiles (who would rather assault her innocence). Ib. א׳ חשובה a woman of high rank (influential). Ib. אִשְתּוֹ משמרתו his wife’s presence guards him from wrong-doing; a. fr.—Pl. (נָשׁוֹת) נָשִׁים q. v.
אִשֶּׁה
- burnt-offering, v. אִישֶּׁה.
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 238 distinct written forms H802 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; 178 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H802, 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
- איש ʼîysh H377 to be a man
- אישון ʼîyshôwn H380 pupil
- אישחיל ʼÎysh-Chayil H381 a mighty man, valiant man
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- 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 10 — not the complete family. 5 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 662 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 686 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 2:22
- Exodus 1:19
- Leviticus 12:2
- Numbers 5:6
- Deuteronomy 2:34
- Joshua 1:14
- Judges 1:12
- Ruth 1:1
- 1 Samuel 1:2
- 2 Samuel 1:26
- 1 Kings 2:17
- 2 Kings 4:1
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.
