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).
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 344 times (44%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct 224 times (29%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute 139 times (18%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct 74 times (9%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 781 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Page 4 of 4 — showing verses 601–686 of 686 distinct verses where H802 appears, across 33 books. 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.
Song of Solomon 3 verses
Isaiah 11 verses
- Isaiah 3:12 וְ/נָשִׁ֖ים conj + n c fp As for my people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. My people, those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.
- Isaiah 4:1 נָשִׁ֜ים n c fp Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing: only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach."
- 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 19:16 כַּ/נָּשִׁ֑ים prep det + n c fp In that day shall the Egyptians be like women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Yahweh of Hosts, which he shakes over them.
- Isaiah 27:11 נָשִׁ֕ים n c fp When the boughs of it are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.
- Isaiah 32:9 נָשִׁים֙ n c fp Rise up, you women who are at ease, [and] hear my voice; you careless daughters, give ear to my speech.
- Isaiah 34:15 אִשָּׁ֥ה n c fs There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yes, there shall the kites be gathered, everyone with her mate.
- Isaiah 34:16 אִשָּׁ֥ה n c fs Seek you out of the book of Yahweh, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it has commanded, and his Spirit, it has gathered them.
- Isaiah 45:10 וּ/לְ/אִשָּׁ֖ה conj + prep + n c fs Woe to him who says to a father, "What have you become the father of?" or to a woman, "With what do you travail?"
- Isaiah 49:15 אִשָּׁה֙ n c fs Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
- 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 32 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 3:3 אִשָּׁ֤ה n c fs Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute's forehead, you refused to be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 3:20 אִשָּׁ֖ה n c fs Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel, 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 6:11 אִשָּׁה֙ n c fs Therefore I am full of the wrath of Yahweh; I am weary with holding in: pour it out on the children in the street, and on the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him who is full of days.
- Jeremiah 6:12 וְ/נָשִׁ֖ים conj + n c fp Their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 7:18 וְ/הַ/נָּשִׁ֖ים conj + ptcl def.art + n c fp The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
- 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 9:20 נָשִׁים֙ וְ/אִשָּׁ֥ה n c fp conj + n c fs Yet hear the word of Yahweh, you women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and everyone her neighbor lamentation.
- 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 16:2 אִשָּׁ֑ה n c fs You shall not take a wife, neither shall you have sons or daughters, in this place.
- 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 29:6 נָשִׁ֗ים נָשִׁ֗ים n c fp n c fp Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply you there, and don't be diminished.
- 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 38:22 הַ/נָּשִׁ֗ים ptcl def.art + n c fp behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you: [now that] your feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back.
- 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 40:7 וְ/נָשִׁים֙ conj + n c fp Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon;
- Jeremiah 41:16 וְ/נָשִׁ֤ים conj + n c fp Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, [to wit], the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:
- Jeremiah 43:6 הַ/נָּשִׁ֣ים ptcl def.art + n c fp the men, and the women, and the children, and the king's daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah;
- Jeremiah 44:7 וְ/אִשָּׁ֛ה conj + n c fs Therefore now thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why commit you [this] great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining;
- 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 44:20 הַ/נָּשִׁים֙ ptcl def.art + n c fp Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him who answer, saying,
- Jeremiah 44:24 הַ/נָּשִׁ֑ים ptcl def.art + n c fp Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt:
- 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.
- Jeremiah 48:41 אִשָּׁ֥ה n c fs Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
- Jeremiah 49:22 אִשָּׁ֥ה n c fs Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
- Jeremiah 50:37 לְ/נָשִׁ֑ים prep + n c fp A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
- Jeremiah 51:22 וְ/אִשָּׁ֔ה conj + n c fs and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;
- Jeremiah 51:30 לְ/נָשִׁ֑ים prep + n c fp The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire; her bars are broken.
Lamentations 3 verses
- Lamentations 2:20 נָשִׁ֤ים n c fp Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Lamentations 4:10 נָשִׁים֙ n c fp The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Lamentations 5:11 נָשִׁים֙ n c fp They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
Ezekiel 20 verses
- Ezekiel 1:9 אִשָּׁ֥ה n c fs their wings were joined one to another; they didn't turn when they went; they went everyone straight forward.
- Ezekiel 1:23 אִשָּׁ֖ה n c fs Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: everyone had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.
- Ezekiel 3:13 אִשָּׁ֣ה n c fs [I heard] the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing.
- Ezekiel 8:14 הַ/נָּשִׁ֣ים ptcl def.art + n c fp Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.
- Ezekiel 9:6 וְ/נָשִׁ֜ים conj + n c fp kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but don't come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house.
- Ezekiel 16:30 אִשָּֽׁה n c fs How weak is your heart, says the Lord Yahweh, seeing you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;
- Ezekiel 16:32 הָ/אִשָּׁ֖ה ptcl def.art + n c fs A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband!
- Ezekiel 16:34 הַ/נָּשִׁים֙ ptcl def.art + n c fp You are different from [other] women in your prostitution, in that none follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.
- Ezekiel 16:41 נָשִׁ֣ים n c fp They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.
- 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 23:2 נָשִׁ֔ים n c fp Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
- Ezekiel 23:10 לַ/נָּשִׁ֔ים prep det + n c fp These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.
- 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 23:48 הַ/נָּשִׁ֔ים ptcl def.art + n c fp Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
- 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?
- Ezekiel 44:22 לְ/נָשִׁ֑ים prep + n c fp Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
Daniel 2 verses
- Daniel 11:17 הַ/נָּשִׁים֙ ptcl def.art + n c fp He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and with him equitable conditions; and he shall perform them: and he shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she shall not stand, neither be for him.
- Daniel 11:37 נָשִׁ֛ים n c fp Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.
Hosea 4 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;
- Hosea 3:1 אִשָּׁ֔ה n c fs Yahweh said to me, "Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins."
- Hosea 12:12 בְּ/אִשָּׁ֔ה וּ/בְ/אִשָּׁ֖ה prep + n c fs conj + prep + n c fs Jacob fled into the country of Aram, And Israel served to get a wife, And for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
Amos 2 verses
- Amos 4:3 אִשָּׁ֣ה n c fs You will go out at the breaks in the wall, Everyone straight before her; And you will cast yourselves into Harmon," says Yahweh.
- Amos 7:17 אִשְׁתְּ/ךָ֞ n c fs cs + sfx pers 2ms Therefore thus says Yahweh: 'Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.'"
Micah 1 verse
Nahum 1 verse
Zechariah 7 verses
- Zechariah 5:7 אִשָּׁ֣ה n c fs (and, behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah basket."
- Zechariah 5:9 נָשִׁ֤ים n c fp Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky.
- Zechariah 11:9 אִשָּׁ֖ה n c fs Then I said, "I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other's flesh."
- 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.
- Zechariah 14:2 וְ/הַ/נָּשִׁ֖ים conj + ptcl def.art + n c fp For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
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.
