Man

Man -

(1.) Hebrew: 'Adam, used as the proper name of the first man. The name is derived from a word meaning "to be red," and thus the first man was called Adam because he was formed from the red earth. It is also the generic name of the human race (Gen. 1:26, 27; 5:2; 8:21; Deut. 8:3). Its equivalents are the Latin homo and the Greek anthropos (Matt. 5:13, 16). It denotes also man in opposition to woman (Gen. 3:12; Matt. 19:10).

(2.) Hebrew: 'ish, like the Latin vir and Greek aner, denotes properly a man in opposition to a woman (1 Sam. 17:33; Matt. 14:21); a husband (Gen. 3:16; Hos. 2:16); man with reference to excellent mental qualities.

(3.) Hebrew: 'enosh, man as mortal, transient, perishable (2 Chr. 14:11; Isa. 8:1; Job 15:14; Ps. 8:4; 9:19, 20; 103:15). It is applied to women (Josh. 8:25).

(4.) Hebrew: geber, man with reference to his strength, as distinguished from women (Deut. 22:5) and from children (Ex. 12:37); a husband (Prov. 6:34).

(5.) Hebrew: methim, men as mortal (Isa. 41:14), and as opposed to women and children (Deut. 3:6; Job 11:3; Isa. 3:25).

Man was created by the immediate hand of God, and is generically different from all other creatures (Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:7).

The words translated "spirit" and "soul," in 1 Thess. 5:23, Hebrews 4:12, are habitually used interchangeably (Matt. 10:28; 16:26; 1 Pet. 1:22).

Man was created in the likeness of God as to the perfection of his nature, in knowledge (Col. 3:10), righteousness, and holiness (Eph. 4:24), and as having dominion over all the inferior creatures (Gen. 1:28). He had in his original state God's law written on his heart, and had power to obey it, and yet was capable of disobeying, being left to the freedom of his own will. He was created with holy dispositions, prompting him to holy actions; but he was fallible, and did fall from his integrity (3:1-6). (See FALL .)

Previous topic: Mamre

Next topic: Manaen

Return to Bible Dictionary Main Index

Additional essential Bible study tools:

Bible software

Young's Analytical
Concordance to the Bible

The New Strong's
Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

inWORD Bible software

Where to Find it in the Bible