ἄνθρωπος
ánthrōpos · G444 · Greek · 550 occurrences
Meanings
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A human being (normally an adult) ((in the singular) person, human being, individual, (in the plural) people, persons, mankind)
ExamplesMatthew 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’”
Matthew 4:19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.”
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.
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man
An adult male person of marriageable age
ExamplesMatthew 7:9 “Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone?
Matthew 8:9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
Matthew 8:27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
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husband
A man who is married to a woman
ExamplesMatthew 19:5 and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?
Matthew 19:10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”
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body, physical form
(An idiom, literally: the outside person) The physical nature or aspect of a person
Examples2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.
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the inner being, the inmost being, inwardly
(Idioms, literally: the inner (person), and: the hidden (person)) The psychological faculty, including intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects, in contrast with the purely physical aspects of human existence
ExamplesRomans 7:22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person,
Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self,
1 Peter 3:4 but it should be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
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old self, old pattern of life
(An idiom, literally: old person, or: former person) The old or former pattern of behavior, in contrast with a new pattern of behavior which people should conform to
ExamplesRomans 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
Ephesians 4:22 that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices,
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people, mankind
(A Semitic idiom, literally: sons of men) Human beings (equivalent in denotative meaning to ἄνθρωπος)
ExamplesMark 3:28 “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit;
Ephesians 3:5 which in other generations was not made known to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
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Son of Man
A title with Messianic implications used by Jesus concerning himself
ExamplesMatthew 8:20 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Matthew 9:6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.”
Matthew 10:23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
How it’s used In 10 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
8 occurrences in 6 groups
- ἐγώI, we 2
- θεόςGod 2
- γενεάgeneration 1
- εὐδοκίαwhat pleases 1
- καρδίαheart 1
- ἀνομίαlawlessness 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
118 occurrences in 64 groups
- οὗτοςthis 25
- τὶςsomeone 14
- ἐκεῖνοςthat, that one, there 9
- εἷςone 6
- ἔχωto have 3
- παλαιόςold 3
- Other words · 57 groups that occur once or twice (72) 72
Named alongside itApposition
55 occurrences in 54 groups
- ἔχωto have 5
- εἰμίto be 4
- Ἰουδαῖοςa Jew, Jewish 3
- παραδίδωμιto hand over, to betray 3
- Other words · 50 groups that occur once or twice (59) 59
What it doesIt is the subject
104 occurrences in 72 groups
- ποιέωto do, to make 8
- δύναμαιcan 5
- γεννάωto beget, to be the father of, to give birth 4
- γίνομαιto become, to happen, to be 3
- δικαιόωto justify, to declare righteous 3
- καταλείπωto leave, to leave behind 3
- Other words · 64 groups that occur once or twice (77) 77
What is done to itIt is the object
73 occurrences in 43 groups
- εἴδωto know 10
- κοινόωto make unclean 8
- λέγωto say 6
- ἔπωto say 5
- ἐξέρχομαιto go out, to depart 3
- Other words · 38 groups that occur once or twice (44) 44
It is given or told toIndirect object
19 occurrences in 12 groups
- λέγωto say 4
- ἀφίημιto leave, to forgive, to let 3
- Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (14) 14
What it is said to bePredicate
34 occurrences in 29 groups
- ἐκεῖthere 3
- Other words · 28 groups that occur once or twice (32) 32
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
16 occurrences in 10 groups
- ἐγώI, we 7
- Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (10) 10
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
88 occurrences in 16 groups
- ἐκfrom 18
- κατάaccording to, against, down 17
- ἀπόfrom 17
- ἐνin 15
- ἔμπροσθενbefore, in front of 12
- ὑπόby, under 12
- Other words · 2 groups that occur once or twice (3) 3
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
161 occurrences in 59 groups
- υἱόςson 87
- ὁthe (definite article) 4
- πρόσωπονface 4
- χείρhand 4
- ἔνταλμαcommandment 3
- Other words · 54 groups that occur once or twice (63) 63
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 5 words
- אָדָם ʼâdâm · H120 · human, humankind, human being(s)
- אָדָם (ʼâdâm, H120) is the standard Hebrew term for 'human being/mankind' that directly corresponds to ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, G444) as the standard Greek term for the same concept, representing the primary cross-linguistic equivalent pair for denoting humanity in biblical translation between Hebrew and Greek.
- אִישׁ ʼîysh · H376 · person, someone, man
- אִישׁ (ʼîysh, H376) emphasizes maleness/masculinity or individual personhood with possible status/rank implications ("man" as opposed to woman, or "a man" as an individual), while ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, G444) is the broader generic term for human being regardless of gender ("humanity" or "a person").
- גֶּבֶר geber · H1397 · man, human being, person
- גֶּבֶר (geber, H1397) emphasizes a man as strong/mighty or mature male, while ἄνθρωποϛ (ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, G444)) generically denotes any human being regardless of gender or strength; the Greek term is broader and gender-neutral where the Hebrew is male-specific and often connotes vigor.
- אֱנוֹשׁ ʼĕnôwsh · H582 · human being, mortal
- ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, G444) ἄνθρωπος serves as the standard Greek rendering of אֱנוֹשׁ (ʼĕnôwsh, H582) אֱנוֹשׁ across LXX alignment data, both denoting a human being with emphasis on mortal/frail humanity (as distinct from אָדָם (ʼâdâm, H120) אָדָם's broader anthropological scope).
- אֱנָשׁ ʼĕnâsh · H606 · human, humankind, human being(s)
- Aramaic אֱנָשׁ (ʼĕnâsh, H606) and Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, G444) both denote 'human being' or 'man' as the standard term for humanity in their respective languages, functioning as direct translation equivalents across the Hebrew Bible's Aramaic sections and the LXX/NT Greek corpus.
Semantic domains 8 entries
- Husband10.53
- In Ephesians 5:31, Paul quotes, “For this reason a man (ánthrōpos) shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh,” using the word for the husband in a marriage union.
- The inner being, the inmost being, inwardly26.1
- In Ephesians 3:16, Paul prays that believers “would be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner (ésō ánthrōpon) self,” naming the hidden, inward dimension of a person as distinct from the outward.
- Old self, old pattern of life41.43
- In Ephesians 4:22, believers are told, “in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self (palaiòn ánthrōpon), which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,” naming the former, unregenerate pattern of life to be put off.
- Body, physical form8.3
- In 1 Corinthians 15:47, Paul contrasts Adam and Christ: “The first man (ánthrōpos) is from the earth, earthy; the second Man is from heaven,” describing humanity's created, physical, earthly form.
- (in the singular) person, human being, individual, (in the plural) people, persons, mankind9.1
- In Matthew 4:4, Jesus answers, “It is written: 'MAN (ánthrōpos) SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD,'” using the word for a human individual generally.
- People, mankind9.2
- In Matthew 5:13, Jesus warns that salt which has lost its taste “is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people (anthrṓpōn),” referring to human beings collectively.
- Man9.24
- In Matthew 7:24, everyone who hears and acts on Jesus' words “will be like a wise man (andrì; the surrounding description names him tō̃ ánthrṓpō) who built his house on the rock,” describing an individual man as a figure in the parable.
- Son of Man9.3
- In Matthew 8:20, Jesus says, “the Son of Man (ho hyiòs toũ anthrṓpou) has nowhere to lay His head,” using the phrase as His characteristic self-designation.
Word family 12 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Also from the root ἀνήρ
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon ἀνθρώπου, ὁ (perhaps from ἀνήρ and ὤψ, i. e. man's face: Curtius, § 422; Vanicek, p. 9.…
1. universally, with reference to the genus or nature, without distinction of sex, a human being, whether male or female: Jn 16:21. And in this sense a. with the article, generically, so as to include all human individuals: Mt 4:4 (ἐπ' ἄρτῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος); Mt 12:35 (ὁ ἀγαθός ἄνθρωπος every good person); Mt 15:11, Mt 15:18; Mk 2:27; Mk 7:15, Mk 7:18, Mk 7:20; Lk 4:4; Jn 2:25 (Winer's Grammar, § 18, 8); Jn 7:51; Rom 7:1, etc.
b. so that a man is distinguished from beings of a different race or order; α. from animals, plants, etc.: Lk 5:10; Mt 4:19; Mt 12:12; 2 Pet 2:16; Rev 9:4, Rev 9:7, Rev 9:10, Rev 9:15, Rev 9:18; Rev 11:13, etc. (beta). from God, from Christ as divine, and from angels: Mt 10:32; Mt 19:6; Mk 10:9; Lk 2:15 (T WH omit; L Tr brackets) (opposed to angels); Jn 10:33; Acts 10:26; Acts 14:11; 1 Thess 2:13; Gal 1:10, Gal 1:12; 1 Cor 3:21; 1 Cor 7:23; Phm 2:7, Phm 2:7 (8); 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 8:2; Heb 13:6; 1 Pet 2:4, etc.
c. with the added notion of weakness, by which man is led into mistake or prompted to sin: οὐκ ἄνθρωποι; (R G σαρκικοί) ἐστε; 1 Cor 3:4; σοφία ἀνθρώπων, 1 Cor 2:5; ἀνθρώπων ἐπιθυμίαι, 1 Pet 4:2; κατά ἄνθρωπον περιπατεῖτε ye conduct yourselves as men, 1 Cor 3:3; λαλεῖν or λέγειν κατά ἄνθρωπον, to speak according to human modes of thinking, 1 Cor 9:8; Rom 3:5; κατά ἄνθρωπον λέγω, I speak as a man to whom analogies from human affairs present themselves, while I illustrate divine things by an example drawn from ordinary human life, Gal 3:15; κατά ἄνθρωπον θηριομάχειν, as man is accustomed to fight, urged on by the desire of gain, honor and other earthly advantages, 1 Cor 15:32: οὐκ ἐστι κατά ἄνθρωπον is not accommodated to the opinions and desires of men, Gal 1:11; (for examples of κατά ἄνθρωπον in secular authors see Wetstein on Rom. as above); with the accessory notion of malignity: προσέχετε ἀπό τῶν ἀνθρώπων, Mt 10:17; εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων, Mt 17:22; Lk 9:44.
d. with the adjunct notion of contempt (as sometimes in Greek writings): Jn 5:12; the address ὦ ἄνθρωπε, or ἄνθρωπε, is one either of contempt and disdainful pity, Rom 9:20 (Plato, Gorgias, p. 452 b. σύ δέ... τίς εἰ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε), or of gentle rebuke, Lk 22:58, Lk 22:60. The word serves to suggest commiseration: ἴδε (T Tr WH ἰδού) ὁ ἄνθρωπος behold the man in question, maltreated, defenseless, Jn 19:5.
e. with a reference to the twofold nature of man. ὁ ἔσω and ὁ ἔξω ἄνθρωπος, soul and body: Rom 7:22; Eph 3:16; 2 Cor 4:16, (Plato, rep. 9, 589 a. ὁ ἐντός ἄνθρωπος; Plotinus Enn. 5, 1, 10 ὁ εἴσω ἄνθρωπος; cf. Fritzsche on Romans, vol. ii., 61f. (Meyer on Romans, the passage cited; Ellicott on Ephesians, the passage cited)); ὁ κρυπτός τῆς καριδας ἀνθρ. 1 Pet 3:4.
f. with a reference to the twofold moral condition of man, ὁ παλαιός (the corrupt) and ὁ καινός (ὁ νέος) ἄνθρωπος (the truly Christian man, conformed to the nature of God): Rom 6:6; Eph 2:15; Eph 4:22, Eph 4:24; Col 3:9f.
g. with a reference to the sex, (contextually) a male: Jn 7:22f.
2. indefinitely, without the article, ἄνθρωπος, a. someone, a (certain) man, when who he is either is not known or is not important: equivalent to τίς, Mt 17:14; Mt 21:28; Mt 22:11; Mk 12:1; Mk 14:13; Lk 5:18; Lk 13:19, etc. with the addition of τίς, Mt 18:12; Lk 10:30; Lk 14:2, Lk 14:16; Lk 15:11; Lk 16:1, Lk 16:19; Jn 5:5. in address, where the speaker either cannot or will not give the name, Lk 5:20; or where the writer addresses any and every reader, Rom 2:1, Rom 2:3.
b. where what is said holds of every man, so that ἄνθρωπος is equivalent to the German indefinite man, one: Rom 3:28; 1 Cor 4:1; 1 Cor 7:1; 1 Cor 11:28; Gal 2:16. So also where opposed to domesties, Mt 10:36; to a wife, Mt 19:10; to a father, Mt 10:35; to the master of a household, Lk 12:36f — in which passages many, confounding sense and signification, incorrectly say that the word ἄνθρωπος signifies father of a family, husband, son, servant.
3. in the plural οἱ ἄνθρωποι is sometimes (the) people, German dieLeute: Mt 5:13, Mt 5:16; Mt 6:5, Mt 6:18; Mt 8:27; Mt 16:13; Lk 11:44; Mk 8:24, Mk 8:27; Jn 4:28; οὐδείς ἀνθρώπων (nemohominum) no one, Mk 11:2; 1 Tim 6:16.
4. It is joined a. to another substantive — a quasi-predicate of office, or employment, or characteristic — the idea of the predicate predominating (Winer's Grammar, § 59, 1): ἄνθρωπος ἔμπορος a merchant (-man), Mt 13:45 (WH text omits ἀνθρώπῳ); οἰκοδεσπότης, Mt 13:52; Mt 20:1; Mt 21:33; βασιλεύς, Mt 18:23; Mt 20:2; φάγος, Mt 11:19. (So in Hebrew סָרִיס אִישׁ a eunuch, Jer 38:7f, כֹּהֵן אִישׁ a priest, Lev 21:9; also in Greek writings: ἄνθρωπος ὁδίτης, Homer, Iliad 16, 263, elsewhere; cf. Matthiae, § 430, 6; (Krüger § 57, 1, 1); but in Attic this combination generally has a contemptuous force; cf. Bernhardy (1829), p. 48; in Latinhomogladiator, Cicero, epistles ad diversos 12, 22, 1).
b. to a gentile noun: ἄνθρωπον Κυρηναῖος, Mt 27:32; Κουδαιος, Acts 21:39; Ῥωμαῖος, Acts 16:37; Acts 22:25 (according to the context, a Roman citizen).
5. ὁ ἄνθρωπος, with the article, the particular man under consideration, who he is being plain from the context: Mt 12:13; Mt 26:72; Mk 3:5; Lk 23:6; Jn 4:50. οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, Lk 14:30; Jn 9:16, Jn 9:24 (L Tr marginal reading WH); ; ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος, Mk 14:71; Lk 23:4, Lk 23:14, Lk 23:47; Jn 9:24 (R G T Tr text): Jn 18:17; Acts 6:13; Acts 22:26; Acts 26:31, Acts 26:32. ὁ ἀνθωπος ἐκεῖνος, Mt 12:45; Mt 26:24; Mk 14:21.
6. Phrases: ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας (or with T Tr text WH text, τῆς ἀνομίας), 2 Thess 2:3, see ἁμαρτία, 1, p. 30f ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ a man devoted to the service of God, God's minister: 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 3:17 (of the evangelists, the associates of the apostles); 2 Pet 1:21 (of prophets, like אֱלֹהִים אִישׁ often in the O. T.; cf. Gesenius, Thesaurus i., p. 85). For ὁ υἱός τοῦ ἀνθρώπου and υἱοί τῶν ἀνθρώπων, see under υἱός.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 6 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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