Reference: Flesh
American
The substance of which the bodies of men and animals are composed. In the Bible, besides the ordinary sense, Job 33:25, it denotes mankind as a race, Ge 6:12; Ps 145:21; Isa 40:5-6; and all living creatures on the earth, Ge 6:17,19. It is often used in opposition to "spirit," as we use body and soul, Job 14:22; and sometimes means the body as animated and sensitive, Mt 26:41, and the seat of bodily appetites, Pr 5:11; 2Co 7:1. In the New Testament, "flesh" is very often used to designate the bodily appetites, propensities, and passions, which draw men away from yielding themselves to the Lord and to the things of the Spirit. The flesh, or carnal principle, is opposed to the spirit, or spiritual principle, Ro 8; Ga 5:17.
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And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.
And I, behold, I [am] about to bring the flood waters over the earth to destroy all flesh in which [is] the breath of life from under the heaven; everything that [is] on the earth shall perish.
And of every living thing, from all flesh, you must bring two from every [kind] into the ark to keep [them] alive with you; they shall be male and female.
He feels only the pain of his own body, and his inner self mourns for him."
His flesh is renewed with [his] youth; he returns to [the] days of his youthful strength.
My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
and you groan at your end, when your flesh and body are consumed,
And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all {humankind} together shall see [it], for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken." A voice [is] saying, "Call!" And he said, "What shall I call?" All {humankind} [are] grass, and all his loyalty [is] like the flowers of the field.
Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak!"
For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that whatever you want, you may not do these [things].
Easton
in the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Ge 2:21; 41:2; Ps 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and particularly humanity as a whole (Ge 6:12-13); (4) mutability and weakness (2Ch 32:8; comp. Isa 31:3; Ps 78:39). As suggesting the idea of softness it is used in the expression "heart of flesh" (Eze 11:19). The expression "my flesh and bone" (Jg 9:2; Isa 58:7) denotes relationship.
In the New Testament, besides these it is also used to denote the sinful element of human nature as opposed to the "Spirit" (Ro 6:19; Mt 16:17). Being "in the flesh" means being unrenewed (Ro 7:5; 8:8-9), and to live "according to the flesh" is to live and act sinfully (Ro 8:4-5,7,12).
This word also denotes the human nature of Christ (Joh 1:14, "The Word was made flesh." Comp. also 1Ti 3:16; Ro 1:3).
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And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. While he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up {the flesh where it had been}.
And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh [has] come before me, for the earth was filled [with] violence because of them. Now, look, I [am going] to destroy them [along] with the earth.
And behold, seven cows, {well built and fat}, were coming up from the Nile, and they grazed among the reeds.
"{Speak to} the lords of Shechem, 'What [is] better for you, that seventy men all from the sons of Jerub-Baal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember that I [am] your bone and your flesh."
With him [is] the arm of flesh, and with us [is] Yahweh our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took confidence with the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. Yes, my body will dwell in safety,
for he remembered that they [were] flesh, a passing wind that does not return.
Because of the sound of my groaning my bones cling to my skin.
And the Egyptians [are] human and not God, and their horses [are] flesh and not spirit. And Yahweh stretches out his hand, and [the] helper will stumble, and [the] one being helped will fall, and together all of them will come to an end.
[Is it] not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring {home} [the] poor, [the] homeless. When you see [the] naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your {relatives}.
And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give in their inner parts. And I will remove their heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh,
And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal [this] to you, but my Father [who is] in heaven.
And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
concerning his Son, who was born {a descendant} of David according to the flesh,
(I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you presented your members [as] slaves to immorality and lawlessness, [leading] to lawlessness, so now present your members [as] slaves to righteousness, [leading] to sanctification.
For when we were in the flesh, sinful desires were working through the law in our members, to bear fruit for death.
in order that the requirement of the law would be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are [living] according to the flesh are intent on the things of the flesh, but those [who are living] according to the Spirit [are intent on] the things of the Spirit.
because the mindset of the flesh [is] enmity toward God, for [it is] not subjected to the law of God, for [it is] not able [to do so], and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God. read more. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person {does not belong to him}.
So then, brothers, we are obligated not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
And most certainly, great is the mystery of godliness: Who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
Fausets
In an ethical sense opposed to "the spirit." Ge 6:3, "for that lie also (even the race of godly Seth) (is become) flesh (carnal)." When the salt of the church has lost its savor, the whole mass is corrupt and ripe for judgment. 1Co 1:26, "wise after the flesh," i.e. with wisdom acquired by mere human study without the Spirit. Contrast Mt 16:17; 26:41. Not the body, which is not in itself sinful; it was through thinking it so that Gnostic ascetics mortified it by austerities, while all the while their seeming neglecting of the body was pampering "the flesh" (Col 2:21-23). "The flesh" is the natural man, including the unrenewed will and mind, moving in the world of self and sense only.
Self imposed ordinances gratify the flesh (i.e. self) while seemingly mortifying it. "Trouble in the flesh" is in their outward state, namely, through the present distress (1Co 7:28). So Joh 6:63, "it is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and are life." Not the outward flesh, but the word of Christ, is what gives life. So Peter understood Christ, as his reply shows: "Thou hast the words of eternal life." "To know Christ after the flesh" (2Co 5:16) means to know Him in His mere outward worldly relations, with a view to "glorying" in them (Joh 8:15; Php 3:3-10); as Judaizing Christians prided themselves on the fleshly advantage of belonging to Israel, the nation of Christ, or on having seen Him in the flesh, as a ground of superiority over others (2Co 11:18; 10:7).
Contrasted with knowing Him spiritually as new creatures (2Co 5:12,15,17). Outward rebellions toward Him profit nothing (Lu 8:19-21; Joh 16:7,22; Mt 7:22-23). All outward distinctions are lost sight of in experiment, ally knowing Him in His new resurrection life (Ga 2:6,20; 3:28; Ro 6:9-11; 1Co 15:45; 1Pe 3:18; 4:1-2); disproving both Mariolatry and transubstantiation. In Ro 4:1, "what hath Abraham found, as pertaining to the flesh?" i.e. as respects carnal ordinances (circumcision). "All flesh," i.e. all men (Lu 3:2; Joh 17:2).
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And Yahweh said, "My Spirit shall not abide with humankind forever in that he [is] also flesh. And his days [shall be] one hundred and twenty years."
On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?' And then {I will say to them plainly}, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!'
And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal [this] to you, but my Father [who is] in heaven.
Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak!"
in the time of the high priest Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Now his mother and brothers came to him, and they were not able to meet with him because of the crowd. And it was reported to him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to see you." read more. But he answered [and] said to them, "These are my mother and my brothers--the ones who hear the word of God and do [it].
The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
You judge according to externals; I do not judge anyone.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
So you also are experiencing sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.
just as you have given him authority over all flesh, in order that he would give eternal life to them--everyone whom you have given him.
What then shall we say [that] Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has found?
knowing that Christ, [because he] has been raised from the dead, is going to die no more, death no longer being master over him. For that [death] he died, he died to sin once and never again, but that [life] he lives, he lives to God. read more. So also you, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
For consider your calling, brothers, that not many [were] wise according to human standards, not many [were] powerful, not many [were] well born.
But if you marry, you have not sinned, and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you.
We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to boast about us, in order that you may have [an answer] for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.
And he died for all, in order that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised. So then, from now on we know no one {from a human point of view}, if indeed we have known Christ {from a human point of view}, but now we know [him this way] no longer. read more. Therefore if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; the old [things] have passed away; behold, new [things] have come.
You are looking at things according to appearance. If anyone is convinced he himself is Christ's, he should consider this concerning himself again: that just as Christ himself [is], so also [are] we.
Since many are boasting according to human standards, I also will boast.
But from those {who were influential} (whatever they were, [it makes] no difference to me, {God does not show partiality})--for those who were influential added nothing to me.
and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and that [life] I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and do not [put] confidence in the flesh, although I [could] have confidence even in the flesh. read more. {circumcised on the eighth day}, from the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew [born] from Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee, according to zeal persecuting the church, according to the righteousness in the law being blameless. But whatever [things] were gain to me, these [things] I have considered loss because of Christ. {More than that}, even consider all [things] to be loss because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for the sake of whom I have suffered the loss of all [things], and consider [them] dung, in order that I may gain Christ and may be found in him, not having my righteousness [which is] from the law, but [which is] through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith, so that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,
"Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch," which [things] are all [meant] for destruction by consuming according to human commandments and teachings, read more. which [things] {although they have}, to be sure, an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and unsparing treatment of the body, {do not have any value} against the indulgence of the flesh.
Hastings
This word is used in Scripture to express: (1) the substance of the animal body, whether of man or of beast (Ge 41:2). (2) The whole human body (Ex 4:7). (3) Relationship by birth or marriage (Ge 2:24; 37:27; Ne 5:5), for which also the further phrase 'flesh and bones' is found (Ge 2:23; 2Sa 19:12)
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And the man said, "{She is now} bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; {she} shall be called 'Woman,' for {she was taken} from man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.
And every living thing that moved on the earth perished--the birds, and the domesticated animals, and the wild animals, and everything that swarmed on the earth, and all humankind.
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he [is] our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.
And behold, seven cows, {well built and fat}, were coming up from the Nile, and they grazed among the reeds.
And he said, "Return your hand to the fold of your garment." And he returned his hand to the fold of his garment, and he took it out from the fold of his garment, and, {to his surprise}, it was restored like the rest of his body.
Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons are like their sons. Look, we are subduing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and there are some from our daughters being molested. {We are powerless}, and our fields and vineyards [belong] to others."
And after my skin has been thus destroyed, but from my flesh I will see God,
all flesh would perish together, and humankind would return to dust.
O God, you [are] my God; I will seek you diligently. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you [as] in a dry and weary land without water.
My flesh and heart failed, [but] God [is] the {strength} of my heart and my reward forever.
My soul longs and even fails for the courtyards of Yahweh. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
And the Egyptians [are] human and not God, and their horses [are] flesh and not spirit. And Yahweh stretches out his hand, and [the] helper will stumble, and [the] one being helped will fall, and together all of them will come to an end.
A voice [is] saying, "Call!" And he said, "What shall I call?" All {humankind} [are] grass, and all his loyalty [is] like the flowers of the field. Grass withers; [the] flower withers when the breath of Yahweh blows on it. Surely the people [are] grass. read more. Grass withers; [the] flower withers, but the word of our God will stand forever.
And it will happen afterward thus: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your elders will dream dreams; your young men shall see visions.
Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak!"
Look at my hands and my feet, that I am I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as {you see that I have}."
who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God. And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
concerning his Son, who was born {a descendant} of David according to the flesh,
concerning his Son, who was born {a descendant} of David according to the flesh, who was declared Son of God in power according to {the Holy Spirit} by the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord,
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, {sold into slavery to sin}.
Thanks [be] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh [I am enslaved] to the law of sin.
For what [was] impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God [did]. [By] sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the law would be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If [there] is a natural body, [there] is also a spiritual [body]. Thus also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul"; the last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit. read more. But the spiritual [is] not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man [is] from the earth, made of earth; the second man [is] from heaven. As the one [who is] made of earth, so also [are] those [who are] made of earth, and as the heavenly, so also [are] those [who are] heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the [one who is] made of earth, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. But I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruptibility.
But I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruptibility.
Therefore [since we] have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.
and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and that [life] I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
But I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never carry out the desire of the flesh.
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions,
among whom also we all formerly lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children of wrath by nature, as also the rest of [them] were.
Let no one condemn you, taking pleasure in humility and the worship of angels, going into detail [about] [the things] which he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
Therefore, if you have been raised together with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, since the children share in blood and flesh, he also in like manner shared in these [same things], in order that through death he could destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
Morish
????. This term is used in various senses in scripture. The principal are
1. The estate of man: "all flesh shall see the salvation of God," Lu 3:6; "the Word became flesh." Joh 1:14.
2. The material part of man and of animals: "all flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts." 1Co 15:39.
3. The same kindred: "thou art my bone and my flesh," Ge 29:14; "he is our brother, and our flesh." Ge 37:27.
4. Union: "they shall be one flesh," Ge 2:24; Eph 5:29-31.
5. Man's nature, but corrupted by sin: "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," Joh 3:6; "sinful flesh," Ro 8:3.
6. The state which characterises man before knowing deliverance: Rom. 7, Ro 8:8-9.
7. Though no longer the state of the Christian, yet the flesh is in him, and is antagonistic to the Spirit, "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye should not do the things that ye would." Ga 5:17. Thus the Spirit resists in the Christian the accomplishment of the lusts of the flesh.
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Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.
And Laban said to him, "Surely you [are] my flesh and my bone!" And he stayed with him a month.
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he [is] our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.
and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'"
And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
For what [was] impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God [did]. [By] sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person {does not belong to him}.
Not all flesh [is] the same, but [there is] one flesh of human beings, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish,
For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that whatever you want, you may not do these [things].
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ [does] the church, because we are members of his body. read more. "For this [reason] a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."
Smith
Flesh.
[FLOOD]
See Flood
Watsons
FLESH, a term of very ambiguous import in the Scriptures. An eminent critic has enumerated no less than six different meanings which it bears in the sacred writings, and for which, he affirms, there will not be found a single authority in any profane writer:
1. It sometimes denotes the whole body considered as animated, as in Mt 26:41, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
2. It sometimes means a human being, as in Lu 3:6, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God."
3. Sometimes a person's kindred collectively considered, as in Ro 11:14, "If by any means I may provoke them which are my flesh."
4. Sometimes any thing of an external or ceremonial nature, as opposed to that which is internal and moral, as in Ga 3:3, "Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect in the flesh?"
5. The sensitive part of our nature, or that which is the seat of appetite, as in 2Co 7:1, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit;" where there can be no doubt that the pollutions of the flesh must be those of the appetites, being opposed to the pollutions of the spirit, or those of the passions. 6. It is employed to denote any principle of vice and moral pravity of whatever kind. Thus among the works of the flesh, Ga 5:19-21, are numbered not only adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, drunkenness, and revellings, which all relate to criminal indulgence of appetite, but idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, and murders, which are manifestly vices of a different kind, and partake more of the diabolical nature than of the beastly.
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Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak!"
and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'"
if somehow I may provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them.
Therefore [since we] have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to be made complete by the flesh?
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are sexual immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, read more. envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, [things] which I am telling you [in advance], just as I said before, that the ones who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.