'Men' in the Bible

“Also the men of Memphis and TahpanhesHave shaved the crown of your head.

For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,“Break up your fallow ground,And do not sow among thorns.

“Circumcise yourselves to the LordAnd remove the foreskins of your heart,Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,Or else My wrath will go forth like fireAnd burn with none to quench it,Because of the evil of your deeds.”

“Their quiver is like an open grave,All of them are mighty men.

‘For wicked men are found among My people,They watch like fowlers lying in wait;They set a trap,They catch men.

But I am full of the wrath of the Lord;I am weary with holding it in.“Pour it out on the children in the streetAnd on the gathering of young men together;For both husband and wife shall be taken,The aged and the very old.

“You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,“Do men fall and not get up again?Does one turn away and not repent?

“The wise men are put to shame,They are dismayed and caught;Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,And what kind of wisdom do they have?

Oh that I had in the desertA wayfarers’ lodging place;That I might leave my peopleAnd go from them!For all of them are adulterers,An assembly of treacherous men.

For death has come up through our windows;It has entered our palacesTo cut off the children from the streets,The young men from the town squares.

Speak, “Thus says the Lord,‘The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field,And like the sheaf after the reaper,But no one will gather them.’”

Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?Indeed it is Your due!For among all the wise men of the nationsAnd in all their kingdoms,There is none like You.

Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,And gold from Uphaz,The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;Violet and purple are their clothing;They are all the work of skilled men.

“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

Then the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not die at our hand”;

therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine;

and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth—the year of their punishment.”

How long is the land to mournAnd the vegetation of the countryside to wither?For the wickedness of those who dwell in it,Animals and birds have been snatched away,Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”

Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne meAs a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land!I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me,Yet everyone curses me.

Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them.

Men will not break bread in mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother.

then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.”’

Therefore, give their children over to famineAnd deliver them up to the power of the sword;And let their wives become childless and widowed.Let their men also be smitten to death,Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

“Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you

“Behold, I am against you, O valley dweller,O rocky plain,” declares the Lord,“You men who say, ‘Who will come down against us?Or who will enter into our habitations?’

For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.

When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt.

Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt.

“I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight.

“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,And the young men and the old, together,For I will turn their mourning into joyAnd will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.

great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”

‘While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness:

I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts—

Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord.

I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.”’”

For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.”

“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.”

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.”

So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.

But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”

When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.

But I will deliver you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread.

Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon.

So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, both they and their men.

Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you.

In the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah,

Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the Lord.

Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern.

But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death; for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah, it was the one that King Asa had made on account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the great pool that is in Gibeon.

But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were soldiers, the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.

So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.”’”

Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’;

the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah—

Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying,

Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying,

Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely gone.

“Why have I seen it?They are terrified,They are drawing back,And their mighty men are defeatedAnd have taken refuge in flight,Without facing back;Terror is on every side!”Declares the Lord.

Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots,That the mighty men may march forward:Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield,And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.

Thus says the Lord:“Behold, waters are going to rise from the northAnd become an overflowing torrent,And overflow the land and all its fullness,The city and those who live in it;And the men will cry out,And every inhabitant of the land will wail.

“How can you say, ‘We are mighty warriors,And men valiant for battle’?

“Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities;His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,”Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

“Therefore I will wail for Moab,Even for all Moab will I cry out;I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

“Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced.

“Kerioth has been capturedAnd the strongholds have been seized,So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that dayWill be like the heart of a woman in labor.

“For behold, I have made you small among the nations,Despised among men.

Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

“Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,And all the men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord of hosts.

Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord,“Arise, go up to KedarAnd devastate the men of the east.

“Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,And all her men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord.

“A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the Lord,“And against the inhabitants of BabylonAnd against her officials and her wise men!

“A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools!A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!

“Let not him who bends his bow bend it,Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor;So do not spare her young men;Devote all her army to destruction.

Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon;Post a strong guard,Station sentries,Place men in ambush!For the Lord has both purposed and performedWhat He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,They stay in the strongholds;Their strength is exhausted,They are becoming like women;Their dwelling places are set on fire,The bars of her gates are broken.

The fords also have been seized,And they have burned the marshes with fire,And the men of war are terrified.

For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,And her mighty men will be captured,Their bows are shattered;For the Lord is a God of recompense,He will fully repay.

“I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven of the king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city.