'Man' in the Bible

Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

“Please speak in the presence of all the lords of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that 70 men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you or that one man rule over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”

But the olive tree said to them,“Should I stop giving my oilthat honors both God and man,and rule over the trees?”

But the grapevine said to them,“Should I stop giving my winethat cheers both God and man,and rule over trees?”

The rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Which man will lead the fight against the Ammonites? He will be the leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he kept the vow he had made about her. And she had never been intimate with a man. Now it became a custom in Israel

There was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children.

Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the awe-inspiring Angel of God. I didn’t ask Him where He came from, and He didn’t tell me His name.

Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”

The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me today has just come back!”

So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are You the man who spoke to my wife?”“I am,” He said.

Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this?”They were told, “It was Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because he has taken Samson’s wife and given her to another man.” So the Philistines went to her and her father and burned them to death.

Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

He told her, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him.

Samson said to the young man who was leading him by the hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.”

There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah.

This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest.

There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who resided within the clan of Judah.

The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to settle wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim.

and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons.

Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.

So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and enjoy yourself.”

The man got up to go, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed and spent the night there again.

The man got up to go with his concubine and his servant, when his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, night is coming. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, enjoy yourself, then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey and go home.”

But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up, departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). The man had his two saddled donkeys and his concubine with him.

In the evening, an old man came in from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was residing in Gibeah, and the men of that place were Benjaminites.

When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”

although we have both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me, your female servant, and the young man with your servant. There is nothing we lack.”

“Peace to you,” said the old man. “I’ll take care of everything you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.”

While they were enjoying themselves, all of a sudden, perverted men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man who was the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him!”

The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, don’t do this evil, my brothers. After all, this man has come into my house. Don’t do this horrible thing.

Here, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine now. Use them and do whatever you want to them. But don’t do this horrible thing to this man.”

But the men would not listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and took her outside to them. They raped her and abused her all night until morning. At daybreak they let her go.

“Get up,” he told her. “Let’s go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept with a man.”

They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young women, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to live in the land of Moab for a while.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side named Boaz. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family.

Then her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”Ruth told her mother-in-law about the men she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, who has not forsaken his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”

Wash, put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “How did it go, my daughter?”Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you will also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”

At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.

There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.

He guards the steps of His faithful ones,but the wicked perish in darkness,for a man does not prevail by his own strength.

or for the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you—only raw.”

If that man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!”

If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him, but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to kill them.

A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Didn’t I reveal Myself to your ancestral house when it was in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace?

Any man from your family I do not cut off from My altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently.

So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was severe—30,000 of the Israelite foot soldiers fell.

That same day, a Benjaminite man ran from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head.

When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road watching, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.

Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli.

The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today.”“What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

There was an influential man of Benjamin named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite.

He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. There was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else.

“Look,” the attendant said, “there’s a man of God in this city who is highly respected; everything he says is sure to come true. Let’s go there now. Maybe he’ll tell us which way we should go.”

“Suppose we do go,” Saul said to his attendant, “what do we take the man? The food from our packs is gone, and there’s no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

The attendant answered Saul: “Here, I have a piece of silver. I’ll give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.”

Formerly in Israel, a man who was going to inquire of God would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer,” for the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.

“Good,” Saul replied to his attendant. “Come on, let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel. He will save them from the hand of the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of My people, for their cry has come to Me.”

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about; he will rule over My people.”

Then a man who was from there asked, “And who is their father?”As a result, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” became a popular saying.

They again inquired of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”The Lord replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.”

but now your reign will not endure. The Lord has found a man loyal to Him, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not done what the Lord commanded.”

and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath: “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food.

Then, one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.”

He then said, “Go among the troops and say to them, ‘Each man must bring me his ox or his sheep. Do the slaughtering here and then you can eat. Don’t sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it.’” So every one of the troops brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

The conflict with the Philistines was fierce all of Saul’s days, so whenever Saul noticed any strong or brave man, he enlisted him.

Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not man who changes his mind.”

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

One of the young men answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is also a valiant man, a warrior, eloquent, handsome, and the Lord is with him.”

Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!”

Now David was the son of the Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons and during Saul’s reign was already an old man.

Previously, an Israelite man had declared: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the household of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”

David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

The people told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”

Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.

Saul’s servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor man who is common.”

Then I will send the young man and say, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you—get them,’ then come, because as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem.

In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointed meeting with David. A small young man was with him.

He said to the young man, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.” As the young man ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.

Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s young man picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the young man who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell with his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.

“Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me?

In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About 400 men were with him.

When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed? May the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.

A man in Maon had a business in Carmel; he was a very rich man with 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

David had just said, “I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good.

My lord should pay no attention to this worthless man Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name is Nabal, and stupidity is all he knows. I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men whom you sent.