G444 — ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G444
Original: ἄνθρωπος
Transliteration: anthrōpos
Pronunciation: anth'-ro-pos
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Etymology: From ἀνήρ (anēr, "man") + ὤψ (ōps, "countenance, face"); literally "man-faced"
Occurrences: 557 tokens in 502 unique NT verses
Books: 24 of 27 NT books
First Occurrence: Matt 4:4 — "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From ἀνήρ (man) and ὤψ (the countenance/face, from ὀπ- "to see"); literally "man-faced," i.e. a human being — any member of the human race, irrespective of sex or age. Strong's: "man-faced, i.e. a human." Generic term for a human being in distinction from animals, God, or angels; when contrasted with ἀνήρ (male adult), anthrōpos emphasizes humanity as such rather than maleness. Frequently serves as the LXX equivalent of both אָדָם (ʼâdâm, humanity/Adam) and אִישׁ (ʼîysh, individual man).

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 009.1 — Human Beings (primary placement) - 009.2 — Males (secondary placement, when specifically male)

Other domain 9.1 members: ἀνήρ (anēr, man), ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos, human), σάρξ (sarx, flesh), σῶμα (sōma, body), ψυχή (psychē, inner self/person), ὄνομα (onoma, person), πρόσωπον (prosōpon, face/person), γῆ (gē, earth/people), κόσμος (kosmos, world/humanity), οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē, inhabited world), υἱός (huios, son/person), χείρ (cheir, hand/person), τέλειος (teleios, mature), ἐπίγειος (epigeios, earthly/human), σάρκινος (sarkinos, human)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [009] People - [010] Kinship Terms - [008] Body, Body Parts, and Body Products - [026] Psychological Faculties - [041] Behavior and Related States

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
man	143	28.5%
men	115	22.9%
of man	88	17.5%
a man	59	11.8%
of men	46	9.2%
unto men	13	2.6%
man's	8	1.6%
Man / A man	10	2.0%
for a man / of a man / unto a man	10	2.0%
men's	4	0.8%
Other (the man, no man, those men, nobleman, etc.)	~20	4.0%

Over 96% of uses fall under the simple gloss "man / men / a man / of man" — anthrōpos is the generic Greek word for "human being."

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Titus	5	10.9
Matthew	106	9.9
1 Timothy	9	8.0
Luke	89	7.7
Galatians	11	7.4
Mark	48	7.1
James	7	6.5
John	53	6.0
2 Timothy	5	6.0
Revelation	24	5.9
Romans	25	5.8
Ephesians	9	5.8
1 Corinthians	25	5.7
1 Peter	6	5.7
1 Thessalonians	5	5.6
Colossians	5	5.3
2 Peter	3	4.9
Acts	44	4.4
2 Thessalonians	2	4.3
2 Corinthians	8	3.1
Hebrews	8	2.6
1 John	1	1.0

Patterns: Densest in Gospels (especially Matthew, Mark, Luke) — driven heavily by Jesus' self-designation "the Son of man." Paul's pastoral and personal letters (Titus, 1-2 Tim, Gal) also rank high because of idiomatic phrases ("man of God," "man of sin," "inward/outward man," "the old/new man"). Comparatively sparse in 1 John and Hebrews.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Generic Human Being (individual or class)¶

Used for any person without emphasis on sex, status, or identity. - Matt 4:4 — "Man shall not live by bread alone" - Mark 2:27 — "The sabbath was made for man (anthrōpon), and not man for the sabbath" - John 2:25 — "He knew what was in man (anthrōpōi)" - Heb 9:27 — "It is appointed unto men (anthrōpois) once to die"

2. "The Son of Man" (ho huios tou anthrōpou)¶

The single most frequent idiom in the Gospels — appears in ~65 verses. A Semitic construction (Aramaic bar ʼĕnâsh, Hebrew ben-ʼâdâm) rendering "human one" or drawing on Dan 7:13. In the NT this phrase is used almost exclusively by Jesus of himself. - Matt 8:20 — "The Son of man hath not where to lay his head" - Mark 2:10 — "The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins" - Matt 26:64 — "Ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Dan 7:13 allusion) - Rev 1:13 — "one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot" - Rev 14:14 — "one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown"

3. Humanity in Contrast to God (anthrōpos vs. theos)¶

Anthrōpos frequently stands in antithesis to θεός — what belongs to humans contrasted with what belongs to God. Co-occurs with θεός 103x (21% of uses). - Acts 5:29 — "We ought to obey God rather than men (anthrōpois)" - Gal 1:10 — "Do I now persuade men, or God?" - 1 Cor 1:25 — "The foolishness of God is wiser than men" - 1 Tim 2:5 — "One God, and one mediator between God and men (anthrōpōn), the man (anthrōpos) Christ Jesus"

4. Anthrōpos + Attributive Genitive (Semitic "man of X" construction)¶

A Hebraism in which anthrōpos followed by a descriptive genitive functions as a characterization — the genitive specifies what type of person is in view. The phrase may denote a particular individual, a class, or a representative figure. - 2 Tim 3:17 — "that the man of God (anthrōpos tou theou) may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (cf. 1 Tim 6:11) - 2 Thess 2:3 — "that man of sin (ho anthrōpos tēs hamartias / tēs anomias) be revealed, the son of perdition" - John 18:29 — "What accusation bring ye against this man?" - 2 Tim 3:8 — "men of corrupt minds (anthrōpoi katephtharmenoi ton noun), reprobate concerning the faith"

5. Anthrōpos as Representative / Type (individual standing for class)¶

Occasionally anthrōpos denotes a single figure whose action or nature is determinative for a whole group — an archetypal or corporate representative. Most prominent in Paul's Adam–Christ typology. - Rom 5:12 — "by one man (di' henos anthrōpou) sin entered into the world" - Rom 5:19 — "by one man's disobedience many were made sinners" - 1 Cor 15:21 — "by man (di' anthrōpou) came death, by man (di' anthrōpou) came also the resurrection" - 1 Cor 15:45 — "The first man (ho prōtos anthrōpos) Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam (ho eschatos Adam) was made a quickening spirit" - 1 Cor 15:47 — "The first man (ho prōtos anthrōpos) is of the earth, earthy: the second man (ho deuteros anthrōpos) is the Lord from heaven"

6. Inward / Outward / Old / New anthrōpos (anthropological aspect)¶

Paul uses anthrōpos with qualifying adjectives to describe distinct modes or aspects of a single person — not two different people but the old covenantal identity vs. the renewed identity, or the observable self vs. the hidden self. - Rom 6:6 — "Our old man (ho palaios hēmōn anthrōpos) is crucified with him" - Rom 7:22 — "I delight in the law of God after the inward man (kata ton esō anthrōpon)" - 2 Cor 4:16 — "Though our outward man (ho exō hēmōn anthrōpos) perish, yet the inward man (ho esō) is renewed day by day" - Eph 4:22-24 — "put off the old man... put on the new man (ton kainon anthrōpon), which after God is created in righteousness" - Col 3:9-10 — "put off the old man with his deeds... put on the new man" - 1 Cor 2:14 — "the natural man (psychikos anthrōpos) receiveth not the things of the Spirit"

7. Vocative / Direct Address ("O man")¶

Used in rhetorical address, often pejoratively or as indefinite indictment. - Rom 2:1 — "O man (ō anthrōpe), whosoever thou art that judgest" - Rom 9:20 — "O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" - Jas 2:20 — "O vain man (ō anthrōpe kene)" - Luke 22:60 — "Man (anthrōpe), I know not what thou sayest"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
λέγω (legō, to say)	G3004	109x (22%)	"the man said" / "he said to the man" — narrative frame
θεός (theos, God)	G2316	103x (21%)	God vs. man antithesis; "man of God"
υἱός (huios, son)	G5207	95x (19%)	"the Son of man" (ho huios tou anthrōpou)
πᾶς (pas, all/every)	G3956	73x (15%)	"every man" / "all men" (universal scope)
ἔπω (epō, said)	G2036	69x (14%)	Speech-frame in Gospel dialogue
ποιέω (poieō, do/make)	G4160	52x (10%)	"What a man does" / "made of man"
ἔρχομαι (erchomai, come)	G2064	47x (9%)	"the Son of man came" / "men came to"
Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous, Jesus)	G2424	41x (8%)	Jesus healing/confronting a man
οὐρανός (ouranos, heaven)	G3772	40x (8%)	heaven–earth / God–man polarity
πνεῦμα (pneuma, spirit)	G4151	27x (5%)	flesh–spirit, natural vs. spiritual man
ἡμέρα (hēmera, day)	G2250	22x (4%)	"the day(s) of the Son of man"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G442 ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos) — adj., "human" ("after the manner of men")
G443 ἀνθρωποκτόνος (anthrōpoktonos) — "manslayer, murderer"
G441 ἀνθρωπάρεσκος (anthrōpareskos) — "men-pleaser"
G5377 φιλανθρωπία (philanthrōpia) — "love of mankind"
G5220 συνανθρώπινος — not used in NT; cf. related compounds

Synonyms¶

G435 ἀνήρ (anēr) — man, husband, male; the nearest male-specific counterpart, whereas anthrōpos remains the broader human term

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ἀνήρ (anēr)	G435	"man" (35 of G444's "man" verses; 66 of "men")	anēr = male adult, husband; contrasts with woman or boy. anthrōpos = human being generically, contrasts with God/beasts.
τὶς (tis)	G5100	"a man" (27 overlap)	tis = indefinite pronoun "someone, anyone." anthrōpos names the category; tis points indefinitely.
ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos)	G442	"of man / man's" (1 overlap)	anthrōpinos is the adjective ("human, pertaining to man"); anthrōpos is the noun.

Hebrew Source (LXX reverse-map, ranked by PMI)¶

Hebrew	Word	Co-occ	PMI Score	Primary sense
H120	אָדָם (ʼâdâm)	456	26.84	humanity, mankind, Adam
H376	אִישׁ (ʼîysh)	448	15.62	individual man, each one
H582	אֱנוֹשׁ (ʼĕnôwsh)	31	14.04	mortal, frail man
H606	אֱנָשׁ (ʼĕnâsh, Aramaic)	16	12.66	man (Aramaic, Daniel)
H1397	גֶּבֶר (geber)	19	8.40	strong man, warrior
H1121	בֵּן (bên)	—	—	"son of man" = ben-ʼâdâm (Ezek ~93x)

Anthrōpos is the dominant LXX rendering of both ʼâdâm (generic humanity) and ʼîysh (individual man). The Aramaic pairing אֱנָשׁ (ʼĕnâsh, Dan 7:13 "bar ʼĕnâsh") is the direct source of the NT "Son of man" (ho huios tou anthrōpou) idiom. For "son of man" specifically, Hebrew ben-ʼâdâm (Ezekiel) and Aramaic bar ʼĕnâsh (Daniel) both underlie the Greek construction.

Grammatical / Idiomatic Notes¶

Articular vs. anarthrous: ὁ ἄνθρωπος ("the man") often points to a specific individual in view; anarthrous ἄνθρωπος ("a man / man") can be generic or indefinite. In the formula ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου both the head noun and the genitive are articular, making it definite and titular.
Attributive genitive ("man of X"): ἄνθρωπος + genitive of quality is a Semitic construction equivalent to Hebrew ʼîysh + construct noun (e.g., ʼîysh-ha-ʼĕlôhîm, "man of God"). The genitive can denote:
a characteristic or dominant quality ("man of God" = godly man; "man of sin" = person characterized by lawlessness)
membership in a class (could describe an individual OR a type)
representation (one who embodies the genitive quality for a group) The construction by itself does not disambiguate individual from class — context determines whether a specific historical figure or a representative type is in view.
Individual-as-type: In Pauline theology (Rom 5, 1 Cor 15), a single anthrōpos (Adam, Christ) can be both a historical person and a corporate head whose act is determinative for those "in" him. Individual and class meanings are not mutually exclusive.