H1320 — בָּשָׂר (bâsâr)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H1320
Original: בָּשָׂר
Transliteration: bâsâr
Pronunciation: baw-sawr
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: H1319 בָּשַׂר (bâsar) — to announce, bring good news
Occurrences: 241 unique verses (277 tokens) in 27 books
First Occurrence: Gen 2:21 — "he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H1319; flesh (from its freshness); by extension, body, person; also (by euphemism) the pudenda of a man:—body, (fat, lean) flesh(-ed), kin, (man-)kind, nakedness, self, skin.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
flesh (all variants)	~207	86%
body	2	1%
kin / of kin	2	1%
fatfleshed / leanfleshed	4	2%
mankind	1	<1%
nakedness	1	<1%
other	~24	~10%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	51	5.9
Haggai	1	2.6
Ecclesiastes	5	2.3
Genesis	31	2.0
Zechariah	4	1.9
Job	18	1.7
Ezekiel	21	1.6
Joel	1	1.4
Exodus	14	1.2
Isaiah	16	1.2
Numbers	14	1.1
Deuteronomy	10	1.0
Micah	1	1.0
Judges	5	0.8
2 Kings	5	0.7
Psalms	16	0.7
Jeremiah	8	0.6
Daniel	2	0.6
Lamentations	1	0.6
Hosea	1	0.5
1 Samuel	3	0.4
1 Kings	3	0.4
2 Samuel	3	0.4
Proverbs	4	0.4
Nehemiah	1	0.2
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1

Pattern: Heaviest concentration in Leviticus (ritual/purity law), with significant presence in Genesis (creation and kinship), Job (human frailty), Isaiah (prophetic "all flesh"), and Ezekiel (spiritual renewal). The word spans every genre — law, narrative, poetry, and prophecy.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Flesh / Body Material¶

The material substance of living bodies — human and animal. Dominant in Leviticus (skin disease, bodily discharges, priestly garments), Job (the vulnerable body), and Psalms (embodied worship).

Gen 2:21 — "he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof"
Lev 13:10 — "if there be quick raw flesh in the rising" (skin disease diagnostics)
Job 19:26 — "yet in my flesh shall I see God"
Psalm 119:120 — "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments"

2. Kinship / Shared Flesh¶

Used to denote family solidarity — "one flesh" (marriage), "bone and flesh" (blood kinship). This usage reflects the ancient view of family as physically shared substance.

Gen 2:23 — "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman"
Gen 2:24 — "they shall be one flesh"
Gen 37:27 — "let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh"
2 Sam 5:1 — "Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh" (Israel's covenant with David)

3. All Flesh — Universal Living Beings¶

A fixed phrase idiom (כָּל־בָּשָׂר, kol-bâsâr) meaning all living creatures, all humanity, or all created life. Used in covenantal and eschatological contexts.

Gen 9:11 — "neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood"
Num 16:22 — "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin..."
Isa 40:5 — "and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it"
Joel 2:28 — "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy"
Psalm 65:2 — "unto thee shall all flesh come"

4. Sacrificial / Ritual Meat¶

Flesh of offerings and animals in liturgical contexts. Concentrated in Leviticus, Exodus, Numbers — governing what may be eaten, how sacrificial flesh is handled, and purification rites.

Exo 12:8 — "they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread"
Lev 6:27 — "Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy"
Lev 17:14 — "For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof"
Num 11:13 — "Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people?"

5. Human Frailty — Flesh vs. God¶

Flesh as the seat of creaturely weakness, mortality, and dependence on God. Contrasted with the divine power or Spirit. The theological axis of "arm of flesh" passages.

2 Chr 32:8 — "With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God"
Jer 17:5 — "Cursed be the man...that maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD"
Psalm 56:4 — "In God I will praise his word...I will not fear what flesh can do unto me"
Psalm 78:39 — "he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away"

6. Circumcision in the Flesh¶

bâsâr used as a technical term for the covenant sign of circumcision — the flesh of the foreskin. Concentrated in Gen 17.

Gen 17:11 — "ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin"
Gen 17:14 — "the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised"
Lev 12:3 — "the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised"

7. Heart of Flesh — Spiritual Renewal¶

A distinctive prophetic metaphor: replacing the stony heart with a heart of bâsâr — soft, responsive flesh. Used in Ezekiel's new covenant promises.

Ezek 11:19 — "I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh"
Ezek 36:26 — "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָכַל (ʼâkal)	H398	62x	"eat flesh" — ritual consumption, cannibalism warnings
כֹּל (kôl)	H3605	70x	"all flesh" — universal scope
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	43x	"God of the spirits of all flesh"; prophetic contexts
עוֹר (ʻôwr)	H5785	24x	"skin and flesh" — bodily description, esp. Lev 13
אֱלֹהִים (ʼĕlôhîym)	H430	24x	"God of all flesh" (Jer 32:27), covenantal scope
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	23x	"life of the flesh" — flesh paired with life-force
חַי (chay)	H2416	21x	"all living flesh", "living flesh" (raw, quick)
עֶצֶם (ʻetsem)	H6106	19x	"bone and flesh" — kinship formula

Word Family / Cognates¶

H1319 בָּשַׂר (bâsar) — root verb: to announce, bring good news; bears fresh tidings
H1321 בְּשַׁר (bᵉshar) — Aramaic cognate (Dan 2:11; 4:12): same meaning, flesh/body

Synonyms¶

H5785 עֹור (ʻôwr) — skin/hide; overlaps with bâsâr when the body is viewed as physical tissue or covering.
H6106 עֶצֶם (ʻetsem) — bone; near-body term paired with bâsâr in kinship and anatomy formulas.
H7607 שְׁאֵר (shᵉʼêr) — flesh, close kin; overlaps with bâsâr in bodily and blood-relation contexts.
H7605 שְׁאָר (shᵉʼâr) — flesh / close relation; related bodily-kinship term surfaced by search_relationships.py.
H251 אָח (ʼâch) — brother; a kinship neighbor fitting the "bone and flesh" relational field.
H120 אָדָם (ʼâdâm) — man, humankind; overlaps where bâsâr refers to humanity collectively ("all flesh").
H582 אֱנֹושׁ (ʼĕnôwsh) — mortal man; overlaps with bâsâr in frailty and mortality contexts.

Antonyms¶

H3519 כָּבֹוד (kâbôwd) — glory / honor; contrasts with mere flesh in creaturely-versus-glory contexts.
H3820 לֵב (lêb) — heart; contrasts bodily flesh with the inner will / mind.
H5315 נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) — soul / life; paired with flesh yet distinguished from it (for example, the "life of the flesh").
H7307 רוּחַ (rûwach) — spirit / breath; the classic counterpart to flesh in weakness-versus-spirit contrasts.
לֵב אֶבֶן — "heart of stone"; the negative counterpart to Ezekiel's "heart of flesh" metaphor.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שְׁאֵר (shᵉʼêr)	H7607	flesh, kin	shᵉʼêr = flesh as swelling/abundance; emphasizes kinship ties by blood; less common (17v)
טִבְחָה (ṭibchâh)	H2878	flesh (slaughter)	ṭibchâh = specifically slaughtered/butchered meat; feminine of ṭebach; only 3v

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[001002007012] Relatives — search_relationships.py groups bâsâr with kinship vocabulary, matching "bone and flesh" and shared-flesh family language. Neighbor set includes H1 אָב and H251 אָח.
[002001002028] Willing — search_relationships.py also places bâsâr in a broader body-response / volitional field, alongside terms such as H14 אבה, H225 אות, H238/H239 אזן, H977 בחר, and H1878 דשׁן.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
σάρξ (sárx)	G4561	126x	6.37	Primary equivalent — broad semantic range matches bâsâr
κρέας (kréas)	G2907	69x	6.55	Butcher's meat — used when bâsâr means food specifically
χρώς (chrṓs)	G5559	11x	6.46	Skin surface — used in contact/touch contexts
δέρμα (dérma)	G1192	22x	5.12	Hide/skin — used alongside ritual skin language
σῶμα (sōma)	G4983	21x	4.93	Body as whole — used where bâsâr means person/body

The LXX uses σάρξ (sárx) as the default equivalent, establishing the semantic bridge that carries into the NT. The NT uses of sárx for sinful human nature build on this foundation.