H376 — אִישׁ (ish)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H376
Original: אִישׁ
Transliteration: ish / iysh / ʼîysh
Pronunciation: eesh
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: Contracted form, or from an unused root meaning "to be extant"
Occurrences: 2,351 tokens in 1,830 verses across 38 books
First Occurrence: Gen 2:23 — "she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A man as an individual or male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term and sometimes not expressed in translation. KJV range includes: man, men, any man, every man, each, one, husband, person, fellow, champion, steward, worthy, whosoever.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
men	278	15.2%
man	263	14.4%
the men	193	10.5%
a man	192	10.5%
the man	136	7.4%
every man	133	7.3%
every one	89	4.9%
one	63	3.4%
husband / her husband / husbands	37+	2.0%+
many minor/idiomatic renderings	remainder	broad

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 Samuel	167	20.6
Judges	150	24.3
Jeremiah	140	10.3
Genesis	135	8.8
2 Samuel	109	15.7
Numbers	104	8.1
2 Kings	102	14.2
Proverbs	88	9.6
Exodus	79	6.5
Ezekiel	77	6.0
Leviticus	76	8.8
Deuteronomy	76	7.9
1 Kings	74	9.1
Joshua	58	8.8
Isaiah	55	4.3
2 Chronicles	51	6.2

This is a high-frequency control word. Use the distribution as a guide to ordinary lexical range, not as a specialized theological marker.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Individual Male / Man¶

Gen 2:23 — "she was taken out of Man."
Job 1:1 — "There was a man in the land of Uz."
1 Sam 17:4 — "there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines."

2. Generic Person / Anyone¶

Josh 1:5 — "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee."
Lev 15:2 — "When any man hath a running issue."
Num 1:4 — "a man of every tribe; every one head of the house."

3. Each / Every One¶

Jonah 1:7 — "they said every one to his fellow."
Mic 4:4 — "they shall sit every man under his vine."
Mal 2:10 — "why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?"

4. Husband / Male Partner¶

Gen 3:16 — "thy desire [shall be] to thy husband."
Hos 2:2 — "she [is] not my wife, neither [am] I her husband."
1 Sam 1:8 — Elkanah is described as Hannah's husband.

5. Qualified Role Phrase¶

Exod 2:1 — "a man of the house of Levi."
Deut 1:13 — "Take you wise men, and understanding."
Lev 16:21 — "a fit man" (`ish itti), where H6261 supplies the qualifying adjective.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-vv	Typical Pattern
amar (say)	H559	537	speech involving a man/men
kol (all/every)	H3605	425	"every man / all men"
YHWH	H3068	341	divine speech/law involving persons
ben (son)	H1121	324	kinship and identity formulas
bo (come/go)	H935	296	movement/arrival of men
Yisrael	H3478	277	Israelite men/persons
bayith (house)	H1004	193	household or family context
asah (do/make)	H6213	190	actions done by persons
melek (king)	H4428	182	men in royal/narrative contexts
ishshah (woman/wife)	H802	144	male/female or husband/wife pairing

Word Family / Cognates¶

H377 אִישׁ (ish) — verbal cognate listed by trace data; same spelling but separate Strong's entry.
H380 אִישׁוֹן (ishon) — "little man" / pupil of the eye; adjacent family form.

Synonyms / Near Neighbors¶

H120 אָדָם (`adam) — human being / mankind; broader human category.
H1397 גֶּבֶר (geber) — man/male with strength or adult-man emphasis; a major Hebrew source behind Greek G435.
H1121 בֵּן (ben) — son/descendant; frequent collocate in identity formulas.
H3548 כֹּהֵן (kohen) and H1368 גִּבּוֹר (gibbor) — returned by search_relationships.py as role/strength neighbors.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
adam	H120	man	humanity/human being broadly; ish often individual male/person
enosh	H582	man	mortal/weak human emphasis in many contexts
geber	H1397	man	adult male/strong man emphasis
ishshah	H802	woman/wife	paired feminine counterpart; can be wife in domestic contexts
aner	G435	man/husband	dominant Greek LXX bridge; not the Hebrew source word
anthropos	G444	man/person	broader Greek human/person term

Semantic Domains¶

search_relationships.py returns: - [001002007] People — broad person/human category. - [001002007004] Groups — group/collective uses. - [001002007008] Priests, [001002007010] Prophets, [001002007013] Soldiers — role-based contexts where "man" is qualified by office or function.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	Score	Notes
ἀνήρ (aner)	G435	969	23.21	dominant individual male/husband rendering
ἕκαστος (hekastos)	G1538	208	18.66	"each/every one" rendering
ἄνθρωπος (anthropos)	G444	448	15.62	broader human/person rendering
πλησίον (plesion)	G4139	68	11.27	neighbor/fellow rendering
γυνή (gyne)	G1135	145	7.27	wife/woman contexts in paired domestic language

Lexical-Control Note for `ish itti`¶

In Lev 16:21, H376 supplies the ordinary noun "man/person." The specificity of the phrase comes from H6261 (itti, "fit/timely/ready"), not from H376 alone. Thereforeish itti should be treated lexically as "a man/person qualified as fit/ready," without turning H376 into a ritual office term.