---
title: בָּשָׂר — flesh · The Tanakh dictionary
description: בָּשָׂר (1320), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 270 times: flesh. BDB 1906: n.m. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/1320.html)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [ב](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1489-4.md)‎ / בָּשָׂר‎

<!-- .hw dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
# בָּשָׂר

<!-- .meta -->
«בָּשָׂר» in the Tanakh dictionary: **flesh** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Used:** 270 times · **Key:** 1320 · **BDB:** בָּשָׂר

### Glosses

flesh (131); meat (47); the.flesh (24)

### Meaning (OSHB)

flesh [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1320/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1320/#m2)

<!-- fold -->
**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. flesh (cf. Arabic بَشَرٌ skin, Syriac ܒܶܣܪܳܐ, Assyrian bišru, blood-relation, Dl Assyrian Stud. i. 143, cf. Pr 170, Sab. בשר תורם flesh of bulls)—Gn 2:21 + 126 times; cstr. בְּשַׂר Gn 17:11 + 40 times; sf. בְּשָׂרִי etc. ψ 16:9 + 96 times; pl. בְּשָׂרִים Pr 14:30;— of the body: of animals Gn 41:2–19; Ex 21:28; 22:30; Nu 12:12 (E) Nu 11:4–33 (JE) Gn 9:4 + (P 30 times) Dt 12:15 + (D 9 times) Ju 6:19–21; 1 S 2:13, 15; 1 K 17:6; 19:21; Jb 31:31; 41:15 ψ 50:13; Pr 23:20; Is 22:13; 44:16, 19; 65:4; 66:17; Je 7:21; 11:15; Ez 4:14 + 6 times Dn 10:3; Ho 8:13 Mi 3:3; Hg 2:12; Zc 11:9, 16. of men Gn 40:19 (E) 2:21; Ex 4:7 (J) Lv 12:3; 13:2 + 16 times 26:29 (P) Dt 28:53, 55; 32:42; Ju 8:7; 1 S 17:44; 2 K 4:34; 5:10, 14; 6:30; 9:36; Jb 2:5; 4:15; 6:12; 7:5; 10:11; 13:14; 19:20, 22; 21:6; 33:21, 25 ψ 27:2; 38:4, 8; 79:2; 102:6; 109:24; Pr 4:22; 5:11 Is 9:19; 17:4; 49:26; Je 19:9; La 3:4; Ez 32:5; 37:6, 8; 39:17, 18 Dn 1:15; Zc 14:12. The flesh of the body is contrasted with stone Ez 11:19; 36:26. flesh for the body itself (especially in P): על בשׂר אדם לא ייסך upon the body of man it shall not be poured Ex 30:32 (P); מכנסי בד ילבשׁ על בשׂרו linen drawers shall he put on his body Lv 6:3; 16:4 (P); וישׂם שׂק על בשׂרו 1 K 21:27; ורחץ את בשׂרו and he shall bathe his body Lv 14:9; 15:13, 16; 16:24, 26, 28; 17:16; 22:6; Nu 19:7, 8 (P); שׂרט לנפשׁ לא תתנו בכשׂרכם ye shall not put any cutting for any one in your body Lv 19:28; cf. Lv 21:5 (P); והעבירו תער על כל בשׂרם and they shall pass a razor over all their body Nu 8:7 (P). Ec. uses בשׂר only in this sense 2:3; 4:5; 5:5; 11:10; 12:12; elsewhere this usage only in poetry; the body antith. to נפשׁ Jb 14:22; Is 10:18 ψ 63:2; לב ψ 16:9; 84:3; Pr 14:30 (only here emphatic pl. = entire body Bö§ 695, Leiblichkeit De); מִבְּשָׂרִי apart from my body, in disembodied state Jb 19:26; סמר מפחדך בשׂרי my body trembleth for fear of thee ψ 119:120. male organ of generation (euphemism): בְּשַׂר עָרְלַתְכֶם Gn 17:11, 14, 23, 24, 25 (P); בשׂר ערוה Ex 28:42 (P), but בשׂר Gn 17:14; Lv 15:2–19 (P); Ez 16:26; 23:20; 44:7, 9. flesh for kindred, blood-relations: עצם מעצמי ובשׂר מבשׂרי bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh Gn 2:23 (J); והיו לבשׂר אחד and they shall become one flesh Gn 2:24 (J); עצמי ובשׂרי Gn 29:14 (J); Ju 9:2; 2 S 5:1 = 1 Ch 11:1; 19:13, 14; בשׂר with sf. in same sense Gn 37:27 (J); Ne 5:5; Is 58:7, for which שְׁאֵר בשׂרו near of kin, man or woman Lv 18:6; 25:49 (both H; 25:49 ‖ מִשְׁפָּחָה, cf. RSK 149). man over against God as frail or erring Gn 6:3 (J) ψ 56:5; 78:39; eyes of flesh Jb 10:4; arm of flesh 2 Ch 32:8; Je 17:5; horses are flesh not spirit Is 31:3. the phrase כָּל־בָּשָׂר: all living beings Gn 6:17, 19; 7:21; 9:11, 15, 16, 17 Lv 17:14(×3); Nu 18:15 (P); Jb 34:15 ψ 136:25. animals Gn 7:15, 16; 8:17 (P). mankind Gn 6:12, 13; Nu 16:22; 27:16 (P); Dt 5:23 ψ 65:3; 145:21; Is 40:5, 6; 49:26; 66:16, 23, 24; Je 12:12; 25:31; 32:27; 45:5; Ez 21:4, 9, 10; Jo 3:1; Zc 2:17; cf. כל בשׂר אישׁ Jb 12:10.

<!-- .note -->
Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 172 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (3 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «בָּשָׂר» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1320/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Psalms 65:3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.65.3/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
שֹׁמֵ֥עַ תְּפִלָּ֑ה עָ֝דֶ֗יךָ כָּל־בָּשָׂ֥ר יָבֹֽאוּ׃

*Word for word:* O.\[you.who\].hear prayer to you all flesh they.will.come

*JPS 1917:* O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee doth all flesh come.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Psalms 50:13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.50.13/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
הַֽ֭אוֹכַל בְּשַׂ֣ר אַבִּירִ֑ים וְדַ֖ם עַתּוּדִ֣ים אֶשְׁתֶּֽה׃

*Word for word:* do I.eat? \[the\].flesh of.mighty.\[bulls\] and.\[the\] blood of.goats do.I.drink?

*JPS 1917:* Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [בָּשַׂר](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/1319.md)
- next →: [בְּשֹׂרָה](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/1309.md)
- ↑ back to [ב](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1489-4.md)

