--- title: אִשָּׁה — woman · The Tanakh dictionary description: אִשָּׁה (802), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 781 times: woman. BDB 1906: n.f. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/802.html) [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/) / [א](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1488-8.md)‎ / אִשָּׁה‎ # אִשָּׁה «אִשָּׁה» in the Tanakh dictionary: **woman** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers. **Used:** 781 times · **Key:** 802 · **BDB:** אִשָּׁה ### Glosses woman (117); wife (112); wives (91) ### Meaning (OSHB) woman [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/802/#m1) ### Meaning (BDB 1906) n.f. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/802/#m2) **The whole BDB entry:** n.f. woman, wife, female (Arabic أُنْثَى, Sab. אנתֿת etc. DHMZK 1884, 360, Aramaic אִתְּתָא, אִנְתְּתָא, אִתָּא, ܐܰܢ̱ܬܬܴܐ, Palm. Nab. אנתתא, Ethiopic አንስት Ph. אשת, Assyrian aššatu COTGloss)—א׳ abs. Gn 2:23 +; cstr. אֵשֶׁת Gn 11:29 + (appar. abs. Dt 21:11; 1 S 28:7 ψ 58:9 but cf. Bö§ 728 Ges§ 130, 5); sf. אִשְׁתִּי Gn 20:11 +; אִשְׁתְּךָ Gn 12:18 + (אֶשְׁתְּךָ ψ 128:3), etc.; Pl. †אִשֹּׁת Ez 23:44 (Co לעשׂות); נָשִׁים Gn 4:19 +; cstr. נְשֵׁי Gn 4:23 +; sf. נָשַׁי Gn 30:26; 1 K 20:7; נְשֵׁיכֶם Ex 22:23 +, etc.;— woman Gn 3:1, 2; 12:11 +; opp. man 2:22, 23 Ex 35:29; 36:6; Dt 17:2, 5; 22:22; 1 S 21:5 +; א׳ emphat. a genuine (or ideal) woman Ec 7:28 (‖ אדם); sim. of men as feeble, timid Je 50:37; 51:30; note especially הַטַּף בַּנָּשִׁים the children among the women, female children Nu 31:18 (P); as conceiving Ex 2:2; Lv 12:2; 2 S 11:5 +; travailing Je 13:21; bearing children Ju 13:24; 1 K 3:18; cf. Jb 14:1; 15:14; 25:4 +, etc.; suckling Is 49:15; אֹרַח כַּנָּשִׁים Gn 18:11; דֶּרֶךְ נָשִׁים 31:35; with adj., or app., א׳מֵינֶקֶת nursing woman, nurse Ex 2:7; א׳ זוֹנָה harlot Jos 2:1; 6:22; Ju 11:1; 16:1; 1 K 3:16; Pr 6:26; Je 3:3 Ez 16:30; 23:44; so א׳ זָרָה Pr 2:16; 7:5; cf. also Ez 23:44 supr.; א׳ מְנָאָ֑פֶת adulteress Pr 30:20 (cf. אֵשֶׁת אִישׁ 6:26), אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים Ho 1:2; נָשִׁים נָכְרִיּוֹת foreign women 1 K 11:1, 8; Ezr 10:2, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 44; Ne 13:26, 27 (cf. v 23); א׳ חֲכָמָה wise woman, one known as clever, shrewd 2 S 14:2; 20:16, etc.; also א׳ פִּילֶגֶשׁ concubine Ju 19:1, 27: א׳ אַלְמָנָה widow 2 S 14:5; 1 K 11:26; 17:9, 10; א׳ נְבִיאָה prophetess Ju 4:4; also cstr. bef. noun of quality אֵשֶׁתרָ֑ע Pr 6:24; א׳ כְּסִילוּת 9:13; א׳ חֵן 11:16; א׳ חַיִל 12:4; 31:10; Ru 3:11; א׳ מִדְיָנִים Pr 21:9; 25:24; 27:15; א׳ מ׳ וָכָ֑עַס 21:19. Wife (woman belonging to a man, usually cstr. or sf.) Gn 2:24, 25; 3:8, 17; 4:1, 17 + often; of one betrothed (ארשׂ) Dt 20:7; 28:30; בַּעַל (הָ)אִשָּׁה Ex 21:3, 22; אִישׁ הָאִשָּׁה Ju 20:4; לְאִשָּׁה to wife Gn 12:19; 16:3; 34:21 + often (after לָקַח, נָתַן husband or father subj.); for wife (after הָֽיְתָה, woman subj.) Gn 20:12; Nu 36:3, 6(×2), 11, 12; Dt 22:19, 29 +; for unfaithful wife cf. 1; cstr. in phr. אֵשֶׁת חֵיקֶ֑ךָ Dt 13:7 cf. 28:54; א׳ נְעוּרֶיךָ Pr 5:18; Mal 2:14, 15; א׳ בְּרִיתֶ֑ךָ v 14; אֵשֶׁת אָב = step-mother Lv 18:8, 11; 20:11. Female of animals Gn 7:2(×2); v. also sub 4. With distrib. \& recipr. sense, א׳ מֵאֵת רְעוּתָהּ each woman from her neighbour Ex 11:2 (E); cf. Ru 1:8, 9; Je 9:19; each one, of birds of prey Is 34:15 cf. v 16 (del. Bi Che); of cows (fig. of heartless women of Isr.) Am 4:3; of sheep (fig. of Isr.) Zc 11:9; \& of inanimate things (P, \& late) א׳ אֶל אֲחֹתָהּ Ex 26:3(×2), 5, 6, 17 (P) Ez 1:9 (del. Co) v 23; 3:13. Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 129 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (8 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates) ### Trees and pragmatics [Every English meaning of «אִשָּׁה» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/802/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames. ### In the verses [Genesis 46:19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.46.19/) בְּנֵ֤י רָחֵל֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב יוֹסֵ֖ף וּבִנְיָמִֽן׃ *Word for word:* the.sons of.Rachel the.wife of.Jacob Joseph and Benjamin *JPS 1917:* The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. [Leviticus 21:13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/LEV.21.13/) וְה֕וּא אִשָּׁ֥ה בִבְתוּלֶ֖יהָ יִקָּֽח׃ *Word for word:* and he a.woman in virginiti(es) her he.will.take *JPS 1917:* And he shall take a wife in her virginity. - ← previous: [אִשֶּׁה](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/801.md) - next →: [אֱשׁוּן](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/lemma_3a_5d0_5b1_5e9_5c1_5d5_5bc_5df.md) - ↑ back to [א](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1488-8.md)