אֱנָשׁ (e.nash)
e.nash
man
A:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 12 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- A:N-M
Word Overview
The Aramaic noun enash refers to a man or human being, and occasionally denotes mankind as a collective group. It appears in twelve verses, primarily within the books of Daniel and Ezra, where it functions as the standard term for people in the imperial language of the Persian Empire.
This word is closely related to the Hebrew enosh (H0582), sharing the same root meaning of human frailty or mortality. While enosh often carries a poetic tone emphasizing human weakness, enash serves as the practical, everyday designation for individuals and communities in historical narratives. Its usage in Daniel highlights the interaction between Jewish exiles and foreign powers, grounding theological themes in concrete social reality.
Translators typically render enash simply as "man" or "people," reflecting its straightforward descriptive nature. Unlike more technical terms for specific roles or statuses, it remains a general identifier for humanity within the Aramaic sections of Scripture, providing a consistent voice across diverse cultural contexts.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word enash appears in the Aramaic sections of Daniel and Ezra, reflecting the everyday language of the Persian Empire. It simply means man or human being, grounding biblical history in real social contexts. When Jewish exiles interacted with foreign powers, they used this term to describe themselves and their neighbors.
This plain vocabulary reminds us that God works through ordinary people in historical settings. In Daniel 5, the writing on the wall is seen by a man’s hand, showing how divine messages enter our tangible world. The word connects us to the shared human experience of living under earthly kingdoms while trusting in God’s ultimate rule.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 12 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- <the>/ humankind5×
- person3×
- a human2×
- man1×
- like/ a human1×
- [the] man of1×
- [is] a person1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- אֲנָשָׁ֔/א2×
- אֱנָ֖שׁ2×
- כֶּ/אֱנָ֣שׁ1×
- אֲנָשָׁ֨/א1×
- אֲנָשָׁ/א֙1×
- אֲנָשׁ֙1×
- אֲ֠נָשָׁ/א1×
- אֱנָ֥שׁ1×
- אֱנָ֡שׁ1×
- אֱנָ֗שׁ1×
- אֱנָ֔שׁ1×
- אֱ֠נָשׁ1×
Key Verses
-
Daniel 2:10
The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on the earth who can show the king’s matter, because no king, lord, or ruler has asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean.
The Chaldeans claim no man on earth can reveal the king's dream, highlighting human limitation against divine knowledge.
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Daniel 5:5
In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
A man’s hand writes on the wall, showing God using physical reality to communicate judgment to King Belshazzar.
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Daniel 7:13
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.
The son of man figure receives authority from the Ancient of Days, linking human representation to eternal divine kingship.