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Num. 16:34; Josh. 10:6). The word is also used to describe “escape,” as in Jer. 46:6 and
Amos 9:1. In a figurative use, the word describes the “disappearance” of physical
strength (Deut. 34:7), the “fleeing” of evening shadows (Song of Sol. 2:17), and the
“fleeing away” of sorrow (Isa. 35:10).
FLESH
(
*
, 1320), “flesh; meat; male sex organ.” Cognates of this word appear in
Ugaritic, Arabic, and Aramaic. Biblical Hebrew attests it about 270 times and in all
periods.
The word means the “meaty part plus the skin” of men: “And the Lord God caused a
deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the
flesh instead thereof” (Gen. 2:21—the first occurrence). This word can also be applied to
the “meaty part” of animals (Deut. 14:8). Gen. 41:2 speaks of seven cows, sleek and “fat
of flesh.” In Num. 11:33,
means the meat or “flesh” of the quail that Israel was still
chewing. Thus the word means “flesh,” whether living or dead.
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often means the “edible part” of animals. Eli’s sons did not know God’s law
concerning the priests’ portion, so “when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s [Eli’s]
servant came, while the flesh was [boiling], with a [threepronged fork] in his hand” (1
Sam. 2:13). However, they insisted that “before they burnt the fat … , Give flesh to roast
for the priest; for he will not have [boiled] flesh of thee, but raw” (literally, “living”—1
Sam. 2:15).
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, then, represents edible animal “flesh” or “meat,” whether cooked
(Dan. 10:3) or uncooked. The word sometimes refers to “meat” that one is forbidden to
eat (cf. Exod. 21:28).
This word may represent a part of the body. At some points, the body is viewed as
consisting of two components, “flesh” and bones: “This is now bone of my bones, and
flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen.
2:23). That part of the “fleshly” element known as the foreskin was to be removed by
circumcision (Gen. 17:11). In other passages, the elements of the body are the “flesh,” the
skin, and the bones (Lam. 3:4). Num. 19:5 mentions the “flesh,” hide, blood, and refuse
of a heifer. In Job 10:11, we read: “Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast
[knit] me with bones and sinews.”
Flesh sometimes means “blood relative”: “And Laban said to him [Jacob], Surely
thou art my bone and my flesh” (Gen. 29:14). The phrase “your flesh” or “our flesh”
standing alone may bear the same meaning: “Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,
and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh” (Gen. 37:27). The
phrase
is rendered “blood relative” (Lev. 18:6;
KJV
, “near of kin”).
About 50 times, “flesh” represents the “physical aspect” of man or animals as
contrasted with the spirit, soul, or heart (the nonphysical aspect). In the case of men, this
usage appears in Num. 16:22: “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man
sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?” In such passages, then,
emphasizes the “visible and structural part” of man or animal.
In a few passages, the word appears to mean “skin,” or the part of the body that is
seen: “By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin” (Ps. 102:5;
119:120). In passages such as Lev. 13:2, the ideas “flesh” and “skin” are clearly
distinguished.