What does זָכָר (zākār) mean in the Bible?
זָכָר (zākār): Male defined by remembrance and prominence; marks the socially or biologically significant member of species.
Hebrew · H2145
זָכָר
Properly, remembered , i.e. a male (of man or animals, as being the most noteworthy sex)
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זָכָר H2145
Pronunciation zākār
What does זָכָר (zākār) mean in the Bible?
זָכָר (zākār): Male defined by remembrance and prominence; marks the socially or biologically significant member of species.
Full entry for זָכָר (H2145) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2145?
The BSB source-word alignment has 82 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include male (32), men (13), a man (6), the males (4), a male (3).
Where does זָכָר (zākār) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 1:27. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (18), Numbers (18), Genesis (14), Ezra (12).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It male 32× Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:2, Genesis 6:19, Genesis 7:3
men 13× Genesis 34:22, Ezra 8:3, Ezra 8:4, Ezra 8:5
a man 6× Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Numbers 31:17, Numbers 31:35
the males 4× Numbers 3:22, Numbers 3:28, Numbers 3:34, Numbers 3:39
a male 3× Leviticus 3:6, Leviticus 27:3, Jeremiah 30:6
for the male 3× Leviticus 27:5, Leviticus 27:6, Leviticus 27:7
a son 2× Leviticus 12:2, Jeremiah 20:15
males 2× Exodus 13:12, Numbers 3:43
- 1× Joshua 5:4
. . . 1× Leviticus 4:23
[they distributed portions] to the males 1× 2 Chronicles 31:16
a boy 1× Isaiah 66:7
an acceptable male 1× Malachi 1:14
are the other male 1× Joshua 17:2
But if any male 1× Genesis 17:14
male among you 1× Genesis 17:10
males [in the household] 1× Exodus 12:48
man 1× Numbers 1:2
of a male 1× Deuteronomy 4:16
of any male 1× Leviticus 15:33
the boys 1× Numbers 31:17
the male 1× Genesis 7:16
whether to a male 1× Leviticus 12:7
with a man 1× Numbers 31:18
your males 1× Genesis 34:15
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 1:27 זָכָ֥ר to male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 5:2 זָכָ֥ר to Male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 6:19 זָכָ֥ר to male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 7:3 זָכָ֣ר to male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 7:9 זָכָ֣ר to male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 7:16 זָכָ֨ר to the male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 17:10 זָכָֽר׃ to male among you Noun - masculine singular Genesis 17:12 זָכָ֖ר to male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 17:14 זָכָ֗ר to But if any male Noun - masculine singular Genesis 17:23 זָכָ֕ר to male Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 1:27
Aligned rows 82
Books represented 14
Genesis 14 Exodus 4 Leviticus 18 Numbers 18 Deuteronomy 2 Joshua 2 Judges 3 1 Kings 2 2 Chronicles 2 Ezra 12 Isaiah 1 Jeremiah 2 Ezekiel 1 Malachi 1
Source forms
הַזְּכָרִֽים׃ס 10x haz·zə·ḵā·rîm Ezra 8:4, Ezra 8:5, Ezra 8:6, Ezra 8:7
זָכָ֥ר 9x zā·ḵār Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:2, Genesis 6:19, Exodus 12:5
זָכָ֖ר 9x zā·ḵār Genesis 17:12, Numbers 1:2, Numbers 26:62, Numbers 31:17
זָכָ֔ר 9x zā·ḵār Genesis 34:22, Genesis 34:24, Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 22:19
זָכָר֙ 7x zā·ḵār Leviticus 3:1, Leviticus 3:6, Leviticus 20:13, Numbers 3:39
זָכָ֑ר 7x zā·ḵār Leviticus 12:2, Numbers 31:18, Numbers 31:35, Judges 21:12
זָכָ֗ר 5x zā·ḵār Genesis 17:14, Exodus 12:48, Numbers 1:20, Numbers 1:22
זָכָֽר׃ 5x zā·ḵār Genesis 17:10, Genesis 34:15, Genesis 34:25, Numbers 31:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 58x Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:2, Genesis 6:19, Genesis 7:3
Article | Noun - masculine plural 15x Exodus 13:12, Exodus 13:15, Joshua 5:4, Joshua 17:2
Article | Noun - masculine singular 4x Leviticus 27:3, Leviticus 27:5, Leviticus 27:6, Deuteronomy 15:19
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural 2x 2 Chronicles 31:16, Ezra 8:3
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Leviticus 12:7, Leviticus 15:33
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular 1x Numbers 5:3
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Male defined by remembrance and prominence; marks the socially or biologically significant member of species.
Source Gloss
properly, remembered , i.e. a male (of man or animals, as being the most noteworthy sex)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Male defined by remembrance and prominence; marks the socially or biologically significant member of species.
properly, remembered, i.e. a male (of man or animals, as being the most noteworthy sex) BDB: male Usage: × him, male, man(child, -kind).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Specification of male animals acceptable for burnt offering sacrifice
Designation of male animal as proper offering for peace offering ritual
Requirement for male animals in prescribed sacrificial regulations and practices
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 82 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
זָכָר is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain