flesh
she.er denotes bodily flesh, especially a person’s close family connection, and also food provided as flesh.
The term most often marks a close family connection expressed through bodily relation; it also refers to a person’s bodily flesh in contexts of harm, mortality, or physical treatment, and twice to flesh supplied as food.
Senses in use
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Close family connection · dominant
In Leviticus 18:6 the construct form occurs in the prohibition against approaching one’s own family relation to uncover nakedness; Leviticus 18:12 and Leviticus 18:13 identify paternal and maternal aunts through the father’s or mother’s relation. In Leviticus 21:2 the APB renders the clause “his nearest flesh relative” before listing mother, father, son, daughter, and brother; Leviticus 25:49 similarly places a near family member among possible redeemers.
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A person’s bodily substance · common
In Micah 3:2 and Micah 3:3 the construct form is set beside skin and bones in violent imagery; the APB renders people being stripped and their flesh eaten. Psalm 73:26 places it with the heart that fails, while Proverbs 5:11 places it with the body at life’s end; Exodus 21:10 and Jeremiah 51:35 likewise use it in clauses concerning a woman’s provision and violence done to Zion’s inhabitant.
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Flesh supplied for eating · occasional
Psalm 78:20 asks whether bread and flesh can be provided for the people, and Psalm 78:27 describes flesh raining upon them alongside winged birds. In both verses the supplied form is masculine singular absolute rather than construct.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the term with “flesh” in bodily and food contexts, and with family language such as “nearest flesh relative” and “near kinsman” in kinship contexts. Because the APB translates whole verses rather than aligning individual words, these renderings indicate the clauses’ presentation rather than fixed one-to-one equivalents.