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How does the Bible define "Man" and/or "Woman"?
The Bible does not give a formal definition for man or woman.
How did they know who was a man and who was not?
By common sense based on their external genitalia and secondary sexual characteristics. Males and females had distinctive cultural and legal roles. It was very much binary.
Outside of the Bible, particularly in the AD era, gender was more fluid. The following is from Wiki:
Jewish law, or halacha, recognizes intersex and non-conforming gender identities in addition to male and female.[5][6] Rabbinical literature recognizes six different sexes, defined according to the development and presentation of primary and secondary sex characteristics at birth and later in life.[7] Jewish literature describes what today would be referred to as intersex such as the concept of a Tumtum being a person of ambiguous gender and/or sex as is the concept of the androgynos, being a person characterized with elements of both sexes.
The Bible does not give a formal definition for man or woman.
How did they know who was a man and who was not?
By common sense based on their external genitalia and secondary sexual characteristics. Males and females had distinctive cultural and legal roles. It was very much binary.
Outside of the Bible, particularly in the AD era, gender was more fluid. The following is from Wiki:
Jewish law, or halacha, recognizes intersex and non-conforming gender identities in addition to male and female.[5][6] Rabbinical literature recognizes six different sexes, defined according to the development and presentation of primary and secondary sex characteristics at birth and later in life.[7] Jewish literature describes what today would be referred to as intersex such as the concept of a Tumtum being a person of ambiguous gender and/or sex as is the concept of the androgynos, being a person characterized with elements of both sexes.
- Zachar (זָכָר): This term is derived from the word for memory and refers to the belief that the man carried the name and identity of the family.[citation needed] It is usually translated as "male" in English.
- Nekevah (נקבה): This term is derived from the word for a crevice and probably refers to a vaginal opening. It is usually translated as "female" in English.[18]
- Androgynos (אנדרוגינוס): A person who has both "male" and "female" physical sexual characteristics. 149 references in Mishnah and Talmud (1st–8th centuries); 350 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes (2nd–16th centuries). According to Rabbi Meir in the Mishnah, it is "a unique creature, neither male nor female".[19]
- Tumtum (טומטום): A person whose sexual characteristics are indeterminate or obscured. 181 references in the Mishnah and Talmud; 335 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes. Rabbi Meir contrasts it with the androgynus, saying it is not a unique creation, "sometimes a man and sometimes a woman".[19] Unlike the Androgynos, the Tumtum's gender can be revealed to be either male or female and as such has different roles under Jewish Law.[20] Some Rabbi believe Abraham and Sarah were described to be Tumtum, unable to conceive before God intervened.[21]
- Aylonit (איילונית): A female who does not develop secondary sex characteristics at puberty and is assumed infertile.[22]
- Saris (סריס): A male who does not develop secondary sex characteristics at puberty or has their sex characteristics removed. A Saris can fall under two categories: One can be "naturally" born a saris (saris hamah) or one can become a saris through human intervention (saris adam).[23]
