The state or condition of being a man — adult male maturity, distinguished from boyhood by responsibility, disciplined strength, and self-governance. Hebrew gever and Greek anēr denote adult maleness as opposed to anthropos (human being generically) or zakar (male as biological category). Webster 1828: "the state of one who is a man, or of being a man; the state of being male; also virility, manly character, as fortitude, bravery." Biblical manhood is not automatic with age; it is achieved through maturation, discipline, and the grace of God working in the life of a man who takes his calling seriously.
Manhood in Scripture is a finished work, not a default. A male can remain a boy at 40 — entertained by his toys, avoiding responsibility, drifting through life. Becoming a man is a process the Bible takes seriously. Three markers distinguish manhood: (1) Responsibility taken, not dodged. "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways" (1 Corinthians 13:11). A man owns his decisions, his failures, his dependents, his oaths. (2) Strength channeled, not wasted. The strength of a man is meant to serve, protect, build, and lead — not to dominate, exploit, or indulge. Men who have strength without direction become dangerous; men who have direction without strength become useless. Manhood is both. (3) Fear conquered by calling. "Watch, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong" (1 Cor 16:13 KJV). The ESV translates "act like men" and gets the sense right — the Greek verb is andrizomai, literally "to man up." Biblical manhood means doing the right thing even when afraid, because you serve a King greater than your fear. Proverbs, Ruth, the David narratives, and the Pastoral Epistles are all manhood manuals. Every young man needs older men to walk him into manhood; fatherlessness is the hemorrhage wound of modern society precisely because it breaks this process.