📖 Biblical Definition
"The Man" — counterculture phrase popularized in the 1960s and surviving in slang ever since — names any authority figure or institution as inherently adversarial: government, corporation, police, employer, school administration. "Stick it to the Man," "don’t let the Man get you down." The slang treats authority as inherently suspect, the enemy of authenticity and freedom. Scripture refuses the framing. Authority is ordained by God: "For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13:1); "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake" (1 Peter 2:13). The Christian honors rightful authority — not because every authority is good, but because the office is ordained.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Boomer / counterculture phrase for institutional authority, usually contemptuous.
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THE MAN, phrase (Boomer-era slang, c. 1960–present) Used to refer to institutional authority figures — government, police, corporate executives, school administrators — with implied contempt. "Sticking it to the Man" = defying or undermining authority. "The Man is keeping me down" = blaming systemic forces. Roots in AAVE; broadened by 1960s counterculture into a generic anti-establishment slogan.
📖 Key Scripture
Romans 13:1 — "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God."
1 Peter 2:13-14 — "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well."
Acts 5:29 — "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Reflexive contempt for authority dressed as rebellion against oppression; the biblical balance lost.
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"The Man" packages every authority figure into a single faceless oppressor. The phrase did real work for those facing actual injustice (its AAVE origins are not in doubt), but Boomer counterculture stretched it to cover all authority everywhere — the principal, the cop, the boss, the parent, the pastor. The disposition that resulted is one Scripture treats as deeply dangerous: a soul that has decided in advance that everyone above it is the enemy.
Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 give the biblical default: authority is God's gift, to be honored. Acts 5:29 gives the exception: when the human authority commands sin, we must obey God rather than men. Both verses are required. The man who reflexively defies ("stick it to the Man") loses Romans 13. The man who reflexively complies ("never challenge anything") loses Acts 5. The biblical balance is humble submission with discerning resistance — honor as the default, principled disobedience as the exception, never contempt as the posture.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
AAVE label for white authority → Boomer counterculture: generic establishment.
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['English', '—', 'the man', 'AAVE: white authority; counterculture: any establishment authority']
['Greek', 'G1849', 'exousia', 'authority, power (Rom 13:1)']
['Hebrew', 'H4910', 'mashal', 'to rule, have dominion']
Usage
"Honor authority as default; resist sin as exception."
"The reflex "stick it to the Man" loses Romans 13."
"Submission and discernment together — not contempt."