A part of a person that can be seen by others. Unlike “inner man,” do not confuse the term with other biblical and nonbiblical terms like:
Near Eastern, especially Semitic, thinking dealt in wholes, not dichotomies. The inner and outward man were viewed as parts of a whole, not opposites.
The phrase appears only in 2 Corinthians 4:16. Similar terms, such as “outward appearance,” are in other verses (1 Samuel 16:7; Matthew 23:27–28; 2 Corinthians 10:7). The Bible says a person's appearance should match their inner self. The Talmud says, “A scribe whose inner man does not correspond to the outer is no scribe.”