וַיִּתְּנוּ־לוֹ֙ שִׁבְעִ֣ים כֶּ֔סֶף מִבֵּ֖ית בַּ֣עַל בְּרִ֑ית וַיִּשְׂכֹּ֨ר בָּהֶ֜ם אֲבִימֶ֗לֶךְ אֲנָשִׁ֤ים רֵיקִים֙ וּפֹ֣חֲזִ֔ים וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ אַחֲרָֽיו׃
They gave him seventy shekels from the temple of Baal-berith; and with this Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men, and they followed him.
(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term containing אִישׁ — or in this case, its plural אֲנָשִׁים.)
Prototypically, אֲנָשִׁים is used in sketching a situation schematically. Here, it performs its basic function of labeling the situation-defining participants, while providing an opening for their characterization.
As for rendering into English, the NJPS ‘worthless and reckless fellows’ does not establish the situation as succinctly as the Hebrew phrasing. In this context, the situating function is still best filled in English by the noun men.