Word

מָגֵן

mâgên · H4043 · Hebrew · 63 occurrences

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Thing

Small shield, bucklerShields66 verses

Meanings

shield

A flat, usually round, object; made of wood or metal; used in battle; held by a warrior in front of him as protection from the weapons of his opponent; relatively small and easy to maneuver; associated with protection and therefore often used as an epithet for God

Examples
Judges 5:8 “New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.
2 Samuel 1:21 “Mountains of Gilboa, May there be no dew nor rain on you, or fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
1 Kings 10:17 And he made three hundred small shields of beaten gold, using three minas of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the timber of Lebanon.
Shield

Literally: (one's) shield; hence: a title for God or a king as someone providing protection

Examples
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”
Deuteronomy 33:29 “Blessed are you, Israel; Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help, And He who is the sword of your majesty! So your enemies will cringe before you, And you will trample on their high places.”
2 Samuel 22:3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.
shield > scale

Each of the small overlapping horny or bony plates protecting the skin of fish and reptiles, here compared to a shield because of their protective function

Examples
Job 41:15 “His strong scales are his pride, Locked as with a tight seal.
gift

Meaning unsure; possibly: object given to someone else

Examples
Hosea 4:18 Their liquor is gone, They prostitute themselves continually; Their rulers dearly love shame.

How it’s used In 9 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

26 occurrences in 12 groups

יmy 6
נוּour 4
הֶםtheir 3
Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (13) 13

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

8 occurrences in 6 groups

אֶחָדone 2
עָשָׂהto do, to make 2
שָׁלוֹשׁthree 2
בַּיִתhouse, household 1
מֶלֶךְking 1
אֶלֶףthousand 1

Named alongside itApposition

1 occurrences in 1 groups

יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 1

What it doesIt is the subject

6 occurrences in 6 groups

אָדַםto dye red, to be red 1
אָהַבto love 1
גָּעַלto reject 1
מָשַׁחto anoint 1
רָאָהto see 1
תָּלָהto hang 1

What is done to itIt is the object

18 occurrences in 12 groups

נָתַןto give, to put, to set 3
עָשָׂהto do, to make 3
Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12

What it is said to bePredicate

3 occurrences in 2 groups

אֱלֹהִיםGod, gods 2
יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 1

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

12 occurrences in 4 groups

הוּאhe, she, it 7
יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 2
אַתָּהyou 2
אָנֹכִיI 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

4 occurrences in 3 groups

עַלon, upon, over, against 4
בin/on/with 1
לto/for 1

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

8 occurrences in 6 groups

אִישׁman, person, each 2
נָשָׂאto lift up, to carry, to bear 2
גַבmound 1
נָשַׁקto kiss 1
אָפִיקwadi 1
תָּפַשׂto take hold 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Semantic domains 3 entries

Weapons001003001001020: מָגֵן denotes a shield, a piece of military equipment, as in Judges 5:8's "not a shield or a spear was seen," placing it among weapons and armor.
Titles003001017: The word is also used figuratively as a title for a ruler or protector, as reflected in its gloss 'ruler,' extending the shield's protective function to a person who defends or rules.
Objects001: The word additionally covers a scale or plated armor piece, reflected in its gloss '[phrase] scale,' a broader physical-object sense alongside its more specific shield meaning.

Word family 5 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

גָּנַן gânan · H1598 · to shield, to defend, to protect · 8×מָגֵןmâgên · H4043גַּן gan · H1588 · garden · 41×גַּנָּה gannâh · H1593 · garden · 16×גִּנָּה ginnâh · H1594 · garden · 0×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4043. magen or meginnah מָגֵן noun masculine1Ki 14:27, & feminine1Ki 10:17, shield…

H4043. magen
or meginnah מָגֵן noun masculine1Ki 14:27, & feminine1Ki 10:17, shield (Arabic , Aramaic מְגִנָּא, ) — מָגֵן Gen 15:1 33t. (also construct Deu 33:29; Nah 2:4); suffix מָגִנִּי Psa 7:11 Psa 7:5t.; מָגִנֵּנוּ Psa 33:20 Psa 33:3t.; מָגִנָּם Psa 115:9; Psa 115:10; Psa 115:11; plural מָגִנִּים 1Ki 10:17 1Ki 10:6t.; מָגִנּוֺת2Ch 23:9; construct מָגִנֵּי 1Ki 14:26 1Ki 14:4t.; suffix מָגִנָּיו Job 15:26; מָגִנֶּיהָ Hos 4:18; — shield, buckler, carried by warrior for defence Jdg 5:8; 2Sa 1:21 (twice in verse); 2Ki 19:32 = Isa 37:33, 1Ch 5:18; 1Ch 14:7; 1Ch 17:17; 1Ch 23:9; 1Ch 26:14; 1Chron 32:5; Neh 4:10; Psa 76:4; Jer 46:3, Jer 46:9; Eze 23:24; Eze 38:4-5, Eze 39:9; Nah 2:4; Isa 22:6; compare Isa 21:5 (anoint the shield, to make it slippery), so also Psa 35:2 (where ׳י figurative as warrior); מָגֵן אִישׁ = armed man Pro 6:11; Pro 24:34; laid up for show, or as treasure 1Ki 10:17 (twice in verse); 1Ki 14:26-27, (= 2Ch 9:16 (twice in verse); 2Ch 12:9-10,) 2Ch 32:27 compare Son 4:4; Eze 27:10; of scales of crocodile (leviathan) מָגִנִּים אֲפִיקֵי Job 41:7; figurative of wicked's defence against judgments of מָגִנָּיו גַבֵּי עֲבִי ׳י, Job 15:26; fig, of king Psa 89:19 (compare Che); figurative of rulers of Ephraim Hos 4:18; figurative of rulers of earth Psalm 47:10; figurative (very often) of ׳י, as defence of his servants, Psa 3:4; Psa 7:11 (read אל עָלַי ׳מָגִנִּי compare Che critical note) Psa 18:3; Psa 18:31; Psa 18:36 (= 2Sa 22:3, 2Sa 22:31, 2Sa 22:36) Psa 28:7; Psa 33:20; Psa 59:12; Psa 84:10; Psa 84:12; Psa 115:9; Psa 115:10; Psa 115:11; Psa 119:114; Psa 144:2; Pro 2:7; Pro 30:5, and see especially Gen 15:1 (E).

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 3 entries

Objects1 occurrence Weapons36 occurrences Titles24 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0