דָּגַל

From the study of Psalm 20:5

Range of meaning

A verb made from the noun degel, 'standard, banner'. Degel also means the military unit grouped under a standard (Num 1:52; 2:2-34). The verb occurs only here and in Song 6:4, 10 (nidgālôt, 'bannered hosts' or 'awe-inspiring ones'), plus the related participle dāgûl in Song 5:10 ('conspicuous, outstanding'). Some lexicons also list a second root, 'to look, see', compared with Akkadian dagālu, 'to look at'.

Against the English

Most English versions have 'set up / raise / lift up our banners.' NLT adds 'a victory banner'. KJV adds 'our' in brackets. The Hebrew has no object; the verb by itself means 'do the banner action'.

How it drifted

Modern readers may think of decorated cloth banners carried in church processions or used in worship dance. In the Iron Age a standard was a pole topped with an emblem that marked an army or unit, and soldiers rallied to it in battle.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 1–2 arranges Israel's camp 'each by his standard (degel)'. Egyptian and Assyrian reliefs show military standards topped with divine emblems carried into battle. The War Scroll (1QM III–IV) prescribes slogans to be written on each unit's standard. The Septuagint read the Hebrew differently: 'we shall be magnified'.

From the study of Song of Songs 6:10

Range of meaning

Participle (feminine plural) of dāgal. It is related to degel, 'banner, standard', used for Israel's tribal standards in Numbers 1–2, so it means 'those set under banners, bannered/arrayed ones'. A second root, attested in Akkadian dagālu 'to look at', gives 'things looked at, conspicuous ones, sights' (HALOT lists this possibility). Compare dāgûl in 5:10, 'conspicuous/outstanding among ten thousand'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV add 'an army' ('terrible/awesome as an army with banners'); YLT 'bannered hosts'; BSB/NIV 'the stars in procession'. Every option supplies a noun the Hebrew does not state.

How it drifted

KJV printed 'army' in italics to mark it as a supplied word, but most readers never noticed. 'Army with banners' then became a set phrase.

Used elsewhere in the period

In 6:4 the identical line follows comparisons with the royal cities Tirzah and Jerusalem, which suits a military or civic picture. Here it follows dawn, moon and sun, which suits a heavenly one: the stars as the 'host of heaven' in ordered ranks (compare Judges 5:20, 'the stars fought from their courses'). The Septuagint has thambos hōs tetagmenai, 'astonishing as [ranks] drawn up in order'. The Vulgate has 'terrible as a battle-line of camps set in order'.

From the study of Song of Songs 6:4

Range of meaning

A feminine plural form of the verb dāgal, usually connected with degel, 'banner, standard; a military division under a standard'. So 'those furnished with banners, marshalled under standards'. An alternative derivation from Akkadian dagālu, 'to look at', would give 'the things looked upon, the sights'.

Against the English

The KJV's 'army' is printed in italics because it is supplied. The Hebrew says only 'like the bannered [ones]'. BSB and NIV 'troops with banners' and YLT 'bannered hosts' stay closer.

Used elsewhere in the period

degel is the tribal standard around which Israel's war camp was organised (Num 1:52; 2:2–34; 10:14–25). In the Aramaic papyri from the Jewish military colony at Elephantine in Egypt (5th century BCE), degel is the regular term for a military unit or detachment. The verb appears in Psalm 20:5 ('we will set up our banners'). The noun appears in Song 2:4 ('his banner over me is love'). Both of those verses have also been read through the Akkadian 'look' sense. The LXX gives tetagmenai, 'drawn up in ranks', and the Vulgate castrorum acies ordinata, 'the battle line of camps set in order'. Both ancient versions took it in a military sense.