Hebrew word · H4042

מָגַן

migen

to deliver

A rare verb in the intensive form (Piel): "to hand over, deliver up, surrender". It occurs only here, in Proverbs 4:9 ("she will bestow on you a crown") and Hosea 11:8 ("how can I hand you over, Israel?"). Some scholars link it to an Ugaritic word for "give, present".

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Piel) to deliver up, give, deliver

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 14:20

Range of meaning

A rare verb in the intensive form (Piel): "to hand over, deliver up, surrender". It occurs only here, in Proverbs 4:9 ("she will bestow on you a crown") and Hosea 11:8 ("how can I hand you over, Israel?"). Some scholars link it to an Ugaritic word for "give, present".

Against the English

"Delivered" (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) is right in its older sense of "handed over". A modern reader may hear "rescued" instead, which reverses the picture: God did not rescue the enemies, he surrendered them to Abram.

How it drifted

English "deliver" now usually means "rescue" or "bring a package". "Deliver into your hand" keeps the older sense of "hand over", but it is easy to misread.

Used elsewhere in the period

HALOT and BDB list מגן Piel as "deliver up". The sound-play with magen "shield" is widely noted (Sarna, Wenham), because the next scene opens with God's words "I am your shield (magen); your reward will be very great" (15:1). The Vulgate's "by whose protection" shows that ancient readers also heard "shield" in it.

From the study of Hosea 11:8

Range of meaning

To hand over, deliver up, give. In Prov 4:9 it means to bestow a gift. The consonants are the same as magen, 'shield', but most lexicons (HALOT, under a separate verb 'mgn II') treat the verb as a separate word meaning 'to give/deliver', comparable with uses of mgn in other Northwest Semitic languages.

Against the English

KJV has 'deliver thee'. BSB has 'surrender', and NIV, ESV and WEB have 'hand over'. KJV's 'deliver' is risky for modern readers, who hear 'rescue', the opposite of the sense here.

How it drifted

English 'deliver' has largely narrowed to 'rescue' in church language. The older sense, 'deliver up to', has faded.

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs only three times: Gen 14:20 ('God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand'); Prov 4:9 ('she will bestow on you a crown of beauty'); Hos 11:8. The Septuagint read the word here as 'shield' and translated it 'shall I protect you?', which shows that translators in antiquity found the word obscure.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 14:20 מִגֵּ֥ן he has delivered

    and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

    Here: A rare verb meaning "hand over, surrender into someone's control" (compare Proverbs 4:9; Hosea 11:8). It sounds almost the same as magen, "shield". That sound is picked up in 15:1 when God says "I am your shield (magen)". The victory is credited to God, not to Abram's 318 men.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 4:9 תְּמַגְּנֶֽךָּ׃ she will give you

    She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 11:8 אֲמַגֶּנְךָ֙ will I deliver up? you

    How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred!

    Here: 'Could I hand you over?' This is a rare verb meaning to deliver someone into another's power (Gen 14:20: 'who delivered your enemies into your hand'). It repeats the first question in different words, and the repetition makes it sharper.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.