מִשְׁעָן

From the study of Isaiah 3:1

Range of meaning

From the root sh-'-n, 'to lean, to rest one's weight on' (the Niphal verb nish'an is 'to lean on, rely on'). Related nouns mean a staff or walking stick (Exod 21:19; Zech 8:4; Ps 23:4, 'your rod and your staff', mish'enet) and, figuratively, anything a person relies on (2 Sam 22:19 = Ps 18:18, 'the LORD was my support', mish'an). Here the masculine and feminine forms of the same noun stand side by side.

Against the English

KJV 'the stay and the staff' keeps the picture of leaning and the paired sound, but 'stay' is archaic. BSB, WEB and NASB use 'supply and support', and 'supply' moves the meaning toward provisions and stores. ESV 'support and supply' does the same. NLT's 'everything they depend on' keeps the idea of reliance but drops the image and the wordplay.

How it drifted

'Supply' comes from reading the noun through the food-and-water clause that follows. The Hebrew word is about leaning and reliance, not stock or provisions. Verses 2–3 show the main 'props' in view are people.

Used elsewhere in the period

Several Semitic idioms join a masculine and a feminine form to express totality ('every sort of'). Ecclesiastes 2:8 (shiddah veshiddot) is often cited as a similar case, though that phrase is itself debated. The Septuagint renders the pair as persons, ischyonta kai ischyousan ('a strong man and a strong woman'), and the Vulgate has validum et fortem. Both took the supports to be people.