Definition

a shield (i.e. the small one or buckler); figuratively, a protector; also the scaly hide of the crocodile

Etymology

also (in plural) feminine מְגִנָּה; from H1598 (גָּנַן);

Where the KJV renders it

• armed
• buckler
• defence
• ruler
• scale
• shield

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.