H4937a H4937a
mishan — support, staff, sustaining provision (literal or figurative)
This masculine noun means 'support' or 'staff,' denoting something that upholds or sustains. While the basic image is a physical staff or prop, biblical usage quickly moves to metaphorical application: God as support in trouble, or essential provisions (bread and water) as the supports of life. The term appears exclusively in poetic texts (Samuel, Psalms, Isaiah), where it functions both literally—staff as support—and figuratively—God or basic resources as that which sustains life. Isaiah 3:1 uses it in a wordplay listing various kinds of 'support' being removed from Jerusalem.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Support, staff, or sustaining provision. 2 Samuel 22:19 and its parallel Psalm 18:18 declare 'YHWH was my support' (mishani), using the image of a staff or prop to describe God's sustaining help in distress. Isaiah 3:1 contains a wordplay: God will remove 'every support of bread and every support of water' (kol mishan-lechem vekol mishan-mayim)—likely a later gloss expanding the metaphor, but emphasizing that basic provisions are the 'supports' or 'staffs' of life. Some commentators see the Isaiah passage as redundant, but it effectively pictures food and water as props holding up existence, which God can remove as judgment. 4×
AR["سَنَدًا", "سَنَدِ-"]·ben["অবলম্বন", "অবলম্বন-হয়ে", "সহায়-"]·DE["[משען]", "ein-stützen", "support"]·EN["a-support", "supply-of", "support"]·FR["soutien", "support", "à-appui"]·heb["ל-משען", "משען", "משען-"]·HI["ले-सहारा", "सहारा", "सहारा-"]·ID["menjadi-penopang", "penopang", "penopang-"]·IT["[למשען]", "sostegno", "support"]·jav["panyangga", "panyangga-"]·KO["버팁목-이", "지원으로", "지팡이-"]·PT["apoio", "apoio-de", "meu-apoio"]·RU["опорою", "опору-"]·ES["apoyo", "apoyo-de", "por-apoyo"]·SW["tegemeo", "tegemeo-la", "tegemeo-langu"]·TR["destegini-", "destek-için-", "desteğim"]·urd["-سہارا", "سہارا"]
Related Senses
H2719 1. sword, weapon of war (410×)H4196 1. altar (place of sacrifice) (403×)H7393 1. chariot, chariotry (117×)H7198 1. bow (weapon) (72×)H7979 1. table (71×)H7782 1. ram's horn trumpet (69×)H4294 2. staff, rod, scepter (63×)H4043 1. shield, defensive weapon (60×)H0646 1. ephod (priestly garment) (49×)H8504 1. blue (violet-blue yarn/fabric) (49×)H2595 1. spear, lance (48×)H2671 1. arrow, projectile weapon (46×)H4818 1. chariot, war-chariot (44×)H3658 1. lyre, harp (stringed instrument) (42×)H1537 1. Gilgal (place name) (41×)H0713 1. purple (fabric/dye) (38×)H0905 3. poles, staves (37×)H7392 1. Qal participle: rider, charioteer (37×)H4501 1. cultic lampstand (menorah) (36×)H0212 1. wheel (35×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מִשְׁעָן n.[m.] support, staff;—abs. מ׳, fig. of י׳, 2 S 22:19 = ψ 18:19; cstr. כֹּל מִשְׁעַן־לֶחֶם וְכֹל מִשְׁעַן־מָ֑יִם Is 3:1 (gloss, v. Comm.).