Jehovah-Nissi

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Jehovah my banner, Exodus 17:15 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Exodus 17:15

Holman Bible Dictionary

Exodus 17:15Jehovah

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

JEHOVAH-NISSI (‘J″ [Note: Jahweh.] is my banner’). The name given by Moses to the altar he erected after the defeat of Amalek, Exodus 17:15 (E [Note: Elohist.] ). God is considered the centre or rallying point of the army of Israel, and the name of God as their battle-cry (cf. Psalms 20:7 f.). The interpretation of Exodus 17:16 is somewhat doubtful. Many critics read nçs (‘banner’) for kçs (= kisseh , ‘throne’), but this appears neither to be necessary nor to yield a suitable sense. The meaning is probably either ‘J″ [Note: Jahweh.] hath sworn, (EV [Note: English Version.] ), or ‘I (Moses) swear’ (with hand uplifted to J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ’s throne).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Jeho'vah-nis'si. (Jehovah my banner). The name given by Moses, to the altar which he built, in commemoration of the discomfiture, of the Amalekites. Exodus 17:15.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

jē̇ - hō´va nis´ı̄ ( יהוה נסּי , yahweh niṣṣı̄ , "Yahweh is my banner"): So Moses named the altar which he reared to signalize the defeat of the Amalekites by Israel under Joshua, at Rephidim ( Exodus 17:15 ). Septuagint translates "the Lord my refuge," deriving niṣṣı̄ from נוּס , nūṣ , "to flee." Targum Onkelos reads, "Moses built an altar and worshipped on it before Yahweh, who had wrought for him miracles" (ניסּין , nı̄ṣṣı̄n ). The suggestion is that the people should rally round God as an army gathers round its standard. He it is who leads them to victory.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrew Yehovah' Nissi נַסַּי יְהוָֹה, Jehovah is my banner; Septuag. Κύριος καταφυγήμου, Vulg. Dominus exaltatio mea), the symbolical title bestowed by Moses upon the altar which he erected on the hill where his uplifted hands in prayer had caused Israel to prevail, stated in the text to have been intended as a memento of God's purpose to exterminate the Amalekites (Exodus 17:15). (See Rephidim). The phraseology in the original is peculiar: "For [the] hand [is] on [the] throne (כֵּס, read נֵס, banner) of Jah," which the A.V. glosses, "Because the Lord hath sworn," q.d. lifted up his hand. (See Oath); (See Hand). "The significance of the name is probably contained in the allusion to the staff which Moses held in his hand as a banner during the engagement, and the raising or lowering of which turned the fortune of battle in favor of the Israelites or their enemies. God is thus recognized in the memorial altar as the deliverer of his people, who leads them to victory, and is their rallying point in time of peril. On the figurative use of ‘ banner,' see Psalms 60:4; Isaiah 11:10. (See Banner).