STANDARD, four words are so tr. in the OT. Heb. דֶּ֫גֶל, H1840, sign, banner, occurs ten times in Numbers and once in Song of Solomon (2:4), but only in some passages is it tr. as “standard”; “banner” also is used. Three related words are so tr. in Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isa 59:19). Heb. נֹ֥סְסָה, and the phrase containing it have been variously treated. The true sense is, “Which the breath of the Lord driveth” (JPS), KJV reads “standard.” The proper root Heb. נס, “standard,” “signal” or “banner” is occasionally used for “sail” as in Isaiah 33:23. An extended form of this same root, נסס, is used in the sense of gathering around or rallying around a banner. The terms for banner are of great concern in the Apoc. text 1QM, where they mean considerably more than simply ensigns used in formal ceremonies. The common word for such banners in the text is nēs, although a variety of other terms appear.

Bibliography Y. Yadin, The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness (1962), 38-64.