ga.nan denotes protecting a city, Jerusalem’s inhabitants, or a people from threat in the supplied verses.

The attested use consistently describes protection: a speaker promises to preserve a city, and third-person forms portray the LORD protecting Jerusalem, its inhabitants, or a people facing opposition.

1. Protecting cities and people from danger · dominant

   The first-person sequential-perfect forms occur in promises concerning a city: in 2 Kings 19:34 and Isaiah 37:35 the APB renders, “I will defend this city to save it,” while 2 Kings 20:6 places the city’s protection alongside deliverance from the king of Assyria. The third-person imperfect forms describe the LORD’s protection of Jerusalem or its people: Isaiah 31:5 compares this action to flying birds, and Zechariah 12:8 and Zechariah 9:15 speak of protecting Jerusalem’s inhabitant and “them.”

   2 Kings 19:342 Kings 20:6Isaiah 31:5Isaiah 37:35Isaiah 38:6Zechariah 12:8

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly renders the relevant clauses with “defend,” including defense of a city, Jerusalem, its inhabitant, or “them”; it also places the action beside “rescuing” and “bringing to safety” in Isaiah 31:5. Those surrounding expressions confirm the verse context rather than individually define the term.