Abarim Publications' online Biblical Hebrew Dictionary
יגן
The verb יגן (ygn) doesn't occur in the Hebrew Bible but it exists in Arabic with the meaning of to beat (clothes). We know that it must have existed in Hebrew because two derivations survive:
- The masculine noun גת (gat), meaning wine- or olive-press (Judges 6:11, Nehemiah 13:15). BDB Theological Dictionary says that this word is contracted from ינגת (ygnt) via נגת (ngt).
- The musical term גתית (gittit). What it means exactly isn't known. It occurs three times in the Bible, in the titles of Psalms 8, 81 and 84. Some scholars suggest it denotes some kind of instrument, perhaps a lyre, known as a Gittite (i.e. made in Gath). Others say it's a genre or melody known as the Gittite. And there are others who think it means "at the winepresses," and that these songs were for the Feast of Booths.