Shiggaion

Shiggaion is a heading-word that appears only in psalm-like superscriptions, classifying the composition that follows. The UPDV preserves the term in two places: once over a psalm of David and once, in its plural form, over the prayer of Habakkuk.

Shiggaion of David

Psalm 7 opens with the term in the superscription itself: "Shiggaion of David, which he sang to Yahweh, concerning the words of Cush a Benjamite. O Yahweh my God, in you I take refuge: Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me," (Ps 7:1). The label is attached to the song, ties the composition to David, names its addressee (Yahweh), and supplies a setting (the words of Cush a Benjamite). The body of the verse then begins the psalm proper — a plea for refuge and deliverance from pursuers.

Set to Shigionoth

The plural-form cognate appears once, again as a heading rather than a line of the body: "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth" (Hab 3:1). Here the term is used to set the prayer that follows, attaching it to a known mode or pattern of composition rather than naming an event the way the David superscription does.

In both occurrences the word does not function as a content noun in any narrative or theological argument; it sits over the composition and tells the reader something about its kind.