Meaning
(1) of shelter and protection (of man, Gen 19:8, Song 2:3, Isa 16:3, etc.; of God, Ps 36:7, Ps 91:1, Isa 4:6, etc.);
(2) of anything fleeting or transient, as of the days of man's life on earth (1Chr 29:15, Job 8:9, Ps 109:23);
(3) with the idea of obscurity or imperfection (in Heb 8:5, Heb 10:1, of the Law; compare Col 2:17);
(4) of darkness, gloom; see SHADOW OF DEATH.
In Jas 1:17, we have in the King James Version, "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (aposkiasma); the Revised Version (British and American) "shadow that is cast by turning"; the reference is to the unchangeableness of God as contrasted with the changes of the heavenly bodies. the Revised Version (British and American) has "of the rustling of wings" for "shadowing with wings" in Isa 18:1; the American Standard Revised Version has "shade" for "shadow" in various places (Judg 9:15, Job 40:22, Isa 4:6, etc.). In Job 40:21, Job 40:22, for "shady trees" the Revised Version (British and American) has "lotus-trees."
W. L. Walker