Bible Dictionary: Cage

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Smith's Bible Dictionary

Cage

The term so rendered in (Jeremiah 5:27) is more properly a trap in which decoy birds were placed. In (Revelation 18:2) the (Greek term means a prison.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Hebrews kelub', Jeremiah 5:27, marg. "coop;" rendered "basket" in Amos 8:1), a basket of wicker-work in which birds were placed after being caught. In Revelation 18:2 it is the rendering of the Greek phulake, properly a prison or place of confinement.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A box or enclosure, wholly or partly of openwork, in wood or metal, used for confining birds or other animals.

2. (n.) A place of confinement for malefactors

3. (n.) An outer framework of timber, inclosing something within it; as, the cage of a staircase.

4. (n.) A skeleton frame to limit the motion of a loose piece, as a ball valve.

5. (n.) A wirework strainer, used in connection with pumps and pipes.

6. (n.) The box, bucket, or enclosed platform of a lift or elevator; a cage like structure moving in a shaft.

7. (n.) The drum on which the rope is wound in a hoisting whim.

8. (n.) The catcher's wire mask.

9. (v. i.) To confine in, or as in, a cage; to shut up or confine.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

CAGE

kaj (kelubh; phulake): The earliest known form of cage made to confine a bird, for the pleasure of its song or the beauty of its coloring, was a crude affair of willows or other pliable twigs. Later cages were made of pottery, and now they are mostly made of wire. References in the Bible make it very clear that people were accustomed to confine in cages such birds as they especially prized for pets, or to detain them for market purposes. James indicated that cages were common when he wrote (Jam 3:7): "For every kind of beasts and birds. is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind." In Job (Job 41:5) we find these lines "Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?" The only way to play with a bird is to confine it so that it grows accustomed to you and thus loses fear. Jeremiah compared the civil state of Judah to a "cage (crate) full of birds" (Jeremiah 5:27), "the houses of the rich being stuffed with craftily-obtained wealth and articles of luxury" (HDB). The sale of sparrows as an article of food still continues in the eastern markets. Jesus referred to this (Matthew 10:29) and it was He who entered the temple and overthrew "the seats of them that sold the doves" (Matthew 21:12). In Revelation 18:2 we find a reference to "a hold (the King James Version "cage") of every unclean and hateful bird." See also Ecclesiasticus 11:30.

Gene Stratton-Porter

Greek

5438. phulake -- a guarding, guard, watch
... watch (4). cage, hold, imprisonment, ward. From phulasso; a guarding or
(concretely, guard), the act, the person; figuratively, the ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5438.htm - 7k

Strong's Hebrew

3619. kelub -- a basket, cage
... 3618, 3619. kelub. 3620 . a basket, cage. Transliteration: kelub Phonetic
Spelling: (kel-oob') Short Definition: basket. ... basket, cage. ...
/hebrew/3619.htm - 6k

5474. sugar -- a cage, prison
... 5473, 5474. sugar. 5475 . a cage, prison. Transliteration: sugar Phonetic
Spelling: (soo-gar') Short Definition: cage. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/5474.htm - 6k

Library

"In the Uttermost Parts of the Sea"
... the apples still clung to the wild apple-tree; though leaves had fallen, the red
hips glistened, and the blackbird whistled in the little green cage that hung ...
/.../wells/bible stories and religious classics/in the uttermost parts of.htm

How the Desire to Praise God Makes us Aspire to Heaven.
... [252] Behold, Theotimus, I beseech you, this soul, who, as a heavenly nightingale
shut up in the cage of his body, in which he cannot at will sing the ...
/.../francis/treatise on the love of god/chapter x how the desire.htm

A Man Reaps More than He Sows.
... One of his favorites suggested that he should build a cage, not long enough
to lie down in, and not high enough to stand up in. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/sowing and reaping/chapter v a man reaps.htm

The Peace of God
... him, though I see him from youth to age tearing with weak hands at the gates of
brass, and beating his soul's wings to pieces against the bars of the iron cage ...
/.../kingsley/all saints day and other sermons/sermon xxv the peace of.htm

From a Hindu Point of view
... Great Guru! Lord Guru!" with wild enthusiasm. The Guru was not poor. He had two
carts laden with luggage"one item, a green parrot in a cage. ...
/.../wilson-carmichael/things as they are/chapter xxvi from a hindu.htm

That Evening Vergilius Went to Feast with the Young Herodian ...
... You shall be punished; you shall enter the cage of the leopard.". ... He was in a worse
plight than Vergilius, now standing in the leopard's cage. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/bacheller/vergilius/chapter 4 that evening vergilius.htm

Mysterious Prophecies Revealed.
... a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every ...
//christianbookshelf.org/orr/the gospel day /mysterious prophecies revealed.htm

Comfort for the Desponding
... he hath clean gone away from me, and I shall perish." You remember in John Bunyan's
"Pilgrim's Progress," the description of the man shut up in the iron cage. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 1 1855/comfort for the desponding.htm

"Nunc Dimittis"
... deliverance from toil. The Christian man in the present state is like a
bird in a cage: his body imprisons his soul. His spirit, it ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/nunc dimittis.htm

What it Means to Trust the Lord
... our fears. Our feelings are very much as they are when we stand just outside
the bars of the cage of a ferocious wild beast. We ...
//christianbookshelf.org/naylor/heart talks/talk one what it means.htm

Thesaurus

Cage (3 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) A place of confinement for malefactors. 3. (n.) An outer framework of timber,
inclosing something within it; as, the cage of a staircase. ...CAGE. ...
/c/cage.htm - 10k

Basket (40 Occurrences)
... In form it tapered downwards like that called corbis by the Romans. (4.) A
basket (Hebrews kelub) having a lid, resembling a bird-cage. ...
/b/basket.htm - 27k

Lantern
... the interior. 3. (n.) A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open
below into the building or tower which it crowns. 4. (n.) A ...
/l/lantern.htm - 8k

Car (1 Occurrence)
... 5. (n.) The cage of a lift or elevator. 6. (n.) The basket, box, or cage
suspended from a balloon to contain passengers, ballast, etc. ...
/c/car.htm - 7k

Sennacherib (13 Occurrences)
... asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude; and Hezekiah himself I
shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers ...
/s/sennacherib.htm - 18k

Partridge (2 Occurrences)
... As a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the heart of a proud man; and as one
that is a spy, he looketh upon thy falling. For he lieth ...
/p/partridge.htm - 13k

Caiaphas (9 Occurrences)

/c/caiaphas.htm - 14k

Alphabet (2 Occurrences)
... flowing; (14) nun = fish; (15) camekh = ?; (16) `ayin = eye; (17) pe = mouth; (18)
tsadhe = trap (others, hook or nose or steps), (19) qoph = cage (Evans says ...
/a/alphabet.htm - 24k

Hunting (9 Occurrences)
... employed: "They spread their net over him" (Ezekiel 19:8; compare Psalm 35:7). When
caught, the lion was sometimes placed in a large wooden cage (Ezekiel 19:9 ...
/h/hunting.htm - 22k

Caesar's (10 Occurrences)

/c/caesar's.htm - 18k

Bible Concordance

Cage (3 Occurrences)

Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
(KJV WBS)

Jeremiah 5:27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and grew rich.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Ezekiel 19:9 They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Cage

Cage for Birds, Unclean

Related Terms

Basket (40 Occurrences)

Lantern

Car (1 Occurrence)

Sennacherib (13 Occurrences)

Partridge (2 Occurrences)

Caiaphas (9 Occurrences)

Alphabet (2 Occurrences)

Hunting (9 Occurrences)