Topical Bible: Hooks

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In biblical times, hooks were practical tools used for various purposes, including fishing, construction, and even as metaphors in prophetic literature. The term "hook" appears in several contexts throughout the Bible, each carrying its own significance and symbolism.

Fishing Hooks

Fishing was a common occupation in ancient Israel, particularly around the Sea of Galilee. Hooks were essential tools for fishermen, as seen in the New Testament. In Matthew 17:27 , Jesus instructs Peter to catch a fish with a hook to find a coin in its mouth: "But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours." This passage highlights the use of hooks in daily life and the miraculous provision of God.

Construction and Temple Use

Hooks were also used in the construction and maintenance of the Tabernacle and the Temple. In Exodus 26:32 , hooks are mentioned as part of the Tabernacle's structure: "Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases." These hooks were functional, serving to hold the curtains and other elements of the sacred space, symbolizing the order and precision required in worship.

Prophetic and Symbolic Use

In prophetic literature, hooks often symbolize control or capture. The imagery of hooks is used to convey God's sovereignty and judgment over nations. In Ezekiel 29:4 , God declares judgment against Pharaoh, king of Egypt: "But I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams cling to your scales. I will pull you out from among your streams, with all the fish clinging to your scales." This vivid imagery illustrates God's power to lead nations according to His will, often as a form of divine retribution.

Similarly, in Ezekiel 38:4 , God speaks of leading Gog with hooks: "I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great horde with large and small shields, all brandishing their swords." Here, hooks symbolize God's control over the forces of evil, demonstrating His ultimate authority over history and human affairs.

Cultural and Historical Context

In the ancient Near East, hooks were not only practical tools but also carried cultural and symbolic meanings. They were often made of metal or bone and varied in size and shape depending on their intended use. The biblical references to hooks reflect the everyday life of the people, as well as the theological themes of divine provision, judgment, and sovereignty.

Overall, hooks in the Bible serve as a reminder of God's involvement in the mundane and the monumental, illustrating His care for His people and His control over the nations.

Strong's Hebrew

8240b. shephathayim -- probably hook-shaped pegs, hooks
... 8240a, 8240b. shephathayim. 8241 . probably hook-shaped pegs, hooks.
Transliteration: shephathayim Short Definition: hooks. Word ...
/hebrew/8240b.htm - 5k

2397. chach -- hook, ring, fetter
... 2396, 2397. chach. 2398 . hook, ring, fetter. Transliteration: chach Phonetic
Spelling: (khawkh) Short Definition: hooks. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/2397.htm - 6k

2053. vav -- a hook, pin, peg
... 2052, 2053. vav. 2054 . a hook, pin, peg. Transliteration: vav Phonetic
Spelling: (vaw) Short Definition: hooks. Word Origin of ...
/hebrew/2053.htm - 5k

6793a. tsinnah -- probably a hook, barb
... 6793, 6793a. tsinnah. 6793b . probably a hook, barb. Transliteration:
tsinnah Short Definition: hooks. Word Origin from the same ...
/hebrew/6793a.htm - 5k

4211. mazmerah -- a pruning knife
... 4210, 4211. mazmerah. 4212 . a pruning knife. Transliteration: mazmerah
Phonetic Spelling: (maz-may-raw') Short Definition: hooks. ...
/hebrew/4211.htm - 6k

2336. choach -- briar, bramble, hook, ring, fetter
... Word Origin of uncertain derivation Definition briar, bramble, hook, ring, fetter
NASB Word Usage briars (1), hook (1), hooks (1), thickets (1), thistles (1 ...
/hebrew/2336.htm - 6k

4207b. mizlagah -- an implement used in offering sacrifices
... Word Origin from the same as mazleg Definition an implement used in offering sacrifices
NASB Word Usage flesh hooks (1), forks (4). 4207a, 4207b. ...
/hebrew/4207b.htm - 5k

5518b. sir -- a thorn, hook
... Word Origin from the same as sir Definition a thorn, hook NASB Word Usage hooks
(1), thorn bushes (1), thorns (3). 5518a, 5518b. sir. 5519 . Strong's Numbers
/hebrew/5518b.htm - 5k

7165. qeres -- a hook
... Word Origin from qaras Definition a hook NASB Word Usage clasps (9), hooks (1).
tache. From qarac; a knob or belaying-pin (from its swelling form) -- tache. ...
/hebrew/7165.htm - 6k

Library

The Death of Saint Patrick.
... employed to get rid of the serpents. Having caught them, they tied
fish-hooks to their tails. No sooner did the serpents find this ...
/.../kingston/the seven champions of christendom/chapter fifteen the death of.htm

He Passes from Philosophy to the Philosophers, Beginning with ...
... forms. And so, he says, have these first principles; for they are rough,
they are furnished with hooks, they are smooth. Therefore ...
/.../lactantius/the divine institutes/chap xvii he passes from philosophy.htm

I Write These Things to Warn You.
... not that I know any of you to be in such a state; [706] but, as less than any of
you, I desire to guard you beforehand, that ye fall not upon the hooks of vain ...
/.../the epistle of ignatius to the magnesians/chapter xi i write these things.htm

Proof against the Marcionites, that the Prophets Referred in all ...
... Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall break down
their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, and they ...
/.../irenaeus/against heresies/chapter xxxiv proof against the marcionites.htm

The Scourging of Jesus.
... was not very high, for a tall man could touch the summit by stretching out his arm;
there was a large iron ring at the top, and both rings and hooks a little ...
/.../the dolorous passion of our lord jesus christ/chapter xxii the scourging of.htm

There is a Definite Moment at which the Seed is Ripe...
... All prepared too are the hooks, or spikes, or gummy secretions, needed to anchor
it to the ground, and so to give a purchase to the embryo shoot when the time ...
/.../trotter/parables of the christ-life/section 6 there is a.htm

The Dark Shadow
... file. And daily did he scourge himself with leather straps, into which
he had fixed iron points, with hooks like fish-hooks. And ...
/.../bevan/three friends of god/chapter li the dark shadow.htm

How Herod Sailed Out of Italy to Judea, and Fought with Antigonus ...
... Now these chests were filled with armed men, who had long hooks in their hands,
by which they might pull out such as resisted them, and then tumble them down ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 15 how herod sailed.htm

Eccles. 12:12 Simplicity in Preaching.
... that divisions help me to do so. They are, in fact, like hooks and pegs
and shelves in the mind. If you study the sermons of men ...
/.../chapter iii eccles 12 12 simplicity.htm

A Description of Some Parts of Ancient Jerusalem.
... There were hooks which could be fastened on any part of the pole, and by means of
which the ladder could be steadied, or on which, perhaps, anything required ...
/.../the dolorous passion of our lord jesus christ/chapter xlix a description of.htm

Thesaurus

Flesh-hooks (5 Occurrences)
Flesh-hooks. Fleshhooks, Flesh-hooks. Fleshly . Multi-Version
Concordance Flesh-hooks (5 Occurrences). Exodus 27:3 And ...
/f/flesh-hooks.htm - 8k

Meat-hooks (5 Occurrences)
Meat-hooks. Meat-hook, Meat-hooks. Meat-market . Multi-Version
Concordance Meat-hooks (5 Occurrences). Exodus 27:3 And ...
/m/meat-hooks.htm - 8k

Pruning-hooks (4 Occurrences)
Pruning-hooks. Pruninghooks, Pruning-hooks. Pruning-knives .
Multi-Version Concordance Pruning-hooks (4 Occurrences). ...
/p/pruning-hooks.htm - 7k

Fish-hooks (1 Occurrence)
Fish-hooks. Fishhooks, Fish-hooks. Fishing . Easton's Bible Dictionary ... 29:4;
Job 41:1, 2; Matthew 17:27). Multi-Version Concordance Fish-hooks (1 Occurrence ...
/f/fish-hooks.htm - 7k

Hooks (41 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Hooks (41 Occurrences). Acts 27:29 Then, fearing
that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let ...
/h/hooks.htm - 19k

Posts (68 Occurrences)
... Exodus 26:32 You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their
hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. (See NIV). ...
/p/posts.htm - 27k

Bases (80 Occurrences)
... (BBE DBY RSV NIV). Exodus 26:32 Hanging it by gold hooks from four pillars of wood,
plated with gold and fixed in silver bases. (BBE DBY RSV NIV). ...
/b/bases.htm - 29k

Sockets (44 Occurrences)
... Exodus 26:32 You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold;
their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. ...
/s/sockets.htm - 20k

Fillets (11 Occurrences)
... Exodus 27:10 and its pillars shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass;
the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ...
/f/fillets.htm - 10k

Pillars (132 Occurrences)
... Exodus 26:32 You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold;
their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. ...
/p/pillars.htm - 39k

Resources

What is the meaning of the symbolism in Amos, e.g., sledges with iron teeth (Amos 1:3), murdered pregnant women (Amos 1:13), burning bones (Amos 2:1), destroyed roots (Amos 2:9), and hooks (Amos 4:2)? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean to “let the weak say I am strong” in Joel 3:10? | GotQuestions.org

What was the tabernacle of Moses? | GotQuestions.org

Hooks: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Hooks (41 Occurrences)

Acts 27:29
Then, fearing that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let down four hooks from the back of the ship, and made prayers for the coming of day.
(BBE)

Acts 27:30
Then the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship;
(BBE)

Acts 27:40
So cutting away the hooks, and letting them go into the sea, and freeing the cords of the guiding-blades, and lifting up the sail to the wind, they went in the direction of the inlet.
(BBE)

Exodus 26:6
Then make fifty gold hooks, joining the curtains together by the hooks, and in this way the House will be made.
(BBE YLT)

Exodus 26:11
Then make fifty brass hooks and put the hooks into the twists, joining the tent together to make it one.
(BBE YLT)

Exodus 26:32
You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 26:33
And you are to put up the veil under the hooks, and put inside it the ark of the law: the veil is to be a division between the holy place and the most holy.
(BBE YLT)

Exodus 26:37
You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold: their hooks shall be of gold: and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 27:3
You shall make its pots to take away its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its flesh hooks, and its fire pans: all its vessels you shall make of brass.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS)

Exodus 27:10
and its pillars shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 27:11
Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 27:17
All the pillars of the court around shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of brass.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 35:11
The House and its tent and its cover, its hooks and its boards, its rods and its pillars and its bases;
(BBE YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 36:13
And they made fifty hooks of gold, joining the curtains one to another with the hooks; and so the House was made.
(BBE YLT)

Exodus 36:18
And fifty hooks of brass for joining them together to make the tent.
(BBE YLT)

Exodus 36:36
He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 36:38
and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of brass.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 38:3
And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
(Root in KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS NAS)

Exodus 38:10
their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 38:11
For the north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 38:12
For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 38:17
The sockets for the pillars were of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals, of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 38:19
Their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of brass; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 38:28
Of the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 39:33
Then they took the House to Moses, the tent with all the things for it; its hooks, its boards, its rods, its pillars, and its bases;
(BBE YLT RSV)

Numbers 4:14
They shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT)

1 Samuel 13:20
But all the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their ploughs and blades and axes and hooks made sharp;
(BBE)

2 Chronicles 33:11
Wherefore Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
(See JPS NAS RSV)

Job 40:24
Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?
(See RSV)

Isaiah 2:4
He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 18:5
For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and he will cut down and take away the spreading branches.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT RSV)

Isaiah 19:8
The fishermen will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have sorrow in their hearts.
(See NIV)

Ezekiel 19:4
The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
(WEB JPS ASV BBE NAS RSV 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 BBE NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 29:4
I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 38:4
and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 40:43
The hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within all around: and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Joel 3:10
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say,'I am strong.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Amos 4:2
The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, "The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Micah 4:3
and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Habakkuk 1:15
Each of them with a hook he hath brought up, He doth catch it in his net, and gathereth it in his drag, Therefore he doth joy and rejoice.
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Hooks

Hooks for Pruning

Hooks for Tabernacle, Made of Gold

Hooks Hook

Hooks in the Temple, Seen in Ezekiel's Vision

Hooks used for Catching Fish

Hooks: Figurative

Hooks: Made of Silver

Related Terms

Meat-hooks (5 Occurrences)

Pruning-hooks (4 Occurrences)