Snares
Snares
SNARES.A cord with running noose (mqsh, Amo 3:5 etc.; cf. yqsh one who lays snares, fowler Hos 9:8) was used to catch ground game and birds. The fowler also used a net (resheth, Pro 1:17, Hos 5:1 etc.), under which he tempted birds by means of food, and then, concealed near by, pulled it down upon them. The pach (Psa 124:7, Pro 7:23, Ecc 9:12 etc.) probably corresponded to the Arab. [Note: Arabic.] fakhkh, a trap made of hone and gut, with tongue and jaws on the principle of the common rat-trap. It is light, and the bird caught by the foot easily springs up with it from the ground in its vain efforts to escape. Of this Amos gives a vivid picture (Amo 3:5). In later times the fowler used decoys to lure birds into his cage (Sir 11:30). Both mqsh and pach are several times rendered in EV [Note: English Version.] by gin. The NT pagis (Rom 11:9 etc.), and brochos (1Co 7:35), may mean snare, net, or trap; whatever seizes one unawares.
W. Ewing.