fish'-hook (cir dughah, chakkah): The word "fishhooks" occurs but twice in the American Standard Revised Version (Job 41:1; Amos 4:2). In other passages the word hook or "angle" is applied to this instrument for fishing (Isaiah 19:8; Job 41:2). The ancient Egyptian noblemen used to amuse themselves by fishing from their private fishpools with hook and line. The Egyptian monuments show that the hook was quite commonly used for catching fish. The hook is still used in Bible lands, although not as commonly as nets. It is called a cinnarat, probably from the same root as tsinnah, the plural of which is translated hooks in Amos 4:2. In Matthew 17:27, agkistron (literally, "fishhook"), is rendered "hook."

James A. Patch

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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