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Gin

/JIN/

Summary

An old English word for a trap or snare used for catching birds and small animals.

☩Definition

The word 'gin' is an archaic English term for a trap, rendering two Hebrew words in Scripture. One (mokesh) refers to a noose or snare, while the other (pach) literally means a thin plate, hence a net or trap. The gin was typically made of horse-hair for small birds and wire for larger ones.

Key verses:Psalm 140:5Psalm 141:9Amos 3:5Job 18:9

☩Biblical Usage

Job uses the imagery of various traps together: 'A gin shall take him by the heel, and a snare shall lay hold on him.' Amos asks rhetorically whether a bird can fall into a snare where no gin is set, illustrating the principle of cause and effect. Isaiah uses the image of a trap to describe how God Himself would become 'a gin and a snare' to the inhabitants of Jerusalem who rejected Him.

Key verses:Job 18:8-9Isaiah 8:14

Related Verses5 mentions

Psalms· 2 verses

140:5141:9

Amos· 1 verse

3:5

Isaiah· 1 verse

8:14

Job· 1 verse

18:9

See Also

Snare
Snare

References

  1. 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Gin," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
  2. 2.James Orr (ed.), "Gin," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
  3. 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Gin," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).