Hebrew word · H4364

מִכְמָר

mikhmar

net

A net used for catching game or, more broadly, a trapping net. It belongs with מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret), a fishing net or dragnet (Isa 19:8; Hab 1:15–16).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

net, snare

Also means: mak.mor (מַכְמֹר "net" H4364B)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 141:10

Range of meaning

A net used for catching game or, more broadly, a trapping net. It belongs with מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret), a fishing net or dragnet (Isa 19:8; Hab 1:15–16). The same root appears in Isa 51:20, where Jerusalem's sons lie "like an antelope in a net (mikhmar)." The noun is rare: these two places are its only uses.

Against the English

English "nets" is accurate. "Traps" (NLT) blurs the picture a little. The real difference is in the pronoun: the Hebrew says "his nets," and most English versions turn this into "their own nets."

Used elsewhere in the period

Hunting with nets and trap-pits was a common picture across the ancient Near East for overpowering an enemy. Gods are shown netting their foes, for example Marduk's net against Tiamat in the Babylonian Enuma Elish, and the Sumerian god Ningirsu holding captives in a net on the Stele of the Vultures. The Hebrew Bible uses God's net as a picture of judgment (Ezek 12:13; 17:20; Hos 7:12). The Septuagint translates the word with amphiblēstron, a casting net.

Similar words

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 141:10 בְמַכְמֹרָ֣יו in own nets his

    Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

    Here: "Into his nets." A rare word for a hunter's net, used for catching game. The ending is singular ("his"), although the subject is plural. Most read it as "each into his own net," but it can also mean God's net (see Debates).

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 51:20 מִכְמָ֑ר a net

    Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.

    Here: 'Of a net,' meaning a hunter's net. The animal is strong, but the net holds it and it has fought itself to exhaustion.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.