HOOK, four Heb. and one Gr. word are so tr. by the Eng. VSS. The Heb. words are: 1. וָו, H2260, which has been related to a hypothetical root, ווא, and simply means “connector” in the descriptions of the Tabernacle (Exod 26:32, et al. RSV). It served as the attachment for various pendant ornaments. It was fashioned of gold or silver and its sockets of silver.

2. חָח, H2626, a loan word from Akkad., with cognates in Aram. and Arab. It means “thorn” and was used of the thorns or pins thrust through the lips or noses of captives (2 Chron 33:11); of the bridles of animals (Ezek 19:4, et al.); and for a type of jewelry, possibly a fibula as in Exodus 35:22.

3. חַכָּה, H2676, “fish hook” (Job 41:2); however, the same term is tr. as “angle” by KJV in other passages (Hab 1:15).

4. Another root is very indistinct, צֵן, H7553, “reins,” “butcher’s hook” (Amos 4:2). In the same phrase is the parallel term דּוּגָֽה, also apparently some sort of hook. Similar parallelisms are found in Isaiah 37:29; Ezekiel 29:4, and partial parallels elsewhere. A difficult passage appears in Ezekiel 40:43 where the Heb. שְׁפַתַּ֗יִם, is misunderstood by all the VSS. The KJV and the RSV read “hooks”; but the LXX and other VSS give a number of possible interpretations. The only other occurrence of the word (Ps 68:14) seems to indicate that it refers to some sort of “tether” or “stand” such as would be used around animals.

In Job 41:2 the term אַגְמֹ֣ון, is a loan word from Akkad. meaning a reedswamp, and by association a “reed” itself. Cognates are found in Aram. and Arab. and in all other citations it is tr. as reed or rush. These last few citations are merely corrections of the VSS only. The only Gr. term used in the NT is ἄγκιστρον, G45, a term used from Homeric times for a metal fish hook and found only in Matthew 17:27.