Snare

SNARE snar (pach; pagis, but brochos, in 1 Corinthians 7:35):

Over half a dozen Hebrew words are used to indicate different methods of taking birds and animals, of which the snare (pach) is mentioned oftener than any other. It was a noose of hair for small birds, of wire for larger birds or smaller animals. The snares were set in a favorable location and grain scattered to attract the attention of feathered creatures. They accepted the bribe of good feeding and walked into the snare, not suspecting danger. For this reason the snare became particularly applicable in describing a tempting bribe offered by men to lead their fellows into trouble, and the list of references is a long one, all of the same nature. See Exodus 10:7; 1 Samuel 18:21; 28:9; Psalms 11:6; 18:5, "snares of death"; used symbolically of anything that may kill: 91:3; 124:7; 140:5; 141:9; Proverbs 7:23; 13:14; 18:7; 20:25; 22:25; 29:25; Ecclesiastes 9:12. But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore" (Isaiah 41:22). Here it is specified that the snare was in a hole so covered as to conceal it. Jeremiah 18:22 clearly indicates that the digging of a pit to take prey was customary, and also the hiding of the snare for the feet. North American Indians in setting a snare usually figure on catching the bird around the neck. Jeremiah 50:24, "I have laid a snare for thee"; Hosea 9:8, "A fowler's snare is in all his ways"; Amos 3:5 seems to indicate that the snare was set for the feet; Luke 21:34, "But take heed to yourselves, lest haply .... that day come on you suddenly as a snare"; Romans 11:9, "Let their table be made a snare, and a trap"; 1 Corinthians 7:35, "not that I may cast a snare upon you"; 1 Timothy 3:7, "the snare of the devil"; also 6:9 "But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition."

See GIN; NET; TRAP.

Gene Stratton-Porter

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'SNARE'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.