דּוּגָה (du.gah)
du.gah
fishhook
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Word Overview
The noun dugah refers to the act of fishing or a fishery itself. In the Hebrew Bible, this term appears only once, in Amos 4:2. The context describes God’s judgment against Israel, using the image of fishermen who will catch the people with hooks and drag them away.
Its rarity makes its single usage significant. By employing dugah, the prophet Amos transforms a common economic activity into a stark metaphor for divine capture. The word does not describe the fish or the net, but the process and industry of catching, emphasizing the inescapable nature of the coming judgment.
Translators typically render dugah as "fishing" or "fishery." This choice preserves the concrete, everyday reality Amos intended. The image would have been familiar to ancient readers, making the threat of being caught by God’s agents all the more vivid and unsettling.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word dugah appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in Amos 4:2. It refers to a fishhook or the act of fishing itself. The prophet uses this image to describe God’s judgment against Israel. Fishermen would catch people with hooks and drag them away. This vivid metaphor shows that divine justice is as certain as catching fish.
While the context is one of warning, it reminds us that God sees all actions. His holiness demands accountability. Yet, this single occurrence also highlights how God uses everyday images to speak truth. The concrete reality of a fishhook makes the spiritual lesson impossible to ignore.
We can trust that God’s judgments are just and purposeful. This word invites reflection on our own lives. It calls us to consider how we live before Him. May we walk in ways that honor His holiness today.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- fishing1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- דּוּגָֽה\׃1×
Key Verses
-
Amos 4:2
The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness, “Behold, the days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.
This verse uses dugah to depict the inescapable nature of divine judgment, comparing the capture of people to fishermen using hooks.