Hook

Hooks in the biblical world served both practical and metaphorical functions. The Hebrew vocabulary distinguishes several types: ḥāh, a ring or hook inserted in the nose of animals or prisoners for leading and control (Isaiah 37:29; Ezekiel 29:4; 38:4); wāw, the hooks or pins from which the tabernacle curtains hung (Exodus 26:32, 37); and ṣinnôr, a hook or grappling instrument. The image of God placing a hook in the jaw of an enemy to turn them back was a vivid expression of divine sovereignty over human ambition.

Isaiah 37:29 records God's threat to Sennacherib: I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came—the language of animal control applied to an arrogant conqueror. Ezekiel uses the same imagery for Gog (38:4) and Egypt's Pharaoh (29:4), whose power God would control like that of a fish or crocodile on a leash. The pruning hooks of Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 (swords beaten into pruning hooks) represent the peacetime transformation of military equipment into agricultural tools in the eschatological vision of lasting peace.