Bible Dictionary
Gin
A gin was a trap or snare used to catch birds or animals. Scripture also uses it figuratively for danger, oppression, or a situation from which escape is difficult.
Definition
A gin was a trap or snare for catching birds or animals. It could consist of a net, noose, or springing stick, and was made from materials such as horsehair or wire.
Biblical Usage
The gin is used literally in descriptions of a bird caught in a snare and figuratively for danger, oppression, and a condition from which escape is difficult.
Historical Background
Biblical trap terminology includes several devices. The gin described in the supplied material could be a hair or wire noose for small or larger birds and was used by fowlers.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A trap. (1.) Ps. 140:5, 141:9, Amos 3:5, the Hebrew word used, mokesh, means a noose or “snare,” as it is elsewhere rendered (Ps. 18:5; Prov. 13:14, etc.). (2.) Job 18:9, Isa. 8:14, Heb. pah, a plate or thin layer; and hence a net, a snare, trap, especially of a fowler (Ps. 69: 22, “Let their table before them become a net;” Amos 3:5, “Doth a bird fall into a net [pah] upon the ground where there is no trap-stick [mokesh] for her? doth the net [pah] spring up from the ground and take nothing at all?”, Gesenius.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
a trap for birds or beasts; it consisted of a net, (Isaiah 8:14) and a stick to act as a spring. (Amos 3:5)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>jin (moqesh, pach): A noose of hair or wire for snaring wild birds alive. There are over half a dozen traps and net devices indicated by different terms in the Bible. The gin was of horse-hair for small birds and wire for larger ones. It is mentioned in Am 3:5: "Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?" Job writing in mental and physical discomfort on the ash heap included all methods mentioned in one outburst:</p><p>"For he is cast into a net by his own feet.</p><p>And he walketh upon the toils.</p><p>A gin shall take him by the heel,</p><p>And a snare shall lay hold on him,</p><p>A noose is hid for him in the ground.</p><p>And a trap for him in the way" (Job 18:8).</p><p>Gene Stratton-Porter</p>