Bible Dictionary
HOCK
To hock means to hamstring an animal by cutting the tendons behind its leg, rendering it useless. The practice is mentioned in accounts of warfare and destruction.
Definition
To hock means to hamstring an animal by cutting the tendons at the back of the leg, thereby rendering it useless. The word may also be translated “hough.”
Biblical Usage
The practice is mentioned in accounts of destruction and warfare. Genesis 49:6 uses the expression in describing violent destruction, while Joshua 11:6,9 and 2 Samuel 8:4 refer to hamstringing horses.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>(`aqar, "to root out"): To hamstring, i.e. to render useless by cutting the tendons of the hock (in the King James Version and the English Revised Version "hough"). "In their selfwill they hocked an ox" (Ge 49:6, the King James Version "digged down a wall"), in their destructiveness maiming those which they could not carry off: See also Jos 11:6,9; 2Sa 8:4.</p>