Ezekiel 29:4

But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Pharaoh king of Egypt, pronouncing judgment against the ruler who claims the Nile belongs to him.

The words — חַחִים (cha.chi.yim) means "hooks," and דְגַת (de.gat) translates to "fish," describing the literal act of dragging the ruler from his waters with caught fish clinging to his scales.

The thread — The hook imagery reappears in 2 Kings 19:28 against arrogant kings, Ezekiel 38:4 to mobilize an invading army, and Job 41:1 when questioning the capture of Leviathan.

Why it lands — The text states that divine action will physically extract the ruler from his claimed domain, requiring the reader to acknowledge that human assertions of control are subject to reversal.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְנָתַתִּ֤יve./na.ta.Tiand/ I will put חַחִים֙cha.chi.yimhooks בִּלְחָיֶ֔יךָbi/l.cha.Yei./khain/ jaws/ your וְהִדְבַּקְתִּ֥יve./hid.bak.Tiand/ I will make cling דְגַת־de.gat-[the] fish of יְאֹרֶ֖יךָye.'o.Rei./khacanals/ your בְּקַשְׂקְשֹׂתֶ֑יךָbe./kas.ke.so.Tei./chato/ scales/ your וְהַעֲלִיתִ֙יךָ֙ve./ha.'a.li.Ti./khaand/ I will bring up/ you מִתּ֣וֹךְmi./Tokhfrom/ among יְאֹרֶ֔יךָye.'o.Rei./khacanals/ your וְאֵת֙ve./'Etand/ <obj.>כָּל־kol-all דְּגַ֣תde.Gat[the] fish of יְאֹרֶ֔יךָye.'o.Rei./khacanals/ your בְּקַשְׂקְשֹׂתֶ֖יךָbe./kas.ke.so.Tei./chato/ scales/ your תִּדְבָּֽק׃tid.Bakit will cling

King James Version

But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

Cross-references

2 Kings 19:28 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
Ezekiel 38:4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords.
Job 41:1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
Isaiah 37:29 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
Amos 4:2 The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
Habakkuk 1:14 You have made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler.