Net

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Ἀμφίβληστρον (Strong'S #293 — Noun Neuter — amphiblestron — am-fib'-lace-tron )

lit., "something thrown around" (amphi, "around," ballo, "to throw"), denotes "a casting net," a somewhat small "net," cast over the shoulder, spreading out in a circle and made to sink by weights,  Matthew 4:18 (in some mss. in   Mark 1:16 : the best have the verb amphiballo alone).

2: Δίκτυον (Strong'S #1350 — Noun Neuter — diktuon — dik'-too-on )

a general term for a "net" (from an old verb diko, "to cast:" akin to diskos, "a quoit"), occurs in  Matthew 4:20,21;  Mark 1:18,19;  Luke 5:2,4-6;  John 21:6,8,11 (twice). In the Sept. it was used for a "net" for catching birds,   Proverbs 1:17 , in other ways, e.g., figuratively of a snare,  Job 18:8;  Proverbs 29:5 .

3: Σαγήνη (Strong'S #4522 — Noun Feminine — sagene — sag-ay'-nay )

denotes "a dragnet a seine;" two modes were employed with this, either by its being let down into the water and drawn together in a narrowing circle, and then into the boat, or as a semicircle drawn to the shore,  Matthew 13:47 , where Nos. 1 and 2 would not have suited so well. The Greek historian Herodotus used the corresponding verb sageneuo of a device by which the Persians are said to have cleared a conquered island of its inhabitants.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Job 19:6 (a) Job's circumstances, troubles and disasters which befell him on every hand are compared to a net which catches fish or animals, and makes them helpless.

 Psalm 9:15 (a) In this way the Lord is telling us that the schemes and plans of the wicked, whereby they hope to enmesh and catch Christians, have turned about to be a snare for themselves, their own devices work against those who made them. (See also  Psalm 25:15;  Psalm 31:4;  Psalm 35:7;  Psalm 57:6).

 Psalm 141:10 (b) These nets may be the wicked designs and evil traps prepared by David's enemies to catch him. The case was reversed and they fell victims to their own evil plans. (See  Habakkuk 1:15).

 Proverbs 1:17 (a) The Lord is evidently warning us against the hidden snares, pits and traps of the enemies of GOD. They use hidden schemes and plans, veiled or camouflaged in order to deceive and thus seduce GOD's people. We are to be diligent, vigilant and alert of these devices of the Devil. (See also2Co  2:11).

 Ecclesiastes 7:26 (a) In this way the Lord is warning us against the tricks and traps of Satan who would like to destroy the testimony of the people of GOD.

 Isaiah 51:20 (a) It is evident that our Lord is thus describing the defeat of His people who will be captured and bound by their enemies in the streets of the city, when GOD pours out His wrath upon them.

 Ezekiel 12:13 (b) This figure is used to describe the way in which the King of Babylon will capture the King of Israel as a bird is caught in the net.

 Matthew 4:21 (c) These nets may be taken as a type of the schemes and plans of many religious leaders to capture souls for the church. They need mending constantly, but they should be forsaken.

 Matthew 13:47 (b) In this parable the net represents the great religious plans and programs of Christendom which are used to gather in people of every kind, saved and unsaved. At the judgment throne the Lord, the head of the Church, will separate the saved from the unsaved, and will cast out of His Kingdom all things that offend.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. Diktuon (from Dikoo "to throw"); let down, cast, and drawn to shore ( Luke 5:2-6;  John 21:6-11;  Matthew 4:18-22).

2. Αmfibleestron , "a cast net," from Amfiballoo "cast about," "cast hither and there" ( Matthew 4:18;  Mark 1:16). The Egyptians make it a tent over their sleeping place to ward off insects (Herodotus ii. 95).

3. Sageene , from Sattoo "to load" ( Matthew 13:47), "a net ... cast into the sea ... gathered (together) of every kind," a sweepnet or dragnet ( Habakkuk 1:14 Michmereth ), or drawnet "seine," that takes in the compass of a small bay. In  Proverbs 1:17 explain" surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird," because the bird sees the net and is on its guard; so youths warned by God's word raise their souls heavenward, on the wings of the fear, faith, and love of God, as the bird flies upward; and therefore escape the net which the tempters fancy they are going to entrap the "innocent" in, but in which really "their own blood and their own lives" are taken ( Proverbs 1:11;  Proverbs 1:18). (See Bird .) The tempters think that their intended victims are "innocent in vain" (So Translated For "Without Cause") , i.e. that their innocence will not save them; but it is themselves who "spread the net in vain" ( Psalms 7:15-16;  Psalms 9:15;  Revelation 16:6). A net is also the image of God's vengeance, which surprises in a moment and inextricably the sinner, when he least expects ( Lamentations 1:13;  Ezekiel 12:13;  Hosea 7:12). In  1 Kings 7:17 netted checker work about a pillar's capital.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Matthew 4:18-21 Mark 1:16-19 Isaiah 19:8 Ezekiel 26:5 26:14 Ezekiel 32:3 Ezekiel 47:10 Matthew 13:47 Proverbs 1:17 Hosea 7:11-12 Job 19:6 Psalm 66:11 Lamentations 1:13 Ezekiel 12:13 Psalm 9:15 Psalm 31:4 Psalm 35:7-8 2 Exodus 27:4-5 Exodus 38:4 1 Kings 7:17-20

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To take in a net; to capture by stratagem or wile.

(2): ( v. t.) To inclose or cover with a net; as, to net a tree.

(3): ( v. i.) To form network or netting; to knit.

(4): ( v. t.) To make into a net; to make n the style of network; as, to net silk.

(5): ( a.) Without spot; pure; shining.

(6): ( a.) Free from extraneous substances; pure; unadulterated; neat; as, net wine, etc.

(7): ( a.) Not including superfluous, incidental, or foreign matter, as boxes, coverings, wraps, etc.; free from charges, deductions, etc; as, net profit; net income; net weight, etc.

(8): ( v. t.) To produce or gain as clear profit; as, he netted a thousand dollars by the operation.

King James Dictionary

NET, n.

1. An instrument for catching fish and fowls, or wild beasts, formed with twine or thread interwoven with meshes. 2. A cunning device a snare. Mich 7. 3. Inextricable difficulty.  Job 18 . 4. Severe afflictions.  Job 19 .

NET, To make a net or net-work to knot.

NET, a. See Neat

1. Neat pure unadulterated. 2. Being without flaw or spot. 3. Being beyond all charges or outlay as net profits. 4. Being clear of all tare and tret, or all deductions as net weight. It is sometimes written nett, but improperly. Net is properly a mercantile appropriation of neat.

NET, To produce clear profit.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The decoy, a cage filled with birds as decoys ( Jeremiah 5:26,27 ). Hunting-nets were much in use among the Hebrews.

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Net'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/n/net.html. 1897.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Various words are translated 'net,' some signifying large nets, and others the drag net. Symbolically nets represent devices secretly laid or they would be shunned, even as a bird avoids a net spread in its sight.  Proverbs 1:17 . The kingdom of heaven is compared to a net cast into the sea., which gathers good and bad; 'the wicked' will be sorted from 'the just' at the end of the age.  Matthew 13:47-49 . Satan and the wicked also prepare their nets and snares.  Psalm 141:10;  1 Timothy 3:7 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Net. See Fishing .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

There are in Scripture several words denoting different kinds of nets, and this, with the frequency of images derived from them, shows that nets were much in use among the Hebrews for fishing, hunting, and fowling. Indeed, for the two latter purposes, nets were formerly used to an extent of which now, since the invention of fire-arms, a notion can scarcely be formed.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Net'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/n/net.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.