'Snare' in the Bible

Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a trap to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?”

They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a trap for you [resulting in judgment].”

Watch yourself so that you do not make a covenant (solemn agreement, treaty) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a [dangerous] trap among you.

And you shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will give over to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a [deadly] trap to you.

know and understand with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

So I also said, ‘I will not drive your enemies out before you; but they will be like thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’”

Gideon made [all the golden earrings into] an ephod [a sacred, high priest’s garment], and put it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel worshiped it as an idol there, and it became a trap for Gideon and his household.

Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare (bad influence, source of trouble) to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David for a second time, “You shall be my son-in-law today.”

“The hungry devour his harvestAnd take it even [when it grows] among the thorns;The trap opens for [his] wealth.

“A snare catches him by the heel,And a trap snaps shut on him.

“Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,Or pierce his nose with barbs [to trap him]?

May their table [with all its abundance and luxury] become a snare [to them];And when they are in peace [secure at their sacrificial feasts], may it become a trap.

For He will save you from the trap of the fowler,And from the deadly pestilence.

And served their idols,Which became a [dreadful] snare to them.

The wicked have laid a snare for me,Yet I do not wander from Your precepts.

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;The trap is broken and we have escaped.

The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;They have spread a net by the wayside;They have set traps for me. Selah.

When my spirit was overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness],You knew my path.In the way where I walkThey have hidden a trap for me.

A fool’s mouth is his ruin,And his lips are the snare of his soul.

It is a trap for a man to [speak a vow of consecration and] say rashly, “It is holy!”And [not until] afterward consider [whether he can fulfill it].

Or you will learn his [undisciplined] waysAnd get yourself trapped [in a situation from which it is hard to escape].

By his wicked plan an evil man is trapped,But the righteous man sings and rejoices [for his plan brings good things to him].

The fear of man brings a snare,But whoever trusts in and puts his confidence in the Lord will be exalted and safe.

For man also does not know his time [of death]; like fish caught in a treacherous net, and birds caught in the snare, so the sons of men are ensnared in an evil time when a dark cloud suddenly falls on them.

“Then He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him];But to both the houses of Israel [both the northern and southern kingdoms—Israel and Judah, He will be] a stone on which to stumble and a rock on which to trip,A trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Terror and pit [of destruction] and snareConfront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit,And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare;For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

“Terror and pit and snare are before you,O inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lord.

“The one who flees from the terrorWill fall into the pit,And the one who gets up out of the pitWill be taken and caught in the trap;For I shall bring upon it, even upon Moab,The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.

I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there.

and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who fasten magic (protective) charms on all wrists and make veils for the heads of those of every stature to capture [human] lives! Will you capture the lives of My people but keep your own?

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against your magic bands [and veils] by which you hunt [human] lives as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the lives you hunt go free, even those lives whom you hunt as birds.

I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there for his treason which he has committed against Me.

Hear this and pay close attention, O priests!Give heed, O house of Israel!Listen, O house of the king!For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear,Because you have been a snare at MizpahAnd a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River).

Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a [true] prophet [to warn the nation];But the snare of a bird catcher was laid in all his paths.And there is only deep hostility in the house of his God (the land of Israel).

Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait in it?Does a trap spring up from the ground when it has caught nothing at all? [Of course not! So it is that Israel has earned her impending judgment.]

“All the men allied with youShall send you on your way to the border;The men who were at peace with youShall deceive you and overpower you;Those who eat your bread [those you trust]Shall set a hostile ambush for you.(There is no understanding of it.)

But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”

It would be better for him if a millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble [in sin and lose faith].

And David says,“Let their table (abundance) become a snare and a trap,A stumbling block and a retribution to them.

but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense],

But those who [are not financially ethical and] crave to get rich [with a compulsive, greedy longing for wealth] fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction [leading to personal misery].

and that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.