Hosea 7:12. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven.
Resheth, “net,” in this passage refers evidently to a net which was used to catch birds in the air. How it differed from other nets we are unable to say, and in what manner it was employed we can only surmise. From the way in which the word is used in Ezekiel 12:13; 17:20; 19:8; 32:3, the resheth is supposed to have been used to throw over animals walking on the earth, as well as to catch the inhabitants of the air. Jennings (in Kitto's Cyclopedia, article “Fowling”) intimates that the only use of this net was that represented in the texts quoted; but from other passages it is clear that the resheth was used also as a snare for the feet. See Job 18:8; Psalm 9:15; 31:4; 57:6; 140:5.
For other modes of snaring birds, see note on Psalm 91:3 (#445).