For fishing (Amos 4:2). In Job 41:2 translated, "canst thou put a rush rope into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a hook?" or ring attached by a cord to a stake; such rings were put through the mouth of a fish to keep it secure, yet alive, in the water. Wild beasts were led about by the same means. Ezekiel 19:4, "they brought him with chains," rather hooks such as were fastened in a wild beast's nose. So in the Assyrian remains at Khorsabad captives are represented with a hook in the nose or upper lip, and a cord attached in the king's hand.
        So God threatens the Assyrian king himself. with retribution in kind, "I will put My hook in thy nose" (Isaiah 37:29), as thou didst to others. So the last antichrist shall fare, of whom Sennacherib is type (Ezekiel 38:4). So 2 Chronicles 33:11, "in the thorns," rather perhaps "the captains of the host of the king of Assyria took Manasseh with hooks" or "rings" passed through his lips (Maurer). Might not the "thorns" be the instrument of chastising him, just as it was that used by Gideon upon the elders of Succoth (Judges 8:7; Judges 8:16)? In Ezekiel 40:43 the "hooks" are "fastened" in the walls to hang the meat from for roasting, or else to hang up animals to flay them.