Bible Dictionaries
Dragnet

Holman Bible Dictionary

A large fishing net equipped with a weighted bottom edge for touching (“dragging”) the river or lake bottom and a top with wooden floats allowing the net to be spread across the water (Isaiah 19:8 ). Such nets were normally let down from a boat and then drawn to shore by a crew positioned on the beach. In the case of a large catch the net was hauled to shore by boat (John 21:6-8 ).

Habakkuk 1:14-17 pictures the residents of Judah as helpless fish before the Babylonian army, pictured as the fishermen. Here the fishing nets and hooks symbolize the Babylonian military machinery. The text is not evidence that ancient fishermen sacrificed to their nets or that the Babylonian sacrificed to their weapons of war. Rather the text points to the worship of military might.

Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a dragnet, containing both good and bad fish until the time of separation and judgment (Matthew 13:47 ).