mo.qesh denotes a trap or ensnaring danger, whether set to catch a target or bringing ruin through harmful conduct.

The term most often marks an ensnaring consequence or danger associated with foreign gods, conduct, speech, fear, or a hostile plan; it can also denote traps set to catch a target and the “snares of death.”

1. Ensnaring harm or ruin · dominant

   The singular form identifies circumstances that bring harmful consequences: foreign gods become such a danger in Exodus 23:33 and Judges 2:3, while in Proverbs 29:25 human trembling sets one. In Joshua 23:13 the APB renders the clause that remaining nations “will become for you a snare and a trap,” and Proverbs 18:7 similarly describes a fool’s lips becoming a danger to himself.

   Exodus 23:33Judges 2:3Joshua 23:13Proverbs 18:7Proverbs 29:25Psalm 106:36
2. Lethal or death-associated peril · occasional

   Plural construct forms occur in the phrase “snares of death”: in 2 Samuel 22:6 the APB renders them as confronting the speaker, and in Proverbs 13:14 and Proverbs 14:27 wise instruction and fear of the LORD turn one aside from them. The construct relation in these verses explicitly connects the plural noun with death.

   2 Samuel 22:6Proverbs 13:14Proverbs 14:27
3. A trap set to catch a target · occasional

   In Amos 3:5, the singular absolute form occurs in questions about a bird falling into a trap and a trap springing after it has caught something. Job 40:24 has a plural absolute form in a clause the APB renders “in snares he pierces the face,” while Psalm 141:9 asks protection from a trap set by evildoers.

   Amos 3:5Job 40:24Psalm 141:9

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB often uses “snare” or “snares,” including clauses about foreign gods, death, and a set trap. In several supplied verses the translation does not visibly isolate the term’s contribution, so its English wording should not be read as a gloss of the term.