דּוּגָה
𐤃𐤅𐤂𐤄
dûwgâh
H1729 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A collective term denoting a fishery, catch of fish, or a group of fish. Used in poetic or descriptive contexts to refer to an aggregation of fish, or possibly the act or yield of fishing. Does not specifically refer to a fishing implement like a hook, but rather to fish as a collected whole or the result of fishing.
Semantic Range
fishery, collection of fish, fish catch, fishing industry, yield of fishing, (rarely) a mass of fish
Root / Etymology
From the root דוג (dalet-vav-gimel), meaning 'to fish' or 'to angle for fish.' דּוּגָה is formed by a feminine ending indicating a collective or abstract sense from the action of fishing, thus suggesting 'that which is fished/caught'—a catch or collection of fish. The root meaning (to fish) is distinct from the actual word sense, which centers on the collective or yield, not the act itself.
Historical & Contextual Notes
דּוּגָה appears rarely in the Hebrew Bible, for example in Isaiah 19:8 in a poetic description of the devastation to fisheries in Egypt after ecological catastrophes. Here, it functions as a collective or abstract term ('fisheries,' 'fish catches'), rather than as a tool or implement. Standard translations sometimes narrow the meaning to 'fish' or 'fishhook,' but the lexical emphasis is on the collective catch or the fishing industry broadly. Compared to דַּוָּג (dāwāg, 'fisherman'), which is a personal noun, דּוּגָה denotes the object/result of fishing. In later Hebrew, the root's sense narrowed to the act of fishing, but this noun retains its collective meaning throughout its attestations. There is no evidence that the term was used to describe the people (fishermen), but rather their yield or resource. Subsequent translation traditions sometimes obscure this sense by using terms like 'fisheries' or 'fishhooks,' but these do not fully capture the word’s emphasis on the collective catch.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
feminine from the same as דַּוָּג; properly, fishery, i.e. a hook forfishing; fish (hook).
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
דוג (d-w-g) — to fish, to angle, to try to catch
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1729-01 |
דּוּגָֽה | dugah | HNcfsa |
fishing | fish catch | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1729-01 |
Amos 4:2 | דּוּגָֽה | dugah | HNcfsa |
fishing | fish catch |