Description
The fishhook was a small, curved piece of metal or bone or even a strong thorn (in fact, the Hebrew word sir in AMO 4:2 means “thorn”). One end of the hook was sharply pointed, usually with a barb just behind the point. The other end had a loop or bend to which a fishing line could be attached.
Usage
Some kind of bait was attached to the fishing hook to attract a fish, and the hook, which was attached to a string, was thrown or lowered into the water. When a fish swallowed the bait, it got stuck on the hook.
Translation
A literal rendering of MAT 17:27 could be quite misleading, since it would imply that only the hook was thrown into the water. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what is implied in order to avoid misunderstanding by expanding the translation to indicate that what was thrown into the water was a line with a baited hook on the end of it.