LINE

lin (qaw, chebhel): Usually of a measuring line, as Jeremiah 31:39 Ezekiel 47:3 Zechariah 1:16 (qaw); Psalm 78:55 Amos 7:17 Zechariah 2:1 (chebhel). Other Hebrew words mean simply a cord or thread (Joshua 2:18, 21 1 Kings 7:15 Ezekiel 40:3). In Psalm 19:4 (qaw, "Their line is gone out through all the earth"), the reference is probably still to measurement (the heaven as spanning and bounding the earth), though the Septuagint, followed by Romans 10:18, takes it as meaning a musical cord phthoggos). The "line," as measure, suggests rule of conduct (Isaiah 28:10). For "line" in Isaiah 44:13, the Revised Version (British and American) reads "pencil," margin "red ochre" (seredh), and in 2 Corinthians 10:16, "province," margin "limit" (kanon).

See also MEASURING LINE; WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

James Orr

MEASURING LINE

(qaw, qeweh): The usual meaning is simply line, rope or cord, in Isaiah 28:10, 13, but the line was used for measurement, as is evident from such passages as 1 Kings 7:23 Job 38:5 Jeremiah 31:39. Whether the line for measuring had a definite length or not we have no means of knowing. In Isaiah 44:13 it refers to the line used by the carpenter in marking the timber on which he is working, and in Zechariah 1:16 it refers to the builder's line.

Figuratively: It signifies destruction, or a portion of something marked off by line for destruction, as in 2 Kings 21:13; or for judgment, as in Isaiah 28:17.

H. Porter