Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Cord
Subjects in this Topic:
the rendering in the Auth. Ver. of the following Hebrew words:
(1.) usually çֶáֶì , che'bel (but not çֵáֶì ), a rope, SEE CHEBEL;
(2.) éֶúֶø , ye'-her, a straw (“withe,” Jdg_16:7-9; tent-rope, “excellency,” Job_4:21; bow-”string,” Psa_11:2; halter-”cord,” Job_30:11);
(3.) îֵéúָø , meythar', a line (e.g. tentrope, Exo_35:18; Exo_39:40; Num_3:26; Num_3:37; Num_4:26; Num_4:32; Isa_54:2.; Jer_10:20; bow- ”string,” Psa_21:12);
(4.) òֲáֹú , aboth', a braid (e.g. “wreathed” work, Exo_28:14, etc.; “band,” Job_39:10; Eze_3:25; Eze_4:8; Hos_11:4; “rope,” Jdg_15:13-14; Psa_2:3; Psa_118:27; Psa_124:4);
(5.) çåּè , chut (Ecc_4:12, a “thread,” Gen_14:23; Jos_2:18; Jdg_16:12; Son_4:3; “line,” 1Ki_7:15; “fillet,” Jer_52:21). The first of these terms is the most comprehensive, being from the root çָáִì , to twist, hence Engl. cable. This word occurs often in its proper sense, as well as in the special meanings of measuring-line (hence also region), snare (Psa_140:5), and bridle. In Mic_2:5, it signifies “portion” (as it is frequently rendered elsewhere); and the phrase “cast a cord” denotes a change of inheritance, as in Mic_2:4. The same word has the secondary sense of a band of men (1Sa_10:5; 1Sa_10:10), and destruction (Mic_2:10). SEE ROPE. “In the N.T. the term ó÷ïéíßá is applied to the whip which our Savior made (Joh_2:15), and to the ‘ropes' of a ship (Act_27:32). Alford understands it in the former passage of the rushes on which the cattle were littered; but the ordinary rendering cords seems more consistent with the use of the term elsewhere. (See below.)
“The materials of which cord was made varied according to the strength required; the strongest rope was probably made of strips of camel hide, still used by the Bedouins for drawing water (Burckhardt's Notes, 1:46); the Egyptians twisted these strips together into thongs for sandals and other purposes (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 3. 145). The finer sorts were made of flax (Isa_19:9). The fibre of the date-palm was also used (Wilkinson, 3. 210); and probably reeds and rushes of various kinds, as implied in the origin of the word ó÷ïéíßïí (Pliny 19:9), which is generally used by the Sept. for çֶáֶì , and more particularly in the word “( àִâְîåֹï , rush (Job_41:2), which primarily means a reed; in the Talmud (Erubin, fol. 58), bulrushes, osier, and flax are enumerated as the materials of which rope was made; in the Mishna (Sotah, 1, § 6) the çáì îöøé , or Egyptian rope, is explained as a rope of vines or osiers. SEE MECHANIC.
“Of the various purposes to which cord, including under that term rope, and twisted thongs, was applied, the following are especially worthy of notice:
(1.) For fastening a tent, in which sense îֵéúָø , meythar', is more particularly used (e.g. Exo_35:18; Exo_39:40; Isa_54:2). As the tent supplied a favorite image of the human body, the cords which held it in its place represented the principle of life (Job_4:21): ‘Are not their tent cords (A.V. ‘excellency') torn away?' (Ecc_12:6).
(2.) For leading or binding animals, as a halter or rein (Psa_118:27; Hos_11:4), whence to ‘loosen the cord' (Job_30:11) = to free from authority.
(3.) For yoking them either to a cart (Isa_5:18) or a plough (Job_39:10).
(4.) For binding prisoners, more particularly òֲáֹú , aboth' (Jdg_15:13; Psa_2:3; Psa_129:4; Eze_3:25), whence the metaphorical expression ‘bands of love' (Hos_11:4).
(5.) For bow-strings (Psa_11:2), made of catgut; such are spoken of in Jdg_16:7 (
éְúָøַéí ìִçַéí
, A. V. ‘green withs;' but more properly
íåõñáὶ ὑãñáß
, fresh or moist bow-strings).
(6.) For the ropes or ‘tacklings' of a vessel (Isa_33:23).(7.) For measuring ground, the full expression being çֶáֶì îַãָּä (2Sa_8:2; Psa_78:55; Amo_7:17; Zec_2:1); hence to ‘cast a cord' — to assign a property (Mic_2:5), and cord or line became an expression for an inheritance (Jos_17:14; Jos_19:9; Psa_16:6; Eze_47:13), and even for any defined district (e.g. the line, or tract, of Argob, Deu_3:4). SEE CHEBEL.
(8.) For fishing and snaring. SEE FISHING; SEE FOWLING; SEE HUNTING.
(9.) For attaching articles of dress; as the wreathen chains ( òֲáֹú ), which were rather twisted cords, worn by the high-priests (Exo_28:14; Exo_28:22; Exo_28:24; Exo_39:15; Exo_39:17).
(10.) For fastening awnings (Est_1:6).
(11.) For attaching to a plummet. The line and plummet are emblematic of a regular rule (2Ki_21:13; Isa_28:17); hence to destroy by line and plummet (Isa_34:11; Lam_2:8; Amo_7:7) has been understood as a regular systematic destruction (ad normam et libellam, Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 125); it may, however, be referred to the carpenter's level, which can only be used on a flat surface (comp. Thenius, Comm. in 2Ki_21:13).
(12.) For drawing water out of a well, or raising heavy weights (Jos_2:15; Jer_38:6; Jer_38:13).
(13.) To place a rope on the head (1Ki_20:31) in place of the ordinary head-dress was a sign of abject submission”
(14.) The “small cords” ( ó÷ïéíßïí , a rush-rope) used by our Savior in expelling the traders from the Temple (Joh_2:15) were probably the same used for leading the animals for sacrifice and binding them to the altar ( òֲáֹú , Psa_118:27).
(15.) The same word is employed in Act_27:32, “ropes,” i.e. cordage, with which the yawl-boats were secured to the ship (q.v.). SEE RUSH.
Among the figurative uses of the word the following are the most striking:
(1.) To gird one's self with a cord was considered a token of sorrow and humiliation (1Ki_20:31-33; Job_36:8).
(2.) To stretch a line or cord about a city signifies to ruin it, to destroy it entirely, and to level it with the ground (Lam_2:8).
(3.) The cords ( îֵéúָø ) extended in setting up tents furnish several metaphors in the prophetical books (Isa_33:20; Jer_10:20).
(4.) Hence to “loose one's cord” was a metaphor for dissolving one's comfort and hopes ( éֶúֶø , ye'ther, elsewhere “withe”).
(5.) ‘The cords of sin” (Pro_5:22), metaphorically speaking, are the consequences of crimes and bad habits.
(6.) The “silver cord” (i.e. composed of silvery threads, Ecc_12:6) is generally supposed to refer to the spinal marrow, to which, as to its form and color, it may not be inaptly compared.
(7.) A “three-fold cord” (i.e. one of treble strands) is put as the symbol of union (Ecc_4:12, çåּè , chut, elsewhere “thread”).
(8.) The “cords of a man,” in Hos_11:4, are immediately explained as meaning “the bands of love,” although some interpreters join this clause to the preceding sentence, and render it “amid the desolations of men,” referring to the plagues of Egypt (Horsley, in loc.). SEE LINE. For cords of Sheol, SEE SNARES OF DEATH.