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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Line
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(represented by the following terms in the original: çֶáֶì , che'bel, a measuring-line, 2Sa_8:2; Amo_7:17; hence a portion as divided out by a line, Psa_16:6; elsewhere “cord," "portion," etc. ÷ָåּ or ÷ִå , kav, a measuring-line, Isa_34:17; Eze_47:3; either for construction, Job_38:5; Isa_44:13; Jer_31:39; Zec_1:16, or for destruction, 2Ki_21:13; Lam_2:8; Isa_34:11; metaph., a rule or norm, Isa_28:17; Isa_28:10; Isa_28:13; like the Gr. êáíώí , 2Co_10:13; 2Co_10:15-16; Gal_6:16; Php_3:16; also the rim, e.g. of a laver, 1Ki_7:23; 2Ch_4:2; or string of a musical instrument, put for sound, q.d. accord, Psa_19:4; where Sept. ὁ öèüããïò , and so Rom_10:18, Vulg. sonus; once, strength, Isa_18:2, where "a nation meted out" should be rendered a most mighty nation: in three of the above passages, 1Ki_7:23; Jer_31:39; Zec_1:16, the text reads ÷ֶåֶä , ke'veh, of the same import; and in Jos_2:18; Jos_2:21, occurs úַּ÷ְåָä , tikvah', a cord, from the same root. Other terms less proper are: çåּè , chut, a thread, for measuring a circumference, 1Ki_7:15; "fillets," Jer_52:21; elsewhere generally a "thread." ôָּúַéì , pathil', a cord, for measuring length, Eze_40:3; elsewhere a "thread," "lace," etc., especially the string for suspending the signet-ring in the bosom, rendered "bracelets" in Gen_38:18; Gen_38:25. ùֶׂøֶã , se'red, the awl or stylus with which an artist graves the sketch of a figure in outline, to be afterwards sculptured in full, Isa_44:13). There can be little doubt that the Hebrews acquired the art of measuring land from the ancient Egyptians, with whom it was early prevalent (Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt. 2:256). In Jos_18:9 we read, "And the men went out and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh." These circumstances clearly indicate that a survey of the whole country was made, and the results entered carefully in a book (see Kitto's Daily Bible Illust. ad loc.). This appears to be the earliest example of a topographical survey on record, and it proves that there must have been some knowledge of mensuration among the Hebrews, as is moreover evinced by the other topographical details in the book of Joshua.