lin (qaw, chebhel): Usually of a measuring line, asJer 31:39;Eze 47:3;Zec 1:16(qaw);Ps 78:55;Am 7:17;Zec 2:1(chebhel). Other Hebrew words mean simply a cord or thread (Jos 2:18,21;1Ki 7:15;Eze 40:3). InPs 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 byRo 10:18, takes it as meaning a musical cord phthoggos). The "line," as measure, suggests rule of conduct (Isa 28:10). For "line" inIsa 44:13, the Revised Version (British and American) reads "pencil," margin "red ochre" (seredh), and in2Co 10:16, "province," margin "limit" (kanon).
See alsoMEASURING LINE;WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
James Orr