Hebrew word · H6957

קַו

kav

line

The basic sense is a cord or line, especially a measuring line. It is used to measure the bronze 'Sea' of the temple (1 Kgs 7:23), to survey a city that will be rebuilt (Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16), and in reverse, to mark out a land for ruin (Isa 34:11; 2 Kgs 21:13).

Appears 21 times in 15 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) cord, line, measuring-line

1a) cord

1b) measuring-line

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 19:4

Range of meaning

The basic sense is a cord or line, especially a measuring line. It is used to measure the bronze 'Sea' of the temple (1 Kgs 7:23), to survey a city that will be rebuilt (Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16), and in reverse, to mark out a land for ruin (Isa 34:11; 2 Kgs 21:13). Extended senses are a rule or norm (Isa 28:17, 'I will make justice the line'), and so a marked-out portion or territory. In Isa 28:10, 13 the doubled 'qav laqav' is probably mocking baby-talk or nonsense syllables. Some lexicons therefore list a second qav meaning a sound or call, and some think it could apply here.

Against the English

KJV, YLT and NASB keep 'line.' BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and NRSV give 'voice,' following the Greek and the parallel with 'words.' NLT has 'message.'

How it drifted

Modern 'line' suggests a line of text or a line of poetry, so 'their line is gone out' sounds like 'their written message.' The Hebrew picture is a surveyor's cord stretched out to mark a territory.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint: ho phthongos autōn, 'their sound.' Paul cites that wording in Romans 10:18. The Latin Gallican Psalter, made from the Greek, has 'sonus eorum.' Aquila, the very literal 2nd-century Jewish translator, is reported to have kept the measuring sense (kanōn, 'rule/measure'). The Hebrew consonantal text uniformly reads qwm.

From the study of Isaiah 28:10

Range of meaning

A cord or line, usually a measuring cord for building or surveying (1 Kings 7:23; Jeremiah 31:39; Zechariah 1:16; Job 38:5). It can picture God measuring a city for judgment (2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 34:11). In Isaiah 28:10 and 13 it may be used for its sound, rhyming with tsav. Psalm 19:4 (19:5 in Hebrew) has a difficult use where the Septuagint reads "voice", and Isaiah 18:2 and 7 have an obscure qav-qav that some take to describe strange speech.

Against the English

English "line" makes modern readers think of a line of writing. The Hebrew word is not a line of text anywhere in the Bible. YLT, KJV, BSB and others keep "line", which is accurate to the cord sense but misleading to the eye. NLT's "one line at a time" leans directly into the idea of written or spoken lines.

How it drifted

A print culture hears "line" as a line on a page. Combined with "precept", the phrase came to suggest a reader working through a text a sentence at a time.

Used elsewhere in the period

The cord sense is well established in the Hebrew Bible. Within this same chapter, verse 17 has God say he will make justice the qav and righteousness the plumb line, using the word in its full builder's sense. The Septuagint here renders it "hope", apparently connecting it with the verb qavah ("to wait, hope"), and the Vulgate's exspecta ("wait") does the same.

From the study of Ezekiel 47:3

Range of meaning

A cord or line, especially a builder's or surveyor's measuring line (1 Kgs 7:23; Job 38:5, where God stretches a line over the earth). It is used figuratively for a plan or standard ('I will make justice the line', Isa 28:17) and for the measuring out of destruction (2 Kgs 21:13; Lam 2:8) or of rebuilding (Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16).

Against the English

'Measuring line' (BSB, NIV and others) is accurate. KJV's plain 'the line' is literal but may mean little to modern readers.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the prophets the line works in both directions. God measured Jerusalem for ruin (2 Kgs 21:13; Lam 2:8) and promises to stretch the line again to rebuild (Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16; 2:1–5). In 40:3 Ezekiel's guide carries a 'linen cord' (petil-pishtim) and a measuring reed. Rev 11:1 and 21:15 take up the image.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 7:23 וְקָו֙ and a measuring-line

    He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 21:13 קָ֣ו [the] measuring-line of

    I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.

    Here: A builder's measuring cord. This is the cord that was 'of Samaria', meaning the one used to survey Samaria for its destruction.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 4:2 וְקָו֙ and a measuring-line

    He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.

Job · 1

  1. Job 38:5 קָּֽו׃ a measuring-line

    Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?

    Here: A builder's measuring cord, a physical rope pulled tight to lay out a straight, true plan. The verse ends on this one short, concrete word, which gives the question the feel of a work site.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 19:4 קַוָּ֗ם line their

    their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.

    Here: Literally 'their line,' the cord used to measure out land or a building. Here it most likely means the reach or marked-out territory of the heavens' witness: their 'line' runs over the whole earth. The Greek translators read 'their sound,' which fits the parallel 'their words.' See studies.

Isaiah · 12

  1. Isaiah 28:10 קַ֥ו לָקָ֖ו קַ֣ו לָקָ֑ו line, to [the] line

    For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”

    Here: As an ordinary word it means a cord, especially a builder's measuring cord, not a line of text. Here it rhymes with tsav and may be chosen for its sound, though verse 17 picks it up in its real sense.

  2. Isaiah 28:13 קַ֤ו לָקָו֙ קַ֣ו לָקָ֔ו line, to [the] line

    Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

    Here: As a word, qav means a builder's measuring line (used this way in v. 17). Here it rhymes with tsav, and in the alphabet the letter qof (ק) comes right after tsade (צ). That suggests a letter-drill or babble more than a statement about measuring.

  3. Isaiah 28:17 לְקָ֔ו <into> a measuring-line

    I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.

    Here: A builder's or surveyor's cord for marking straight lines and distances. It picks up the scoffers' mocking "qav laqav" in vv.10 and 13: the word they turned into baby-talk is now the standard that measures them.

  4. Isaiah 34:11 קַֽו־ a measuring-line of

    The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction.

    Here: 'A line of …' The surveyor's or builder's cord, used to lay out sites and fix boundaries. God measures Edom precisely, but the plan he lays out is for emptiness.

  5. Isaiah 34:17 בַּקָּ֑ו by the measuring-line

    He has allotted their portion; His hand has distributed it by measure. They will possess it forever; they will dwell in it from generation to generation.

  6. Isaiah 44:13 קָו֒ a measuring-line

    The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 31:39 קָ֤ו [the] line of

    The measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 2:8 קָ֔ו a measuring-line

    The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away.

    Here: A surveyor's or builder's cord. Here it is used backwards: instead of marking out what will be built, it marks out what will be torn down (compare 2 Kgs 21:13; Isa 34:11).

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 47:3 וְקָ֣ו and a measuring-line

    As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through ankle-deep water.

    Here: 'And a line': a surveyor's cord, probably the 'linen cord' of 40:3. In the prophets a measuring line marks out what God is about to build or claim (Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16).

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 1:16 וְקָ֥ו and a measuring-line

    Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

    Here: A builder's or surveyor's cord used to lay out and mark straight lines. The same image once meant destruction (Lam 2:8); now it means construction.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.