Lines

Lines (Hebrew hebel, a measuring cord) in the context of inheritance denotes the portion of territory measured out and assigned by lot. The "pleasant lines" falling in "pleasant places" of Psalm 16:6 express contentment with God's ordained allotment. The measuring-cord imagery underlies the theology of Canaan as a divinely apportioned inheritance distributed among the tribes (Josh. 17:5; Ps. 78:55). The same Hebrew root (qav) appears in Psalm 19:4, where the silent testimony of creation's witness extends its "line" through all the earth — a passage Paul quotes in Romans 10:18 as evidence of universal divine proclamation.