Words the Bible translates as plumb line
English uses one word here. The Bible uses 3 words, and they do not mean the same thing. Each is listed with what it actually means, most frequent first.
- bedilבְּדִילtin: a cheap metal worth trading because bronze cannot be made without it, and so a stock image for what a refiner burns out of silver
- anakhאֲנָךְa rare loanword for a metal, most likely tin, held up in Amos's vision as God's measure of Israel on the eve of judgment; long rendered "plumb line".
- mishqeletמִשְׁקֶלֶתa builder's plumb line: a cord with a weight on the end, hung against a wall to test whether it is true.
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Every English meaning beginning with P is on its letter page, and the whole index starts at Browse.