6957. qav
Lexical Summary
qav: Line, measuring line, cord

Original Word: קַו
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: qav
Pronunciation: kav
Phonetic Spelling: (kav)
KJV: line
Word Origin: [from H6960 (קָוָה - To wait)]

1. a cord (as connecting), especially for measuring
2. (figuratively) a rule
3. (also) a rim, a musical string or accord

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
line

Or qav {kawv}; from qavah (compare qaveh); a cord (as connecting), especially for measuring; figuratively, a rule; also a rim, a musical string or accord -- line. Compare qav-qav.

see HEBREW qavah

see HEBREW qaveh

see HEBREW qav-qav

Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. קַו only in קַו לָקָו Isaiah 28:10 (twice in verse); Isaiah 28:13 (twice in verse), mimicry of Isaiah's words, perhaps senseless, see צַו p. 846.

II. קַו see קוה.

II. קַו noun masculineZechariah 1:16 line (compare Köii. l. 40 Anm. 2); — absolute קַו Ezekiel 47:3 + Zechariah 1:16 Qr (Kt קוה), קָ֑ו Isaiah 34:17 +; construct קַו 2 Kings 21:13 +; — measuring-line (מִדָּה ׳ק Jeremiah 31:39): 1 Kings 7:23 (Qr; Kt קוה, see below) = 2 Chronicles 4:2; Ezekiel 47:3; for marking off a possession inland Isaiah 34:17 (figurative); especially עַל׳נְטָה ק in building, Job 38:5 (figurative of earth), Zechariah 1:16 (יִנְּטֶה; "" יִבָּנֶה), so ׳יְצָא ק Jeremiah 31:39 (Qr; Kt קיה); ׳נָטָה ק of designing idol Isaiah 44:13; marking off for destruction, עַל׳נָטָה ק 2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 34:11 (קַרתֹהוּ), ׳ק ׳נ Lamentations 2:8; so מִשְׁמָּט לְקָ֔ו וְשַׂמְתִּ֫י Isaiah 28:27. — קַוָּם Psalm 19:5 (AV their line. figurative of their domain) read probably קֹלָם their sound, Capp. 0l Che and now most. Isaiah 18:2,7 see קוקו -below; Isaiah 28:10,13 see I. קַו.

קוה noun masculine Kt = II. קַו Qr; absolute (קֶ֫וֶה or קָוֶה) Zechariah 1:16; construct (קֶ֫וֶה or קְוֵה) 1 Kings 7:23; Jeremiah 31:39.

Topical Lexicon
Measuring Line and Standard of Judgment

The earliest biblical glimpses of קַו show it as the surveying cord by which the Lord establishes or dismantles a city. In 2 Kings 21:13 the Almighty warns that He will “stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria,” announcing impartial judgment. Lamentations 2:8 echoes the same picture: “The LORD determined to destroy the wall of Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not restrain Himself from destroying.” The line therefore embodies God’s unerring standard; when His people abandon covenant faithfulness, the measuring cord that once defined their borders becomes the instrument that levels them.

Architectural and Artistic Tool

When Solomon’s craftsmen cast the great bronze Sea, they determined its circumference with a קַו (2 Chronicles 4:2). Isaiah portrays a woodworker who “measures with a line” before fashioning an idol (Isaiah 44:13). In human hands the cord brings precision and beauty; in divine hands it supplies the prototype for all skilled labor (cf. Exodus 31:3-5). Because the world itself was laid out by the same cosmic line (Job 38:5), every act of craftsmanship echoes God’s original creative order.

Revelation and Creation

Job 38:5 asks, “Who fixed its measurements? … who stretched a measuring line across it?” The cord here marks the unseen blueprint of the universe. Psalm 19:4 transfers the image to speech: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” The Word that framed the heavens now spans the globe in witness. Thus קַו becomes a metaphor for the outreach of general revelation—God’s self-disclosure stitched across the sky as plainly as a taut string between stakes.

Instruction: ‘Line on Line’

In Isaiah 28 the prophetic refrain “order on order, line on line” (28:10 & 13) rebukes Ephraim’s priests who mock Isaiah’s plain teaching. What they dismiss as childish repetition is actually the divinely appointed pedagogy—steady, incremental truth. When they refuse it, the very principle designed to mature them becomes the mechanism of stumbling (“so that they will go and stumble backward,” 28:13). For ministry today the passage validates systematic, cumulative instruction: doctrine must be built cord-length by cord-length until the whole counsel of God is erected.

Boundary, Inheritance, and Desolation

In the oracles against Edom, the Lord “will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos” (Isaiah 34:11) and “allots her portion by lot … with the measuring line” (34:17). The same tool that once parceled Canaan for Israel (Joshua 17:5-14 uses a cognate idea) now demarcates perpetual desolation for the nations that resist Him. Judgment does not erase boundaries; it redraws them. Ultimately, every people receives a domain calibrated by divine righteousness.

Hope within Judgment

The vision of Ezekiel’s river begins when “the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand” (Ezekiel 47:3). Though Judah had experienced the cord of demolition, the same instrument now charts depths of life-giving water that will heal the land. The measuring line thus frames new-covenant hope: God measures loss only to measure restoration, ensuring that grace comes with no less precision than wrath.

Ministry Significance

1. The cord summons teachers to accuracy; doctrine must be measured, not guessed.
2. It calls believers to submit to divine evaluation, for the Lord’s line never sags or swerves.
3. It offers comfort: the God who carefully drew earth’s foundations is equally meticulous in drafting His people’s future.
4. It warns that contempt for incremental truth invites progressive hardening—line on line until hearts become as plumb as the judgment they tried to evade.

From Genesis to the New Jerusalem, קַו reminds readers that the Author of Scripture and history writes straight lines—and all humanity must align with them.

Forms and Transliterations
בַּקָּ֑ו בקו וְקָ֣ו וְקָו֙ וקו לְקָ֔ו לָקָ֑ו לָקָ֔ו לָקָ֖ו לָקָו֙ לקו קַ֣ו קַ֤ו קַ֥ו קַֽו־ קַוָּ֗ם קָ֔ו קָ֣ו קָּֽו׃ קָו֒ קו קו־ קו׃ קום bakKav baq·qāw baqqāw kav kavVam lā·qāw laKav lāqāw lə·qāw leKav ləqāw qaw qāw qaw- qaw·wām qawwām veKav wə·qāw wəqāw
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
2 Kings 21:13
HEB: יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗ם אֵ֚ת קָ֣ו שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן וְאֶת־
NAS: Jerusalem the line of Samaria
KJV: over Jerusalem the line of Samaria,
INT: over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet

2 Chronicles 4:2
HEB: בָּֽאַמָּה֙ קֽוֹמָת֔וֹ וְקָו֙ שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה
NAS: cubits and its circumference thirty
KJV: the height thereof; and a line of thirty
INT: cubits height line thirty cubits

Job 38:5
HEB: נָטָ֖ה עָלֶ֣יהָ קָּֽו׃
NAS: who stretched the line on it?
KJV: or who hath stretched the line upon it?
INT: stretched and the line

Psalm 19:4
HEB: הָאָ֨רֶץ ׀ יָ֘צָ֤א קַוָּ֗ם וּבִקְצֵ֣ה תֵ֭בֵל
NAS: Their line has gone out through all
KJV: Their line is gone out
INT: the earth has gone their line to the end of the world

Isaiah 28:10
HEB: צַ֣ו לָצָ֔ו קַ֥ו לָקָ֖ו קַ֣ו
NAS: order on order, Line on line, line
KJV: upon precept; line upon line,
INT: order order Line line line

Isaiah 28:10
HEB: לָצָ֔ו קַ֥ו לָקָ֖ו קַ֣ו לָקָ֑ו
NAS: on order, Line on line, line on line,
KJV: line upon line, line
INT: order Line line line line

Isaiah 28:10
HEB: קַ֥ו לָקָ֖ו קַ֣ו לָקָ֑ו זְעֵ֥יר
NAS: Line on line, line on line, A little
KJV: upon line, line upon line;
INT: Line line line line A little

Isaiah 28:10
HEB: לָקָ֖ו קַ֣ו לָקָ֑ו זְעֵ֥יר שָׁ֖ם
NAS: on line, line on line, A little here,
KJV: line upon line; here a little,
INT: line line line A little here

Isaiah 28:13
HEB: צַ֤ו לָצָו֙ קַ֤ו לָקָו֙ קַ֣ו
NAS: order on order, Line on line, line
KJV: upon precept; line upon line,
INT: order order Line line line

Isaiah 28:13
HEB: לָצָו֙ קַ֤ו לָקָו֙ קַ֣ו לָקָ֔ו
NAS: on order, Line on line, line on line,
KJV: line upon line, line
INT: order Line line line line

Isaiah 28:13
HEB: קַ֤ו לָקָו֙ קַ֣ו לָקָ֔ו זְעֵ֥יר
NAS: Line on line, line on line, A little
KJV: upon line, line upon line;
INT: Line line line line A little

Isaiah 28:13
HEB: לָקָו֙ קַ֣ו לָקָ֔ו זְעֵ֥יר שָׁ֖ם
NAS: on line, line on line, A little here,
KJV: line upon line; here a little,
INT: line line line A little here

Isaiah 28:17
HEB: וְשַׂמְתִּ֤י מִשְׁפָּט֙ לְקָ֔ו וּצְדָקָ֖ה לְמִשְׁקָ֑לֶת
NAS: justice the measuring line And righteousness
KJV: also will I lay to the line, and righteousness
INT: will make justice the measuring and righteousness the level

Isaiah 34:11
HEB: וְנָטָ֥ה עָלֶ֛יהָ קַֽו־ תֹ֖הוּ וְאַבְנֵי־
NAS: over it the line of desolation
KJV: in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion,
INT: will stretch over the line of desolation and the plumb

Isaiah 34:17
HEB: חִלְּקַ֥תָּה לָהֶ֖ם בַּקָּ֑ו עַד־ עוֹלָם֙
NAS: has divided it to them by line. They shall possess
KJV: hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess
INT: has divided by line for ever

Isaiah 44:13
HEB: עֵצִים֮ נָ֣טָה קָו֒ יְתָאֲרֵ֣הוּ בַשֶּׂ֔רֶד
NAS: he extends a measuring line; he outlines
KJV: stretcheth out [his] rule; he marketh it out
INT: wood extends A measuring outlines chalk

Lamentations 2:8
HEB: צִיּ֔וֹן נָ֣טָה קָ֔ו לֹא־ הֵשִׁ֥יב
NAS: He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained
KJV: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn
INT: of Zion has stretched A line has not restrained

Ezekiel 47:3
HEB: הָאִ֥ישׁ קָדִ֖ים וְקָ֣ו בְּיָד֑וֹ וַיָּ֤מָד
NAS: out toward the east with a line in his hand,
KJV: And when the man that had the line in his hand
INT: the man the east A line his hand measured

18 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 6957
18 Occurrences


baq·qāw — 1 Occ.
qāw — 9 Occ.
qaw·wām — 1 Occ.
lā·qāw — 4 Occ.
lə·qāw — 1 Occ.
wə·qāw — 2 Occ.

6956
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