Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PLUMB LINE, PLUMMET

A builders’ device consisting of a string with a weight, or plummet, on one end. The weight forces the cord to hang vertically so that builders and renovators are able to check the alignment of walls they are constructing and make sure that they are perpendicular to the center of gravity of the earth. The plumb line is also used to recognize walls that are tilted and need to be torn down. Used metaphorically in the Bible, the plumb line is a tool to enable the people of Israel to delineate righteousness and truth from apostasy (Amos 7:7-9). It also occurs as a testing tool: justice is the line and righteousness the plummet that test rebuilt Jerusalem (Isa. 28:17). The measuring line and plummet used to condemn Ahab’s Samaria also condemn Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 21:13), while chaos and confusion are brought to Edom by God’s line and plummet (Isa. 34:11). Zerubbabel’s holding a plummet in his hands at the time of the temple’s reconstruction (Zech. 4:10) may be a literal reference to its normal usage, but this passage may also be interpreted metaphorically.

Katharine A. Mackay

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PLUMB LINE, PLUMMET

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)