Cord

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

Ancient uses of

In casting lots

• Micah 2:5 Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by lot.

Fastening tents

• Exodus 35:18 the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, along with their ropes;
• Exodus 39:40 the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases; the curtain for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and tent pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting;
• Isaiah 54:2 “Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.

Leading or binding animals

• Psalm 118:27 The LORD is God; He has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
• Hosea 11:4 I led them with cords of kindness, with ropes of love; I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them.

Hitching to cart or plough

• Job 39:10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?

Binding prisoners

• Judges 15:13 “No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.

Measuring ground

• 2 Samuel 8:2 David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
• Joshua 17:14 Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”
• Psalm 78:55 He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
• Amos 7:17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”
• Zechariah 2:1 Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.

Worn on the head as a sign of submission

• 1 Kings 20:31 Then the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

Figurative

Of spiritual blessings

• Psalm 16:6 The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places; surely my inheritance is delightful.

Of sin

• Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.

Of life

• Ecclesiastes 12:6 Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the well,

Of friendship

• Ecclesiastes 4:12 And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
• Hosea 11:4 I led them with cords of kindness, with ropes of love; I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them.

Symbolical Uses of

Token in mourning

• 1 Kings 20:31–33 Then the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.” So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes…
• Job 36:8 And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,

Signifying an inheritance

• Joshua 17:14 Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”