Psalm 16/Notes/Lexical.v. 6.458436

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  • "Ropes" (חֲבָלִים) are "made by twisting together palm fibres, linen, or reeds" (SDBH), and they have a variety of uses: "tying and keeping things together, climbing, measuring, drawing things to oneself, making traps, etc." (SDBH). In this context, the "ropes" are used to measure and demarcate the psalmist's allotment, as in a land survey. We see a similar use, for example, in Amos 7:17: "your land shall be divided up (תְּחֻלָּק) with a measuring line (בַּחֶבֶל )" (ESV; cf. Ps 78:55). Modern English translations render the term as "lines" (KJV, ESV), "boundary lines" (NIV, CSB), or "property lines" (CEB).