Mahalab
che.vel denotes a cord or line, appears in land and inheritance clauses, and can portray constraining bonds.
The term most often appears for tangible cords, lines, or fastening material used for measuring, lowering, drawing, tying, or securing. It also occurs in clauses concerning land, borders, portions, and inheritance, while several poetic or figurative contexts use cords to depict death, sin, affliction, or hostile entanglement.
Senses in use
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Tangible cord, line, or fastening · dominant
Plural forms occur where cords are placed on heads in 1 Kings 20:31 and 1 Kings 20:32, where Jeremiah is lowered and drawn from a pit in Jeremiah 38:6 and Jeremiah 38:13, and where a woman lets men down through a window in Joshua 2:15. In 2 Samuel 8:2 the singular and plural forms occur in a measuring action; the APB renders the verse with a “cord” used to measure.
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Land and inheritance designation · common
The singular construct form appears in clauses about the land of Canaan as an inheritance in 1 Chronicles 16:18 and Psalm 105:11, and about Argob and Bashan in Deuteronomy 3:13 and Deuteronomy 3:14. In Joshua 19:9 and Psalm 78:55, the surrounding clauses concern an inheritance or the settlement of tribes; the APB variously presents these clauses with “portion,” “inheritance,” and “cord.”
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Figurative bonds or entangling cords · occasional
Construct plural forms link the term with Sheol and death in 2 Samuel 22:6 and Psalm 116:3, where the APB renders surrounding clauses as cords that entangle or encompass. Other clauses portray affliction, sin, and wicked people as binding or capturing forces in Job 36:8, Proverbs 5:22, and Psalm 119:61.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the physical use with “cords,” “ropes,” or “cord,” especially in actions of lowering, drawing, measuring, or fastening. In land and inheritance clauses it also uses “portion” or “inheritance”; Those renderings show the clause’s setting rather than a fixed English equivalent for the term.