(אֲנָךְ, ansk, a plummet) or Plummet (מַשְׁקֵלֶת, mishkileth, Isaiah 28:17, or מַשְׁקֹלֶת, mishkoleth. ma weight). Amos says (Amos 7:7), "Behold, the Lord stood upon a wall, made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand;" and in the threatenings denounced against Jerusalem for the idolatries of Manasseh, we read, "I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab" (2 Kings 21:13). In Zechariah 4:10, the original term for the plumb-bob is אֶבֶן בְּדַיל, eben bedil, stone of tin. The use of the plumb line in the measurement of superficial areas was early known to the Egyptians, and is ascribed to their king Menes. (See HANDICRAFT).
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More