A runner, or courier, for the rapid transmission of letters, etc. (2 Chronicles 30:6; Esther 3:13,15; 8:10,14; Job 9:25; Jeremiah 51:31). Such messengers were used from very early times. Those employed by the Hebrew kings had a military character (1 Samuel 22:17; 2 Kings 10:25, "guard," marg. "runners"). The modern system of postal communication was first established by Louis XI. of France in A.D. 1464.
This word sometimes also is used for lintel or threshold (Isaiah 6:4).
