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My PCs asked for clarification of this after our last game.
You may call down a 5-foot-wide, 30-foot-long, vertical bolt of lightning that deals 3d6 points of electricity damage. The bolt of lightning flashes down in a vertical stroke at whatever target point you choose within the spell’s range (measured from your position at the time). Any creature in the target square or in the path of the bolt is affected.
My interpretation of this is that the bolt always drops straight down (vertically) into the target square; therefore the only way to hit more than one target with a single bolt is for the targets to be stacked vertically, eg one on the ground, one levitating above the first.
The druid PC casting the spell wants to use it as a 5x30 line spell to hit multiple targets on the ground, which I disallowed based on the word "vertical" in the description.
So, was I right?
You were right. It's more of a column than a line.
Yep, "vertical line" is the important phrase there.
It's still a very good spell as far as divine damage-dealers go.