Lexical Summary hodos: Way, road, journey, path Original Word: ὁδός Strong's Exhaustive Concordance road, way, journeyApparently a primary word; a road; by implication, a progress (the route, act or distance); figuratively, a mode or means -- journey, (high-)way. NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Origina prim. word Definition a way, road NASB Translation highways (2), journey (7), path (1), paths (1), road (24), roads (1), streets (1), way (54), ways (9). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 3598: ὁδόςὁδός, ὁδοῦ, ἡ (apparently from the root, ἘΔ, to go (Latinadire, accedere), allied with Latinsolum; Curtius, § 281); the Sept. numberless times for דֶּרֶך, less frequently for אֹרַח; (from Homer down); a way; 1. properly, a. a travelled way, road: Matthew 2:12; Matthew 7:13; Matthew 13:4, 19; Mark 4:4, 15; Mark 10:46; Luke 8:5, 12; Luke 10:31; Luke 18:35; Luke 19:36; Acts 8:26; Acts 9:17; James 2:25, etc.; κατά τήν ὁδόν (as ye pass along the way (see κατά, II. 1 a.)) by the way, on the way, Luke 10:4; Acts 8:36; Acts 25:3; Acts 26:13; σαββάτου ὁδός (A. V. a sabbath-day's journey) the distance that one is allowed to travel on the sabbath, Acts 1:12 (see σάββατον, 1 a.). ἡ ὁδός with a genitive of the object, the way leading to a place (the Hebrew דֶּרֶך also is construed with a genitive, cf. Geseuius, Lehrgeb., p. 676 (Gr. § 112, 2; cf. Winer's Grammar, § 30, 2)): ἐθνῶν, Matthew 10:5; τῶν ἁγίων into the holy place, Hebrews 9:8, cf. 10:20, where the grace of God is symbolized by a way, cf. ζάω, II. b. (τοῦ ξύλου, Gcn. 3:24; Αἰγύπτου ... Ἀσσυρίων, Jeremiah 2:18; γῆς Φιλιστιειμ, Exodus 13:17; τοῦ Σινᾶ, Judith 5:14; Latinvia mortis, Tibull. 1, 10, 4; cf. Kühner, ii., p. 286, 4). in imitation of the Hebrew דֶּרֶך, the accusative of which takes on almost the nature of a preposition, in the way to, toward (cf. Gesenius, Thesaurus, i., p. 352{a}), we find ὁδόν θαλάσσης in Matthew 4:15 from Isaiah 8:23 (Isaiah 9:1) (so ὁδόν (τῆς θαλάσσης, 1 Kings 18:43); γῆς αὐτῶν, 1 Kings 8:48; 2 Chronicles 6:38; ὁδόν δυσμῶν ἡλίου, Deuteronomy 11:30; moreover, once with the accusative, ὁδόν θάλασσαν ἐρυθράν, Numbers 14:25; (Deuteronomy 2:1); cf. Thiersch, De Alex. Pentateuchi versione, p. 145f; (Buttmann, § 131, 12)), with a genitive of the subject, the way in which one walks: ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν, Romans 3:16; ἑτοιμάζειν τήν ὁδόν τῶν βασιλέων, Revelation 16:12; in metaphorical phrases, κατευθένειν τήν ὁδόν τίνος, to remove the hindrances to the journey, 1 Thessalonians 3:11; ἑτοιμάζειν (and ἐυθύνειν, John 1:23; κατασκευάζειν, Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27) τήν ὁδόν τοῦ κυρίου, see ἑτοιμάζω. b. a traveller's way, journey, travelling: ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, on the journey, on the road, Matthew 5:25; Matthew 15:32; Matthew 20:17; Mark 8:27; Mark 9:33; Mark 10:32, 52; Luke 12:58; Luke 24:32, 35; Acts 9:27; ἐξ ὁδοῦ, from a journey, Luke 11:6; αἴρειν or κτᾶσθαι τί εἰς ὁδόν, Matthew 10:10; Mark 6:8, and εἰς τήν ὁδόν, Luke 9:3; πορεύομαι τήν ὁδόν, to make a journey (Xenophon, Cyril 5, 2, 22), with αὐτοῦ added (A. V. to go on one's way), to continue the journey undertaken, Acts 8:39; ὁδός ἡμέρας, a journey requiring a (single) day for its completion, used also, like our a day's journey, as a measure of distance, Luke 2:41 (Genesis 30:36; Genesis 31:23; Exodus 3:18; Judith 2:21; 1 Macc. 5:24 1 Macc. 7:45; ἀοπέχειν παμπολλων ἡμερῶν ὁδόν, Xenophon, Cyril 1, 1, 3, cf. Herodotus 4, 101 (Winer's Grammar, 188 (177))); on the phrase ὁδόν ποιεῖν, Mark 2:23 see ποιέω, I. 1 a. and c. 2. Metaphorically, a. according to the familiar figure of speech, especially frequent in Hebrew (cf. Winers Grammar, 32) and not unknown to the Greeks, by which an action is spoken of as a proceeding (cf. the German Wandel), ὁδός denotes a course of conduct, a way (i. e. manner) of thinking, feeling, deciding: a person is said ὁδόν δεικνύναι τίνι, who shows him how to obtain a thing, what helps he must use, 1 Corinthians 12:31; with a genitive of the object, i. e. of the thing to be obtained, εἰρήνης, Romans 3:17; ζωῆς, Acts 2:28; σωτηρίας, Acts 16:17; with a genitive of the subjunctive, τῆς δικαιοσύνης, the way which ἡ δικαιοσύνη points out and which is accustomed to characterize ἡ δικαιοσύνη, so in Matthew 21:32 (on which see δικαιοσύνη, 1 b., p. 149{a} bottom); used of the Christian religion, 2 Peter 2:21; likewise τῆς ἀληθείας, 2 Peter 2:2; with the genitive of the person deciding and acting, James 5:20; τοῦ Κάϊν, Jude 1:11; τοῦ Βαλαάμ, 2 Peter 2:15; ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ, in all his purposes and actions, James 1:8; τάς ὁδούς μου ἐν Χριστῷ, the methods which I as Christ's minister and apostle follow in the discharge of my office, 1 Corinthians 4:17; those are said πορεύεσθαι ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν (to walk in their own ways) who take the course which pleases them, even though it be a perverse one, Acts 14:16 (on the dative see πορεύω, under the end); αἱ ὁδοί τοῦ Θεοῦ or κυρίου, the purposes and ordinances of God, his ways of dealing with men, Acts 13:10; Romans 11:33; Revelation 15:3 (Hosea 14:9; Psalm 94:10 b. in the saying of Christ, ἐγώ εἰμί ἡ ὁδός I am the way by which one passes, i. e. with whom all who seek approach to God must enter into closest fellowship, John 14:6. (On the omission of ὁδός in certain formulas and phrases (Luke 5:19; Luke 19:4), see Winers Grammar, 590f (549f); Buttmann, § 123, 8; Bos, Ellipses etc. (edited by Schaefer), p. 331f.) The term ὁδός appears across the New Testament to denote a physical road, the course of a person’s conduct, and ultimately the saving revelation centered in Jesus Christ. It binds together geography, discipleship, prophecy, and ecclesial identity, demonstrating Scripture’s consistent movement from concrete travel to spiritual destiny. Physical roads and actual travel 1. Gospel narratives frequently record Jesus and the disciples “on the way” (for example, Mark 10:32; Luke 9:57). These mentions highlight: 2. Parables employ common by-roads: seed falling “along the path” (Matthew 13:4) and the priest and Levite who “passed by on the other side of the road” (Luke 10:31). Everyday scenes lend moral weight to kingdom teaching. Prophetic preparation: “Prepare the way of the Lord” All four Gospels cite Isaiah’s call to “Prepare the way for the Lord” (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23). John the Baptist’s ministry marks: The physical imagery of leveling highways becomes the spiritual demand for repentance. Jesus Christ as the exclusive Way John 14:6 anchors the theological heart of ὁδός: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” Three implications follow: 1. Salvific exclusivity—access to the Father is mediated solely through the Son. The early church identified as “the Way” Acts records believers repeatedly as belonging to “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9; 24:14, 22). This title communicates: 1. Continuity with Jesus’ self-designation. Moral and ethical pathways 1. Dual destinies: “Wide is the way that leads to destruction… narrow the way that leads to life” (Matthew 7:13-14). Choices are framed in stark covenantal terms. God’s inscrutable ways Paul erupts in doxology: “How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!” (Romans 11:33). Here ὁδός magnifies divine transcendence—human wisdom cannot map the sovereign pathways of redemption history. The new and living way into God’s presence Hebrews 10:19-20 proclaims bold access “by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body.” The sacrificial road of Golgotha becomes the believer’s entrance into the heavenly sanctuary, surpassing Mosaic ritual (Hebrews 9:8). Mission and discipling implications 1. Apostolic itinerancy—physical roads carry the gospel to the nations (Acts 13:10-12; 18:25-26). Eschatological consummation Heavenly worship celebrates God’s “righteous acts… revealed” (Revelation 15:3). The final songs look back over history and declare every divine path just and true; the redeemed affirm that the whole pilgrimage, including suffering roads (Acts 14:22), culminates in eternal rest. Conclusion From dusty Galilean lanes to the throne room of Revelation, ὁδός weaves through Scripture as a unifying thread: the literal roads that carried Jesus become the spiritual road that He is, the moral road believers must walk, and the cosmic road mapped out by sovereign grace. Englishman's Concordance Matthew 2:12 N-GFSGRK: δι' ἄλλης ὁδοῦ ἀνεχώρησαν εἰς NAS: for their own country by another way. KJV: country another way. INT: by another route they withdrew into Matthew 3:3 N-AFS Matthew 4:15 N-AFS Matthew 5:25 N-DFS Matthew 7:13 N-NFS Matthew 7:14 N-NFS Matthew 8:28 N-GFS Matthew 10:5 N-AFS Matthew 10:10 N-AFS Matthew 11:10 N-AFS Matthew 13:4 N-AFS Matthew 13:19 N-AFS Matthew 15:32 N-DFS Matthew 20:17 N-DFS Matthew 20:30 N-AFS Matthew 21:8 N-DFS Matthew 21:8 N-DFS Matthew 21:19 N-GFS Matthew 21:32 N-DFS Matthew 22:9 N-GFP Matthew 22:10 N-AFP Matthew 22:16 N-AFS Mark 1:2 N-AFS Mark 1:3 N-AFS Mark 2:23 N-AFS Strong's Greek 3598 |
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