the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Highway
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or HIGHWAY.—In the parable (Matthew 22:9) where the invited guests all made excuse, the king sent his servants out ἐπὶ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὁδῶν, ‘into the highways’ (Authorized Version), to gather as many as they could find, and bid them to the feast. The Gr. phrase means literally ‘the partings of the highways’ (so Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885), exitus viarum (Vulgate). This is the only occurrence of διἕξοδοι in the NT, and it is impossible to determine with certainty what is meant by the expression. It may signify either the roads leading out of the town into the country, or the crossings of such, or the streets leading into the open spaces or square in front of the town. The idea is clear—where men both good and bad, Jew and Gentile, are most likely to be found. God’s purpose cannot be frustrated; and if the invited guests neglect the call, then others who have hitherto been looked down upon will take their place. The invitation is to all and sundry, which leads Whedon to say, ‘The good are not too good to need the gospel, nor the bad so bad as to have no hope if they will accept it.’ It was the poor, the outcast, the hopeless that were to be found on the highways: blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46) shouting, ‘Have mercy on me,’ and such as the lepers who stood afar off (Luke 17:13) uttering the same miserable cry. See, further, art. Roads.
R. Leggat.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Highway'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/h/highway.html. 1906-1918.
