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Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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TRAVEL.—Travelling for pleasure was almost, if not altogether, unknown in the ancient world. This is to be accounted for by lack of roads, lack of conveyances, and perils by the way. Travellers had usually some definite object in view; Abraham seeking for a home at the command of Jehovah (Genesis 12:1 ff.); Jacob fleeing from his brother (Genesis 28:10); the Israelites going up to their sacred places, and later to the Temple at Jerusalem. As the sea had special terrors, travelling was chiefly by land, and not till well on in history did men launch boldly out into the deep. In the days of the Empire, sailing was confined to certain well defined tracks, and to certain seasons. On land, travel was done for the most part on foot; hence the custom of washing the feet (Genesis 18:4, Judges 19:21 etc.) was almost a necessity as a token of hospitality. Horses were used for war, and camels for the desert. Persons of rank rode on mules (2 Samuel 13:29, 1 Kings 1:33), while the ass was more usually kept as a beast of burden. Wheeled waggons were not in general use, and, on the rare occasions on which they were employed, were heavy, cumbersome, and without springs. Joseph sent waggons for his father (Genesis 45:19; Genesis 45:21); the kings of Israel had their chariots (1 Kings 22:35); and the Ethiopian eunuch made his journey to Jerusalem in a chariot (Acts 8:28); but wheeled vehicles of any kind were rare. Long journeys were generally undertaken in the summer, when the roads were good and firm. In the winter the roads were soft, and other conditions unfavourable. In Matthew 24:20 Jesus says, ‘Pray that your flight be not in the winter time,’ which means the rainy season, when roads are practically impassable, and food difficult to obtain en route. This accounts for St. Paul’s desire to have Timothy with him before the winter set in (2 Timothy 4:21). In the morning the traveller started on his journey, and continued it till noon-day, when he took refuge for an hour or two under some kindly shade from the scorching rays of the sun, and then resumed his course (Song of Solomon 1:7). To refuse hospitality to a traveller was a breach of good manners, if not, indeed, an insult to God. This state of affairs continues largely in Palestine to-day, though on the tourist routes the people have fallen in with the spirit of the age.

The ordinary way of reckoning the length of a journey was not by miles, but by time (Genesis 30:36 דָּרָךְ י וֹם, Jonah 3:4 מַהֲלַךְ יוֹם, Luke 2:44 ἠμέρας ὁδός), and this makes it difficult to determine accurately the distances covered. Moses asked that the children of Israel should be permitted to go into the wilderness a three days’ journey (Exodus 5:3), and in Genesis 31:23 it is said that Laban pursued after Jacob a seven days’ journey. There would be a great difference between the speed of these two companies, and consequently in the ground traversed. In hilly districts the progress would be less than in the flat country, and a small company or a single individual would go faster than a caravan. An ordinary day’s journey might be put down at about 20 miles, but it would require an extraordinary stretch of imagination to make that fit in with Numbers 11:31. In Luke 2:44 it probably meant not more than 6 miles, for these festal caravans, with their crowds, moved at a leisurely pace; and tradition has it that the halting-place was Beeroth, which is 6 miles north of Jerusalem.

The longer the journey the slower the pace, for provision for man and beast and equipment for the way had to be carried. ‘Take victuals with you for the journey’ (Joshua 9:11) was the rule and not the exception. This led Christ to say to the Twelve, when He sent them out, ‘Provide neither gold nor silver for your journey’ (Matthew 10:9-10 ||), so that they might not be hampered by these things, and that they might receive a much-needed lesson in faith.

Reference is made in Acts 1:12 to a Sabbath day’s journey (σαββάτου ὁδός). This is the only place where the phrase occurs. Olivet is said to be a Sabbath day’s journey from Jerusalem. The expression is very indefinite. Josephus in one place (Ant. xx. viii. 6) gives the distance from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives as 5 furlongs, and in another as 6 (BJ v. ii. 3). Schleusner makes it 7½ stadia or furlongs. The difference seems to lie in the varying length of the cubit, which in the older Hebrew measurement was longer than in the later. The result is the same—2000 cubits, which would bring it into conformity with Rabbinical law, ‘Let no man go walking from his place beyond 2000 ells on the seventh day’ (Jerus. [Note: Jerusalem.] Targ. [Note: Targum.] on Exodus 16:29). A Sabbath day’s journey was by common consent 2000 cubits or ells, though some Rabbis allowed a kind of sliding scale, and spoke of the greater journey (2800), the medium (2000), and the smaller (1800). This was purely Rabbinical, and deduced from (1) Exodus 16:29 ‘Abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day’; (2) from the distance between the Ark and the people on the march (Joshua 3:4); and (3) from the conditions laid down as to the cities of refuge (Numbers 35:5). In Exodus 16:29 the ‘place’ by a process of Rabbinical reasoning became the city where a man dwelt; and it was argued that ‘if one who committed murder accidentally was allowed to take this journey of 2000 ells on the Sabbath day without violating the sanctity of the day, innocent people might do the same.’ By a little ingenuity a Sabbath day’s journey could be considerably extended. If a person desired to do so, he had simply to carry to some point within the Sabbatical limit two meals before the Sabbath began, one of which he had to eat and the other to bury; and that place became for him his dwelling-place. It is even alleged that by fixing his eye upon a tree or wall within the prescribed limit, and uttering certain words, he could make that his starting-point.

In NT times it was customary, as indeed it is to-day, to accompany a departing guest on a part of his way (Romans 15:24, Acts 15:3, 1 Corinthians 16:6) as a token of goodwill and affection.

Literature.—Thomson, LB [Note: The Land and the Book.] ; G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] ; W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches; Conder, Palestine; PEFSt [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] ; RP [Note: P Records of the Past.] ; artt. in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible , Extra Vol. pp. 368–402.

R. Leggat.