Bible Lexicons

ὁδός, 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 (); (); Sir. 39:24; Tobit 3:2, etc.). ἡ ὁδός τοῦ Θεοῦ, the course of thought, feeling, action, prescribed and approved by God: Matthew 22:16; Mark 12:14; Luke 20:21; used of the Christian religion, Acts 18:26; also ἡ ὁδός τοῦ κυρίου, Acts 18:25; ὁδός used generally of a method of knowing and worshipping God, Acts 22:4; Acts 24:14; ἡ ὁδός simply, of the Christian religion (cf. Buttmann, 163 (142)), Acts 9:2; Acts 19:9, 23; Acts 24:22.

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.)