ὁδός, ὁδοῦ, ἡ (apparently from the root, ἘΔ, to go (Latinadire, accedere), allied with Latinsolum; Curtius, § 281); the Sept. numberless times for ãÆÌøÆê, less frequently for àÉøÇç; (from Homer down); a way;

1. properly,

a. a travelled way, road: Mat 2:12; Mat 7:13; Mat 13:4; Mat 13:19; Mar 4:4; Mar 4:15; Mar 10:46; Luk 8:5; Luk 8:12; Luk 10:31; Luk 18:35; Luk 19:36; Act 8:26; Act 9:17; Jas 2:25, etc.; κατά τήν ὁδόν (as ye pass along the way (see κατά, II. 1 a.)) by the way, on the way, Luk 10:4; Act 8:36; Act 25:3; Act 26:13; σαββάτου ὁδός (A. V. a sabbath-day’s journey) the distance that one is allowed to travel on the sabbath, Act 1:12 (see σάββατον, 1 a.). ἡ ὁδός with a genitive of the object, the way leading to a place (the Hebrew ãÆÌøÆê also is construed with a genitive, cf. Geseuius, Lehrgeb., p. 676 (Gr. § 112, 2; cf. Winer’s Grammar, § 30, 2)): ἐθνῶν, Mat 10:5; τῶν ἁγίων into the holy place, Heb 9:8; cf. Heb 10:20, where the grace of God is symbolized by a way, cf. ζάω, II.

b. (τοῦ ξύλου, Gcn. 3:24; Αἰγύπτου ... Ἀσσυρίων, Jer 2:18; γῆς Φιλιστιειμ, Exo 13:17; τοῦ Σινᾶ, Jdt 5:14; Latinvia mortis, Tibull. 1, 10, 4; cf. Kühner, ii., p. 286, 4). in imitation of the Hebrew ãÆÌøÆê, 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 Mat 4:15 from Isaiah 8:23 (Isa 9:1) (so ὁδόν (τῆς θαλάσσης, 1Ki 18:43); γῆς αὐτῶν, 1Ki 8:48; 2Ch 6:38; ὁδόν δυσμῶν ἡλίου, Deu 11:30; moreover, once with the accusative, ὁδόν θάλασσαν ἐρυθράν, Num 14:25; (Deu 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, Rom 3:16; ἑτοιμάζειν τήν ὁδόν τῶν βασιλέων, Rev 16:12; in metaphorical phrases, κατευθένειν τήν ὁδόν τίνος, to remove the hindrances to the journey, 1Th 3:11; ἑτοιμάζειν (and ἐυθύνειν, Joh 1:23; κατασκευάζειν, Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27) τήν ὁδόν τοῦ κυρίου, see ἑτοιμάζω.

b. a traveller’s way, journey, travelling: ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, on the journey, on the road, Mat 5:25; Mat 15:32; Mat 20:17; Mar 8:27; Mar 9:33; Mar 10:32; Mar 10:52; Luk 12:58; Luk 24:32; Luk 24:35; Act 9:27; ἐξ ὁδοῦ, from a journey, Luk 11:6; αἴρειν or κτᾶσθαι τί εἰς ὁδόν, Mat 10:10; Mar 6:8, and εἰς τήν ὁδόν, Luk 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, Act 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, Luk 2:41 (Gen 30:36; Gen 31:23; Exo 3:18; Jdt 2:21; 1Ma 5:24 1Ma 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, Mar 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, 1Co 12:31; with a genitive of the object, i. e. of the thing to be obtained, εἰρήνης, Rom 3:17; ζωῆς, Act 2:28; σωτηρίας, Act 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 Mat 21:32 (on which see δικαιοσύνη, 1 b., p. 149{a} bottom); used of the Christian religion, 2Pe 2:21; likewise τῆς ἀληθείας, 2Pe 2:2; with the genitive of the person deciding and acting, Jas 5:20; τοῦ Κάϊν, Jud 1:11; τοῦ Βαλαάμ, 2Pe 2:15; ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ, in all his purposes and actions, Jas 1:8; τάς ὁδούς μου ἐν Χριστῷ, the methods which I as Christ’s minister and apostle follow in the discharge of my office, 1Co 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, Act 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, Act 13:10; Rom 11:33; Rev 15:3 (Hos 14:9; Psa 94:10 (); (); Sir 39:24; Tob 3:2, etc.). ἡ ὁδός τοῦ Θεοῦ, the course of thought, feeling, action, prescribed and approved by God: Mat 22:16; Mar 12:14; Luk 20:21; used of the Christian religion, Act 18:26; also ἡ ὁδός τοῦ κυρίου, Act 18:25; ὁδός used generally of a method of knowing and worshipping God, Act 22:4; Act 24:14; ἡ ὁδός simply, of the Christian religion (cf. Buttmann, 163 (142)), Act 9:2; Act 19:9; Act 19:23; Act 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, Joh 14:6. (On the omission of ὁδός in certain formulas and phrases (Luk 5:19; Luk 19:4), see Winers Grammar, 590f (549f); Buttmann, § 123, 8; Bos, Ellipses etc. (edited by Schaefer), p. 331f.)