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Greek · G3598 · unreviewed

ὁδός

Road

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ὁδός G3598
Pronunciation hodós

What does ὁδός (hodós) mean in the Bible?

ὁδός (hodós) is a Greek word meaning "road". ὁδός, -οῦ, ἡ, [in LXX chiefly (very freq. Identifies Jesus as the covenant Lord foretold by Isaiah. This term runs through the canonical themes of Covenant, Messiah.

Full entry for ὁδός (G3598) · Browse the biblical lexicon

Meaning

road
Extended definition

Metaphorically denotes a course of conduct or way of life, especially God's approved pathway or the Christian faith itself.

1a way, path, road: Mat.2:12, Mrk.10:46, Luk.3:5 al.; κατὰ τὴν ὁ., Luk.10:4, al.; παρὰ τὴν ὁ., Mat.13:4, al.; with genitive of person(s), (subj.), τὴν ὁ. ἑτοιμάζειν (fig.), Mat.3:3, Mrk.1:3, al.; with genitive term. (obj.), ἐθνῶν, Mat.10:5; τ. ἁγίων (figuratively), Heb.9:8; accusative, ὁδόν, with force of prep. (like Heb. דֶּרֶךְ; Bl., §34, 8; 35, 5), ὁ. θαλάσσης, Mat.4:15 (LXX).
2A traveller's way, journey: ἐν τ. ὁ., Mat.5:25, Mrk.8:27, al.; ἐξ ὁ., Luk.11:6; εἰς ὁ., Mat.10:10; τ. ὁδὸν πορεύεσθαι, Act.8:39; ὁ. ἡμέρας, Luk.2:44; ὁδὸν ποιεῖν (= cl., ὁ. ποιεῖσθαι; V. Field, Notes, 25), to make one's way, i.e. proceed on one's journey, Mrk.2:23.
3Metaphorical (cl.; but esp. frequently in Heb.; see Cremer, 442ff.), of a course of conduct, a way of thinking or acting: Act.14:16, 1Co.4:17 12:31, Jas.1:8 5:20; τοῦ Κάϊν, Ju 11; τ. Βαλαάμ, 2Pe.2:15; εἰρήνης, Rom.3:17; ζωῆς, Act.2:28; ἡ ὁ. ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τ. ζωήν (Dalman, Words, 160), Mat.7:14; τ. δικαιοσύνης, Mat.21:32; σωτηρίας, Act.16:17; αἱ ὁ. τ. θεοῦ (κυρίου), Act.13:10, Rom.11:33, Rev.15:3 (cf. Hos.14:9 Psa.94 (95):10, Sir.39:24, al.); ἡ ὁ. τ. θεοῦ (the way approved by God), Mat.22:16, Mrk.12:14, Luk.20:21; id., of the Christian religion, Act.18:26; so, absol., ἡ ὁ., Act.9:2 19:9, 23 24:22; of Christ as the means of approach to God, Jhn.14:6.
4Ellipsis of ὁ.: ποίας (sc. ὁδοῦ), Luk.5:19; ἐκείνης, ib. 19:4 (see Bl., §36, 13; 44, 1).
Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Why This Word Matters
Identifies Jesus as the covenant Lord foretold by Isaiah. Acts 19:8-10
Exclusive mediatorial access. Acts 22:1-5
Establishes Christ's exclusive mediatorship. Mounce and Wuest help explain the exclusivity claim with lexical precision and pastoral clarity. Acts 24:10-21
Identifies early Christianity as a distinct way centered on Christ. John 14:1-14
Identifies early Christianity as a distinct movement within Judaism. Luke 3:1–6
Describes Christianity within Jewish context.
Grammatical Forms

How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.

Nominative · Singular · Feminine Matt 7:13 · Matt 7:14 · John 14:6 · 2 Pet 2:2 · Rev 16:12 5×
Nominative · Plural · Feminine Rom 11:33 · Rev 15:3 2×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Matt 2:12 · Matt 8:28 · Matt 21:19 · Luke 11:6 · Acts 9:2 · Acts 19:23 · Acts 24:22 · Jas 5:20 8×
Genitive · Plural · Feminine Matt 22:9 1×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Matt 5:25 · Matt 15:32 · Matt 20:17 · Matt 21:8 · Matt 21:32 · Mark 8:3 · Mark 8:27 · Mark 9:33 · Mark 9:34 · Mark 10:32 · Mark 10:52 · Luke 9:57 · Luke 10:31 · Luke 12:58 · Luke 19:36 · Luke 24:32 23×
Dative · Plural · Feminine Acts 14:16 · Rom 3:16 · Jas 1:8 3×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Matt 3:3 · Matt 4:15 · Matt 10:5 · Matt 10:10 · Matt 11:10 · Matt 13:4 · Matt 13:19 · Matt 20:30 · Matt 22:16 · Mark 1:2 · Mark 1:3 · Mark 2:23 · Mark 4:4 · Mark 4:15 · Mark 6:8 · Mark 10:17 51×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Matt 22:10 · Luke 1:76 · Luke 3:5 · Luke 14:23 · Acts 2:28 · Acts 13:10 · 1 Cor 4:17 · Heb 3:10 8×
101 total occurrences across all forms in the biblical text Morphology: MorphGNT SBLGNT — CC BY-SA 3.0
Canonical Themes
Covenant Messiah
Biblical Occurrences

Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.

New Testament Witnesses
Acts 19:8-10 Way hodós
The path or manner of life.
Acts 22:1-5 Way hodós
The path or movement.
Acts 24:10-21 Way hodós
Path or movement.
John 14:1-14 δός hodós Nominative · Singular · Feminine
way
Luke 3:1–6 ὁδὸν Κυρίου hodós Accusative · Plural · Feminine
way of the Lord
Additional Occurrences
John 14:1-14 δός hodós
way, path
Mark 8:27–30 ὁδός hodós
way, road, path
Appears In

Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.

διέξοδος · ὁδός G1327, G3598
roads, highways, outlets of the roads
κατασκευάζω · ὁδός G2680, G3598
prepare your way
ὁδός · δικαιοσύνη G3598, G1343
way of righteousness
ὁδός · εὐθύς G3598, G2117
Straight ways
ὁδός · θεός G3598, G2316
way of God
ὁδός · πρόσφατος · ζάω G3598, G4372, G2198
new and living way; newly opened living access
ὁδός · σωτηρία G3598, G4991
Way of salvation
ὁδός · φραγμός G3598, G5418
roads and hedges/fences/country lanes
πορεύομαι · ὁδός G4198, G3598
as they were going on the road
ἀσπάζομαι · ὁδός G782, G3598
greet no one on the road
Word Pictures (Robertson)

A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.

Acts 13 — The Spirit Sends the Mission and the Word Turns to the Gentiles Acts 16 — The Gospel Enters Macedonia: Opened Hearts, Broken Chains, and Household Faith Acts 19 — The Word of the Lord Grows Mightily in Ephesus Acts 22 — Paul’s Defense: Christ Appears, Sends, and Preserves His Witness Acts 24 — Paul Before Felix: Resurrection Hope, Clear Conscience, and Coming Judgment Acts 9 — The Risen Christ Converts His Fiercest Persecutor John 14 — The Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Father Revealed in the Son, and the Promise of the Spirit Luke 3 — The Way Prepared, the Son Revealed, and the Lineage Traced Mark 10 — The Way of the Servant King: Marriage, Children, Wealth, Cross, Ransom, and Sight Mark 12 — The Rejected Son, the Greatest Commandment, the Lord of David, and the Widow’s Offering Matthew 10 — The Mission of the Twelve, Costly Witness, and Allegiance to Christ Matthew 11 — The Messiah Question, the Rejected Generation, and Rest for the Weary Matthew 13 — The Kingdom in Parables: Hearing, Hiddenness, Growth, Worth, and Judgment Matthew 20 — The First-Last Kingdom, the Ransom-Giving Son of Man, and Mercy for the Blind Matthew 21 — The King Enters Jerusalem, Judges Fruitless Religion, and Exposes Rejected-Son Leadership Matthew 22 — The Wedding Banquet, the King’s Invitation, and the Messiah Who Is David’s Lord Matthew 3 — The Forerunner, the Kingdom, and the Beloved Son

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain

Sources

MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0

Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0

STEPBible Data — CC BY 4.0

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