Greek word · G1327
διέξοδος
diexodos
thoroughfare
From dia ('through') and exodos ('way out'). It means a passage or outlet through something: a thoroughfare or road-exit, the outlet of a river, a vent. It can also mean a detailed account that 'goes through' a subject, but that sense does not apply here.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
δι-έ-οδος, -ου, ἡ
[in LXX chiefly for תּוֹצָאָה, as Numbers 34:4ff, and frequently in Jos;]
in π. of the conclusion of a trial (MM, Exp., xi); a way out through, an outlet; pl., δ. τῶν ὁδῶν, RV, the partings of the highways: Matthew 22:9.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Sirach 25:25
- Range of meaning
From dia ('through') and exodos ('way out'). It means a passage or outlet through something: a thoroughfare or road-exit, the outlet of a river, a vent. It can also mean a detailed account that 'goes through' a subject, but that sense does not apply here.
- Against the English
'Outlet' (WEB) and 'passage' (Brenton/KJV) are both accurate. Neither quite brings out the picture of a breach in something meant to hold water back.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the New Testament it appears at Matthew 22:9, 'the outlets of the roads', meaning the places where streets lead out of town. Classical writers use it for river mouths and channels (LSJ). The water picture closely matches Proverbs 17:14: 'The beginning of strife is like letting out water; so quit before the quarrel breaks out.' Ancient Judea depended on cisterns, terraces and channels, and every farmer knew that a seep in a dam soon becomes a torrent.
From the study of Matthew 22:9
- Range of meaning
From dia ('through') + ex ('out') + hodos ('way'): a passage through and out, an exit, an outlet. In classical Greek it can mean a passage or outlet, and also a detailed account that goes 'through' a subject. In geography it means the outlet of a river or channel, or the far end where a boundary or road runs out.
- Against the English
Translations split: KJV 'highways', BSB 'crossroads', WEB 'intersections of the highways', NIV/NLT 'street corners', ESV 'main roads', NASB 'main highways', Vulgate 'exitus viarum' ('the goings-out of the roads'). The Latin is the most literal. 'Crossroads' and 'street corners' fit if the word means junctions. 'Main roads' and 'highways' fit if it means the large roads leaving town. None of them clearly brings out the 'way out' idea.
- How it drifted
KJV's 'highways' was accurate in 1611, when it meant any main public road. Today it suggests motorways. Later versions have had to guess at an uncommon word, which is why their renderings scatter.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), diexodos translates Hebrew totsa'ot, the 'goings-out' or end-points of a boundary line (e.g. Num 34:4–5, 8–9, 12; Josh 15:4ff.). It also translates 'channels/outlets of water' (Ps 1:3; Ps 107[106]:33, 35). BDAG suggests that in Matt 22:9 it is probably the place where a street cuts through the city boundary and goes out into open country. Louw–Nida gives either that or 'crossroad'.
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
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Matthew 22:9 διεξόδους thoroughfares
Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’
Here: Literally 'ways through and out'. Most likely the points where the city's streets run out past its edge into the open country, or else the main junctions. These are public, open places where strangers, travellers and people with no standing would be found. The word appears only here in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.