Greek word · G2117

εὐθύς

euthys

straight/upright

Straight (of a road or line); figuratively upright, right, honest (BDAG). In the LXX it often translates Hebrew yashar ("straight, upright").

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

εὐθύς, -εῖα, -ύ

[in LXX chiefly for יָשַׁר ;]

1. straight, direct: τρίβοι, Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4" (LXX) ; εἰς εὐθειας, (sc. ὁδούς), Luke 3:5; εὐ. ὐδός, figuratively, Acts 13:10, 2 Peter 2:15; as (Proper name) of a street, Acts 9:11.

2. In moral sense, straightforward, right: καρδία, Acts 8:21 (cf. Psalms 7:11 32:11, al.).†

εὐθύς,

adv., [in LXX (more frequently than εὐθέως) chiefly for יָשַׁר ;]

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Straight (of a road or line); figuratively upright, right, honest (BDAG). In the LXX it often translates Hebrew yashar ("straight, upright").
Against the English: "Straight" is accurate. YLT's "straightness" treats the adjective as an abstract noun. Grammatically it is an adjective with "road" understood: "into a straight [road]".
Used elsewhere in the period: Isa 40:4 LXX. Luke 3:4, "make his paths straight (εὐθείας)". Acts 8:21, "your heart is not right (εὐθεῖα) before God". Acts 13:10, "will you not stop making crooked the straight (εὐθείας) ways of the Lord?" There Luke pairs the two words of this verse in a plainly moral sense.

Range of meaning: As an adverb: 'immediately, at once, right away'. Mark uses it constantly. John uses it rarely, so here it stands out.
Against the English: ESV, NASB, KJV, WEB and YLT keep 'immediately'. BSB and NIV move the immediacy into 'As soon as he had received', which links it to the receiving rather than to the going out. NLT's 'at once' keeps it.
Used elsewhere in the period: BDAG treats εὐθύς and εὐθέως as interchangeable forms meaning 'at once'. The Byzantine text has εὐθέως here.

Range of meaning: Euthys: straight, level, direct. Used figuratively, it means upright or honest (Acts 8:21; 13:10 "the straight ways of the Lord"). Tribos: a beaten, worn path.
Against the English: "Straight" in English mostly means not curved. The Greek also covers "level" and "clear": Isaiah's next verse talks about lowering hills and filling valleys, not just removing bends.
Used elsewhere in the period: The Greek Isaiah 40:4 continues "the crooked will become straight (eis eutheian), and the rough into smooth plains." Proverbs often pictures right living as a straight path (e.g. Prov 3:6; 11:5 in the Greek).

Matthew · 1

Matthew 3:3 εὐθείας straight

This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”

Here: “Straight,” in the sense of a road with no bends or obstacles. The word was also used in a moral sense (“upright”), and that sense is in the background here.

Mark · 1

Mark 1:3 εὐθείας straight

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”

Here: Placed first in its clause for emphasis: "straight" is what the paths must become. That means direct and free of obstacles, and it also suggests uprightness.

Luke · 2

Luke 3:4 εὐθείας straight

as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.

Here: Placed first in its clause for emphasis: "*straight* make them". It means a straight, unobstructed road, and the word also had a moral sense of being upright.
Luke 3:5 εὐθείαν straight

Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.

Here: Feminine singular, with "road" understood: "into a straight [road]". It picks up "make his paths straight" from v.4. Luke also uses it of a heart that is "right" before God (Acts 8:21).

Acts · 3

Acts 8:21 εὐθεῖα right

You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

Here: A straight line or path as opposed to a crooked one. A 'straight heart' is one whose aims really line up with God. It is the Greek Bible's usual way of rendering the Hebrew yashar ('upright').
Acts 9:11 εὐθεῖαν Straight

“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.

Here: The street's name, 'Straight', in Latin Via Recta. It was the long main east–west street of Damascus, laid out in a straight line, and its route still survives in the Old City.
Acts 13:10 εὐθείας; upright?

and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

Here: 'Straight'. Placed last for emphasis, it sets up the picture: God's roads are straight and Elymas bends them. It echoes Hosea 14:9 ('the ways of the LORD are right/straight') and Isaiah 40:3 ('make straight the paths').

2 Peter · 1

2 Peter 2:15 εὐθεῖαν straight

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

Here: 'Straight', both as a picture (a road without bends) and as a moral word (honest, upright). Placed before the noun with no article, it stresses what kind of road it is: a straight one.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.