דָּרַךְ

From the study of Isaiah 48:17

Range of meaning

Darak is to tread or step (also to tread a winepress, or bend a bow by stepping on it). Its causative means to make someone tread, i.e. to lead them along a path. Derek is a road or journey, and by extension a way of acting, conduct, a manner of life.

Against the English

'Leads/directs you' is accurate but loses the foot-on-the-road picture that YLT keeps ('causing thee to tread').

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 107:7 ('he made them tread a straight road' to a city to live in, a return-from-exile psalm); Isa 11:15 (God 'makes them tread' dry-shod over the river, a new exodus); Isa 42:16 ('in paths they have not known I will make them tread'); Ps 25:5, 9; Prov 4:11 ('I have made you tread in upright paths').

From the study of Joshua 1:3

Range of meaning

To tread or press down with the foot. Used of walking or marching (Judg 5:21, 'march on, my soul'), treading grapes in a winepress (Isa 63:2–3; Amos 9:13), and stringing a bow by stepping on it to bend it (Ps 7:12; Jer 50:14). From the same root comes derekh, 'way, road', a trodden path. Treading on ground or on a defeated enemy is a common Hebrew image of mastery: 'you shall tread on their high places' (Deut 33:29), and God 'treads on the heights of the earth' (Amos 4:13; Mic 1:3).

Against the English

'Tread' (KJV, BSB, ESV) is accurate but sounds gentle to modern ears, as in 'tread carefully'. NIV and NLT have 'set your foot', which is closer to everyday speech but loses some of the weight of the step. In Hebrew the word carries the press of a marching foot coming down on ground it is taking over.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 1:36 and Josh 14:9 use the same verb for Caleb: 'the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you'. That is treading as the basis of a claim. In Ugaritic, a language closely related to Hebrew used in the city of Ugarit before Israel existed, the related noun drkt means 'dominion, rule' (Baal's 'everlasting kingship, dominion forever', KTU 1.2 IV 10). So treading and ruling are linked across the wider language family.

From the study of Habakkuk 3:19

Range of meaning

To tread or step; to march; to trample (enemies, a winepress); to string a bow by stepping on it ('tread the bow'). The causative form used here means 'cause to tread, lead along, make walk' (Ps 25:5, 9; Isa 42:16).

Against the English

BSB 'walk' and WEB 'go' soften the word. ESV, NIV and YLT keep 'tread', which carries the sense of firm, even triumphant, stepping.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hab 3:15: 'you trod (darakhta) the sea with your horses'. Amos 4:13 and Mic 1:3: YHWH 'treads on the heights of the earth'. Deut 33:29: 'you will tread on their heights'. Ps 18:33 has 'makes me stand' (yaʿamideni). Habakkuk changes it to 'makes me tread' (yadrikheni), linking the line to v. 15.