Street

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

The only street referred to by name in the apostolic writings is the street in Damascus which is called ‘Straight’ ( Acts 9:11). The word employed (ῥύμη, ‘lane’ or ‘alley’) hardly applies to this instance, for it was a broad, straight street on the Greek model, flanked by colonnades, on the further side of which foot-paths extended. The modern equivalent, which still retains the name, and forms the principal thoroughfare of the city, is in reality only the northern foot-way of the ancient street. The proof of this is given by the East Gate, the central and southern archways of which are now closed up; also by fragments of columns, found in houses and courtyards contiguous to the present street.

The same word is found in  Acts 12:10, applied to one of the streets or lanes of Jerusalem, probably in the heart of the city, to which it appears to be appropriate (cf. articleGate). The use of πλατεῖα in  Acts 5:15 is somewhat surprising; if taken in conjunction with κατὰ followed by acc. plur. it forcibly suggests alleys or lanes in which it was necessary to arrange the sick in lines. But it has to be noted that καὶ εἰς is now read, following אABD, which seems to correspond better with the likely situation. The sick were brought from narrow ways into the ‘broad places.’ A comparison with  Mark 6:56 (ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς; D reads πλατείαις) is instructive: applied to villages and country, no less than to cities, this would seem to denote no more than ‘open spaces,’ perhaps as opposed to courtyards. Such open spaces in cities came to be used as business centres, and were put to other uses (see especially  Acts 17:17).

If we keep in view the smallness and the extreme irregularity of ancient cities, as revealed by recent excavation in Palestine, it seems best to equate ῥύμη to ‘street,’ and πλατεῖα to ‘square,’ in the modern city. The difference is greater than the similarity, however, for the average Hebrew city could boast of only one ‘broad place,’ and that was at the gate. An exception must be made for the Apostolic Age in favour of recent cities, built according to Graeco-Roman designs (cf. Damascus above). Whether a city was ancient or modern would have an important bearing on its plan.

πλατεῖα alone is used in Rev., notably always in the singular ( Revelation 11:8;  Revelation 21:21;  Revelation 22:1). The Graeco-Roman model seems to be before the writer’s eye. Here πλατεῖα is not a broad place or square, but rather a broad street running from gate to gate. Had the symmetry been detailed there would have been found a corresponding πλατεῖα intersecting the first at right angles. Within the walls the city would thus be divided into four segments which were built over, whose streets and lanes would be dwarfed by the spaciousness of the two πλατεῖαι. This principle is carried further in the description of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, in correspondence with the number of gates (twelve).

H. B. Swete (The Apocalypse of St. John 2, London, 1907, p. 299) takes exception to the division of the verses in  Revelation 22:1-2 Revised Version, and follows Authorized Versionand Revised Version margin. ‘The picture presented is that of a river flowing through the broad street which intersects the city, a row of trees being on either bank.’ In  John 11:8 the corpses cast out into the principal street (now generally understood of the earthly Jerusalem), and left without burial, were a purposed insult to the martyred witnesses, which was speedily avenged ( John 11:11-13). Such defilement stands in marked contrast to the later picture of purity and life (water and tree).

W. Cruickshank.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

A. Noun.

Chûts ( חֻץ , Strong'S #2351), “street.” This word, of uncertain origin, appears in biblical, mishnaic, and modern Hebrew. In the Old Testament the total number of occurrences of the noun and adverb is about 160.

A particular use of chûts denotes the place outside the houses in a city, or the “street.” The “street” was the place for setting up bazaars: “The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria” (1 Kings 20:34). Craftsmen plied their trade on certain “streets” named after the guild—for example, the Bakers’ Street: “Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were spent” (Jer. 37:21). The absence of justice in the marketplace was an indication of the wickedness of the whole population of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was called to check in the “streets” to find an honest man: “Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it” (5:1).

Other descriptions of the “streets” are given by the prophets. Several mention that the “streets” were muddy: “… And to tread them down like the mire of the streets” (Isa. 10:6; cf. Mic. 7:10; Zech. 10:5). Others make reference to the blood (Ezek. 28:23), the famished (Lam. 2:19), and the dead (Nah. 3:10) which filled the “streets” in times of war.

The area outside a city was also known as the chûts. In this case it is better translated as “open country” or “field”; cf. “That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store, that sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets” (Ps. 144:13, Kjv; Rsv “fields”; cf. Job 5:10; Prov. 8:26).

B. Adverb.

Chûts ( חֻץ , Strong'S #2351), “outside.” The first occurrence of this word is in Gen. 6:14: “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without [ chûts ] with pitch.”

By chûts the general idea of “the outside” is intimated. It is sometimes indeterminate where “outside” is, especially when connected with a verb: “You shall also have a place outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp” (Deut. 23:12, NASB). The area could be “outside” a home, tent, city, or camp—hence the adverbial usage of “outside.” The word is also connected with a preposition with the sense of “in, to, on, toward the outside”: “If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed” (Exod. 21:19).

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Πλατεῖα (Strong'S #4113 — Noun Feminine — plateia — plat-i'-ah )

grammatically the feminine of platus, "broad," is used as a noun (hodos, "a way," being understood, i.e., "a broad way"), "a street,"  Matthew 6:5;  12:19 (in some texts,   Mark 6:56 );  Luke 10:10;  13:26;  14:21;  Acts 5:15;  Revelation 11:8;  21:21;  22:2 .

2: Ἄμφοδον (Strong'S #296 — Noun Neuter — amphodon — am'-fod-on )

properly "a way around" (amphi, "around," hodos, "a way"), occurs in  Mark 11:4 , RV, "the open street" (AV, "where two ways met").

Lane.Market.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Street. The streets of a modern Oriental town present a great contrast to those with which we are familiar, being generally narrow, tortuous and gloomy, even in the best towns. Their character is mainly fixed by the climate and the style of architecture, the narrowness being due to the extreme heat, and the gloominess being due to the circumstance of the windows looking, for the most part, into the inner court.

The street called "Straight," in Damascus,  Acts 9:11, was an exception to the rule of narrowness: it was a noble thoroughfare, one hundred feet wide; divided, in the Roman age, by colonnades into three avenues, the central one for foot passengers, the side passages for vehicles and horsemen going in different directions.

The shops and warehouses were probably collected together into bazaars, in ancient times, as in modern times.  Jeremiah 37:21. That streets occasionally had names appears from  Jeremiah 37:21;  Acts 9:11. That they were generally unpaved may be inferred from the notices of the pavement laid by Herod the Great at Antioch, and by Herod Agrippa II at Jerusalem. Hence, pavement forms one of the peculiar features of the ideal Jerusalem.  Tobit 13:17;  Revelation 21:21. Each street and bazaar in a modern town is locked up at night; the same custom appears to have prevailed in ancient times.  Song of Solomon 3:3.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Rechob . A broad open space, as the courtyard, the space near the gate devoted to public business ( Deuteronomy 13:16), or before t he temple ( Ezra 10:9;  Esther 4:6). Particular trades gathered in certain quarters, as "the bakers' street" ( Jeremiah 37:21). Chuts is a "narrow street" ( Proverbs 5:16;  Jeremiah 5:1) in contrast to the "broad street", Rechob . Shuq like Chuts is seemingly "the narrow street" distinguished from "the broad way," Rechob , in  Song of Solomon 3:2.  Luke 14:21 Plateia and Rumee , "the streets and lanes." But Shuq etymology means "a place of concourse", and Rume is applied to the "straight" street of Damascus ( Acts 9:11).

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Revelation 21:21 (c) This type represents the Lord Jesus Himself, who is the way to Heaven, and the way to GOD. Note that the word is in the singular and not plural. The gold represents the beauty of Christ the purity of CHRIST, and the value of CHRIST. That which men almost worship down here, end constantly seek after, and which is not permanent, may well become insignificant in our sight while Christ Jesus becomes supreme and paramount.

King James Dictionary

Street n. L., strewed or spread. See Strew.

1. Properly, a paved way or road but in usage, any way or road in a city, chiefly a main way, in distinction from a lane or alley. 2. Among the people of New England, any public highway. 3. Streets, plural, any public way, road or place.

That there be no complaining in our streets.  Psalms 144 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Acts 9:11 Psalm 18:42 Isaiah 10:6

Webster's Dictionary

(a.) Originally, a paved way or road; a public highway; now commonly, a thoroughfare in a city or village, bordered by dwellings or business houses.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

STREET . See City.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Street'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/s/street.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.