Path, Pathway
Path, Pathway
path, pathwa (, ‘orah, , nethbhah, etc.; , trbos, , trochia):
(1) In the Old Testament. – In addition to its obvious literal sense (e.g. Gen 49:17), it has very frequently a figurative meaning. (a) As applied to man, a course or manner of life: (i) man’s outward lot in life, his career or destiny, whether of the just man (Isa 26:7) or of the ungodly (Job 8:13); (ii) frequently in an ethical sense, of men’s conduct or inward life-purpose, whether it be good or evil (e.g. Pro 2:15), generally accompanied by a term defining the moral quality of the conduct, either an abstract noun (e.g. the paths of uprightness, Pro 2:13; Pro 4:11; the paths of justice, Pro 2:8; Isa 40:14; the paths of life, Psa 16:11; Pro 2:19), or a concrete adjective or noun (e.g. crooked paths, Isa 59:8; the paths of the righteous, Pro 2:20; Pro 4:18). (b) The term is also applied to God either (i) of the methods of the Divine Providence, God’s dealings with men (Psa 25:10; Psa 65:11), or (ii) of the principles and maxims of religion and morality divinely revealed to man (Show me thy ways, O Yahweh, teach me thy paths, Psa 25:4; compare Isa 2:3).
(2) In the Apocrypha we have the paths of Wisdom (tribos, Baruch 3:21, 31); the path shown to men by the Law (semita, 2 Esdras 14:22); and a man’s paths (tribos, Tobit 4:10).
(3) In the New Testament the word occurs only in Mat 3:3 and parallel passages Mar 1:3; Luk 3:4 (of the forerunner’s work), and in Heb 12:13 (in the Old Testament ethical sense).
Pathway occurs in Pro 12:28 (derekh nethbhah) and The Wisdom of Solomon 5:10 (atrapos). See WAY.