Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the NT: Highway
Subjects in this Topic:
HIGHWAY.—In the parable (Mat_22:9) where the invited guests all made excuse, the king sent his servants out ἐðὶ ôὰò äéåîüäïõò ôῶí ὁäῶí , ‘into the highways’ (Authorized Version ), to gather as many as they could find, and bid them to the feast. The Gr. phrase means literally ‘the partings of the highways’ (so Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ), exitus viarum (Vulgate ). This is the only occurrence of äéἕîïäïé in the NT, and it is impossible to determine with certainty what is meant by the expression. It may signify either the roads leading out of the town into the country, or the crossings of such, or the streets leading into the open spaces or square in front of the town. The idea is clear—where men both good and bad, Jew and Gentile, are most likely to be found. God’s purpose cannot be frustrated; and if the invited guests neglect the call, then others who have hitherto been looked down upon will take their place. The invitation is to all and sundry, which leads Whedon to say, ‘The good are not too good to need the gospel, nor the bad so bad as to have no hope if they will accept it.’ It was the poor, the outcast, the hopeless that were to be found on the highways: blind Bartimaeus (Mar_10:46) shouting, ‘Have mercy on me,’ and such as the lepers who stood afar off (Luk_17:13) uttering the same miserable cry. See, further, art. Roads.
R. Leggat.