Encyclopedia entry
Street
The street called “Straight” at Damascus (Acts 9:11) is “a long broad street, running from east to west, about a mile in length, and forming the principal thoroughfare in the city.” In Oriental towns streets are usually narrow and irregular and filthy (Ps. 18:42; Isa. 10:6). “It is remarkable,” says Porter, “that all the important cities of Palestine and Syria Samaria, Caesarea, Gerasa, Bozrah, Damascus, Palmyra, had their ‘straight streets’ running through the centre of the city, and lined with stately rows of columns. The most perfect now remaining are those of Palmyra and Gerasa, where long ranges of the columns still stand.”, Through Samaria, etc.
Also from Smith's (1884) +−
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 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 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. Tob. 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)
In the Bible
46
Verses where Street is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 2 Chronicles 28:24
Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 29:4
Then he brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the square on the east side.
- 2 Chronicles 32:6
Hezekiah appointed military commanders over the people and gathered the people in the square of the city gate. Then he encouraged them, saying,
- 2 Samuel 21:12
he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.
- 2 Samuel 22:43
I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.
- Acts 9:11
“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.
+40 more verses naming Street.
Scripture on Street
39
See all 39 +−
- Esther 6Proverbs 7Isaiah 51Revelation 21Genesis 19Deuteronomy 13Joshua 22 Samuel 212 Samuel 222 Chronicles 282 Chronicles 292 Chronicles 32Ezra 10Esther 4Job 18Job 29Job 31Psalms 18Psalms 31Proverbs 1Ecclesiastes 12Isaiah 10Isaiah 42Isaiah 59Jeremiah 6Lamentations 2Lamentations 4Daniel 9Nahum 3Matthew 6Mark 11Acts 12Revelation 11Revelation 22
Street references
16
More illustrations of Street
1
Voices on Street
24
Surfaced by name match — accuracy varies by title clarity.
Sources · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.