εὐθύς G2117
Straight, direct, or morally upright; used of roads made level and of conduct that is righteous.
An adjective meaning physically straight or morally right, εὐθύς is the antonym of σκολιός ('crooked'). Its most memorable New Testament use echoes Isaiah 40:3 — 'make straight the paths of the Lord' — appearing in all three Synoptics (Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4–5) as the herald cry of John the Baptist. Peter tells Simon Magus his heart is 'not right' before God (Acts 8:21), and the 'straight way' stands as a moral standard that Balaam abandoned (2 Pet 2:15). Spanish recta and French droit likewise carry both the geometric and ethical senses, reflecting how ancient languages naturally fuse physical and moral imagery.
Senses
1. straight, right, upright — Physically straight or level, and by extension morally upright or correct. The dominant New Testament usage draws on Isa 40:3, where εὐθείας describes the Lord's paths that must be made straight — a metaphor for spiritual preparation proclaimed by John the Baptist (Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4–5). The crooked places (σκολιά) becoming straight (εὐθείας) in Luke 3:5 sharpens the physical-to-moral transfer. In Acts 8:21, Peter declares Simon's heart 'not straight' (εὐθεῖα) before God, and 2 Pet 2:15 speaks of those who forsake the 'straight way.' Acts 9:11 preserves the purely spatial sense in the street called 'Straight' in Damascus. 8×
AR["المُستَقيمَ", "المُسْتَقِيمَ", "مُستَقيمَةَ", "مُسْتَقِيمًا", "مُسْتَقِيمٍ", "مُسْتَقِيمَةً"]·ben["সরল", "সোজা"]·DE["gerade", "sogleich"]·EN["Straight", "right", "straight"]·FR["droit"]·heb["אֶת-הַיָּשָׁר", "הַיְּשָׁרוֹת", "יְשָׁרִים", "יָשָׁר"]·HI["सीधा", "सीधी", "सीधे"]·ID["Lurus", "lurus", "yang-lurus"]·IT["dritto", "eutheian", "eutheias"]·jav["Lurus,", "lempeng", "lempeng,", "leres", "lurus?"]·KO["곧게", "곧은", "바른"]·PT["Direita", "o-reto", "retas", "reto", "retos", "retos?"]·RU["Прямая", "правое", "прямое", "прямой", "прямые", "прямыми"]·ES["Recta", "recta", "rectas", "recto", "rectos"]·SW["Nyofu", "njia-iliyonyooka", "nyofu", "nyofu?", "nyoofu", "sawa", "vinyoofu"]·TR["Doğru", "doğru", "düz", "düze"]·urd["سیدھا", "سیدھی", "سیدھے"]
Related Senses
H2896a 1. good (quality or moral) (305×)H7563 1. wicked person (259×)H7451c 1. moral evil or wickedness (234×)H5771 1. iniquity, sin, wrongdoing (222×)H6662 1. righteous person (substantive) (195×)G0266 1. sin, failure, transgression (173×)H2403b 1. sin, transgression (170×)H2617a 1. Covenant faithfulness, steadfast love (167×)H2398 1. Qal: to sin, commit sin (165×)H6666 1. righteousness, moral uprightness (145×)G5485 1. grace, divine favor (141×)H7451a 1. morally evil, wicked (129×)H2403b 2. sin-offering, sacrifice for sin (120×)G2570 1. good, right, excellent (98×)H6588 1. transgression, offense against God (88×)G0018 1. good (moral quality) (85×)H2896b 1. good, what is good (85×)H7451b 1. evil, wickedness (moral) (83×)H7451a 2. evil, harm, calamity (80×)G1342 1. righteous, upright (of persons) (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
εὐθύς, εῖα, ύ, Ionic dialect and Epic dialect ἰθύς (which see: so always in Hom.and Refs 5th c.BC+, __A straight, direct, whether vertically or horizontally, opposed to σκολιός, καμπύλος, Refs 5th c.BC+; κατὰ τὸ εὐθὺ ἑστάναι stands still with reference to the vertical, of a spinning top, Refs; εὐ. πλόος, ὁδοί, Refs 5th c.BC+; εὐθείᾳ (i.e. ὁδῷ) by the straight road, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὴν εὐ. Refs…