Stadion derives from the verb histemi ('to stand, set') and originally referred to a fixed standard of length — about 185 meters. In the Gospels and Revelation it appears as a straightforward distance marker: the disciples row twenty-five or thirty stadia across the sea (John 6:19), and Emmaus lies sixty stadia from Jerusalem (Luke 24:13). But in 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul shifts to the word's concrete architectural referent — the stadium or racecourse where runners compete for a prize. Spanish 'estadio' and German 'Stadien' carry both meanings, while the context in each passage disambiguates distance from arena.