דֶּ֫רֶךְ715 H1870
Road, path, way; metaphorically one's way of life, conduct, or manner; also a journey or distance traveled.
Derek is one of the Hebrew Bible's most versatile nouns, serving as both a concrete geographical term and one of Scripture's richest metaphors. A derek can be a dusty road between towns, the 'way of the Red Sea,' or the route of a caravan — but it becomes truly powerful when it describes the moral and spiritual trajectory of a life. The Psalms' opening declaration that God 'knows the way of the righteous' (Ps 1:6) and Proverbs' warning against the 'way of the wicked' depend on this seamless slide from physical path to ethical conduct. The multilingual evidence shows every language preserving this duality: Spanish camino, German Weg, French chemin, Korean 길, Arabic tariq, and Swahili njia all function simultaneously as 'road' and 'way of life.' This universal metaphor — life as a journey along a path — makes derek one of the Bible's most translatable and most profound words.
Senses
1. road, path, way — A physical road, path, or route — the concrete thoroughfare on which people walk or travel, appearing 376 times. This covers named routes ('the way of the land of the Philistines,' Exod 13:17), roads between cities (Gen 35:19), paths in the wilderness (Gen 24:27; 28:20), and even animal tracks. Spanish camino, German Weg, French chemin, and Arabic tariq all map directly to this spatial sense. The construct form derek + place-name ('way of the Red Sea,' 'way of Bashan') functions almost as a geographical proper noun, and Gen 3:24 — the cherubim guarding the 'way to the tree of life' — gives this concrete sense immediate theological weight. 376×
AR["في-الطَّريقِ","فِي-الطَّرِيقِ"]·ben["পথে","পথে-","পথে-যে"]·DE["auf-dem-Weg","auf-der-Weg","in-der-Weg"]·EN["in-the-way","on-the-way"]·FR["dans-le-chemin","sur-le-chemin"]·heb["ב-דרך","ב-ה-בדרך","ב-ה-דרך"]·HI["-मार्ग-में","तुम्हें","पर-राह","मार्ग-में","में-राह","रास्ते-में","राह-में"]·ID["di-jalan"]·IT["in-il-via","su-il-via"]·jav["ing-margi","wonten-ing-margi","wonten-ing-margi.","wonten-margi","wonten-margi,"]·KO["그-길-에서","그-길에서","길-에서","길에서","안-에-그-길","에-그-길","에-길","에서-그-길"]·PT["em-o-caminho","no-caminho","no-caminho,"]·RU["в-дороге","в-пути","на-дороге","на-пути","по-дороге"]·ES["en-el-camino","por-el-camino"]·SW["kwa","kwenye","na-wangu","njia","njiani"]·TR["-yolda","yolda","yolda-"]·urd["-راستے-میں","راستے-میں","راستے-میں-اس","راستے-پر"]
2. way of life, conduct — One's way of life, moral conduct, or habitual behavior — 318 occurrences forming the great metaphorical extension of the word. God examines human 'ways' (Gen 6:12; Ps 139:3), commands his people to walk in his 'ways' (Deut 8:6; 10:12), and the wicked are defined by their 'ways' (Ps 1:6; Prov 4:19). Korean 길/도 and Chinese 道 (dao) both carry this same path-to-ethics metaphor natively, while Swahili njia and Arabic tariq also extend naturally from road to conduct. The Psalms and Proverbs are the heartland of this sense, where derek becomes virtually synonymous with a person's character before God (Ps 119:27-30; Prov 3:6; 14:12). 318×
AR["الطَّرِيقَ-","طَريقُ","طَريقُ-","طَرِيقَ","طَرِيقَ-","طَرِيقُ","طَرِيقُ-","طَرِيقِ-"]·ben["পথ","পথ-","পথে"]·DE["Weg","der-Weg-"]·EN["is-the-way-of","the-way-of","way","way-of"]·FR["chemin"]·heb["דרך","דרך-"]·HI["मार्ग","मार्ग-","राह"]·ID["Jalan","jalan","jalan-"]·IT["via"]·jav["Margi-","dalan-saking","margi","margi-","margi-saking"]·KO["길-은","길-을","길-이","길로","길은","길이","길이-"]·PT["Caminho-de","O-caminho","O-caminho-da","Pelo-caminho","caminho-","caminho-de","caminho-de-","o-caminho","pelo-caminho"]·RU["Путь","Путь-","Путём-","пути","путь","путь-"]·ES["Camino-de","camino-","camino-de","camino-de-","el-camino","por-el-camino-de"]·SW["ni-njia-ya","njia","njia-ya","ya-waovu"]·TR["Yolu","yol","yol-","yolu","yolu-","yoluna","yolunda-","yolunu","yolunu-"]·urd["راستہ","راہ","راہ-","راہ-پر","راہ-کی-طرف"]
3. journey, travel — A journey, expedition, or the distance traveled — 15 occurrences where the emphasis falls on the act of traveling rather than the road itself. Jacob prepares provisions 'for the journey' (Gen 42:25; 45:21, 23), Elijah is strengthened for his journey to Horeb (1 Kgs 19:7), and the three-day journey into the wilderness becomes a formula in the Exodus narrative (Exod 3:18; 8:27). German Reise and Arabic masira ('march, distance') both select journey-specific vocabulary distinct from static 'road,' and Korean 여행 similarly shifts to travel semantics. This sense foregrounds duration, provisions, and destination rather than the path as a fixed feature of landscape. 15×
AR["الطَّريقِ","طَريقٌ","طَرِيقَ","طَرِيقَنَا","طَرِيقَهُ","طَرِيقُكُمُ","طَرِيقُنَا","لِ-الطَّريقِ","لِلْ-طَّرِيقِ","مَسِيرَةَ","مِن-الطَّريقِ"]·ben["আমাদের-পথ","তার-পথকে","তোমাদের-পথ","পথ","পথ-থেকে","পথের","পথের-জন্য","যাত্রা"]·DE["dein-Weg","der-Reise","fuer-der-Reise","für-den-Weg","journey","journey-von","seinen-Weg","unser-Weg","von-ein-journey"]·EN["for-the-journey","from-a-journey","his-journey","journey","journey-of","our-way","the-journey","your-way"]·FR["de-un-journey","journey","le-journey","notre-chemin","pour-le-journey","pour-le-voyage","son-voyage","ton-chemin","voyage-de"]·heb["דרך","דרך-ו","דרככם","דרכנו","ה-דרך","ל-דרך","ל-ה-דרך","מ-דרך"]·HI["उसका-मार्ग","तुम्हारी-यात्रा","मार्ग","रास्ता","रास्ते","रास्ते-की","रास्ते-के-लिए","रास्ते-से","राह-हमारी","हमारी-यात्रा"]·ID["Perjalanan","dalam-perjalanan","dari-perjalanan","jalan-kita","jalannya","perjalanan","perjalanan-kami","perjalananmu","untuk-perjalanan"]·IT["da-un-journey","il-journey","journey","journey-di","nostro-via","per-il-journey","suo-journey","tuo-via"]·jav["Margi","kagem-margi","kanggé-margi","lelampahan","margi","margi-kawula-sedaya","margi-kita","margi-panjenengan-sedaya","marginipun","saking-margi"]·KO["그-길의","그의-길을","길","길로","길을-위한","너희의-길이","에-길을-위하여","에서-길","우리의-길을","우리의-길이"]·PT["caminho","caminho-de","caminho-nosso","de-caminho","nosso-caminho","o-caminho","para-o-caminho","seu-caminho","vosso-caminho"]·RU["Путь","для-дороги","дорога","на-дорогу","пути","пути-его","путь-ваш","путь-наш","путём","с-дороги"]·ES["Camino-de","camino","camino-de","del-camino","el-camino","nuestro-camino","para-el-camino","su-camino","vuestro-camino"]·SW["kutoka-safari","kwa","kwa-safari","na-chakula","njia","njia-yetu","safari","safari-yake","safari-yenu","safari-yetu"]·TR["Yolculuk","için-yol","yol","yol-için","yolculuk","yoldan","yolumuz","yolumuzu","yolun","yolunu","yolunuz"]·urd["تمہاری-راہ","راستہ","راستے-کی","راستے-کے-لیے","راہ","سفر","سفر-اُس-کا","سفر-سے","لیے-سفر-کے","ہماری-راہ"]
4. manner, custom — Manner, custom, or characteristic way of doing something — a rare sense appearing only twice, in Gen 19:31 ('the manner of all the earth,' i.e., the custom of sexual union) and Gen 31:35 ('the manner of women,' i.e., menstruation). Here derek has become fully abstract, meaning 'the way things are done' or 'natural custom.' Arabic 'ada/sira ('custom, habit') and German Weise ('fashion, manner') capture this well. The euphemistic use in both passages — avoiding direct reference to sexual or bodily matters — shows derek functioning as a delicate circumlocution, a usage attested also in later Rabbinic Hebrew. 2×
AR["طَريقَ","كَ-عَادَةِ"]·ben["অবস্থা","যেমন-রীতি"]·DE["der-Weg","nach-der-Weise"]·EN["as-way-of","way-of"]·FR["chemin-de","comme-chemin-de"]·heb["דרך","כ-דרך"]·HI["जैसे-तरिक","रीति"]·ID["cara","seperti-cara"]·IT["come-via-di","via-di"]·jav["kados-cara","marginipun"]·KO["길대로","길이다"]·PT["caminho-de","como-caminho-de"]·RU["по-пути","путь"]·ES["camino-de","según-camino-de"]·SW["kama-njia","njia"]·TR["yolu","yoluna-göre"]·urd["طریقہ","طریقے-کے-موافق"]
5. sense 5 — A single occurrence at 1 Kings 18:43 where Elijah sends his servant to look 'toward the sea' (derek-yam, 'the way of the sea'). The gloss evidence (English 'way-of-,' Spanish camino-de, German Weg-von-) suggests a directional or locative use — 'in the direction of' — that hovers between the concrete road sense and a pure spatial adverbial. This may represent derek functioning as a quasi-preposition indicating direction, a usage also attested in Ugaritic drk and Akkadian girru in directional formulae. 1×
AR["طَريقَ"]·ben["দিকে-"]·DE["Weg-von-"]·EN["way-of-"]·FR["chemin-de-"]·heb["דרך"]·HI["ओर"]·ID["ke-arah-"]·IT["via-di-"]·jav["margi-"]·KO["길-로"]·PT["caminho-de"]·RU["в-направлении-"]·ES["camino-de"]·SW["upande-wa"]·TR["yönüne-"]·urd["کی-طرف-"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
דֶּ֫רֶךְ715 n.m. Dt 17:16 & (less often) f. Ex 18:20 way, road, distance, journey, manner—abs. ד׳ Gn 38:16 +; דָּ֑רֶךְ v 21 +; cstr. דֶּרֶךְ 3:24; sf. דַּרְכִּי 24:42 + 4 times + 2 S 22:33 דַּרְכִּ֯ו; דַּרְכְּךָ Ho 10:13 1 K 19:15; דַּרְכֶּ֑ךָ ψ 5:9 + 9 times; דַּרְכֵּךְ Je 2:23 + 8 times; דַּרְכּוֹ Gn 6:12 +; דַּרְכָּהּ 1 S 1:18 Jb 28:23; דַּרְכֵּנוּ Ju 18:5 + 2 times; דַּרְכְּכֶם Gn 19:2 + 3…