ῥύμη (rhumē)
rhumē
lane
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 4 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The noun rhumē refers to a narrow street or lane, specifically one enclosed by buildings on either side. In classical Greek, it originally described the force or rush of a moving body, such as a charge of soldiers. By the time of the New Testament, the meaning had shifted to denote a physical thoroughfare in a town, capturing the sense of a constrained path through an urban environment.
This word appears four times in the New Testament, primarily in Acts and Luke. It is used in Matthew 6:2 to describe where hypocrites stand to pray, and in Luke 14:21 for the streets of a city. In Acts 9:11 and 12:10, it describes the narrow lanes Saul walks or Peter follows. The term emphasizes the physical reality of the setting, grounding spiritual events in specific, tangible locations.
The shift from "rush" to "street" reflects how language evolves to describe daily life. Translators typically render rhumē as "street," though this can sometimes sound too broad for the narrow, enclosed spaces implied. The word highlights the ordinary, public nature of these settings, where encounters and actions unfold in plain sight within the community’s infrastructure.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Greek word rhumē describes a narrow lane or street, often enclosed by buildings on either side. It brings to mind the specific, tangible spaces of ancient towns where daily life unfolded. Unlike wide avenues, these lanes were intimate public areas where neighbors encountered one another in plain sight.
When you read about Saul walking down the Street called Straight in Acts 9:11, or the master of the house sending servants into the streets and lanes in Luke 14:21, you are seeing God’s work grounded in real places. These ordinary settings remind us that spiritual encounters happen in the midst of our everyday routines.
This word invites us to consider how we use our own public spaces. Just as these narrow lanes were places of prayer and invitation, our communities can be spaces where grace is visible. May your daily walks reflect the same openness to God’s movement around you.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 4 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- street2×
- streets1×
- lanes1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- ῥύμην2×
- ῥύμας1×
- ῥύμαις1×
Key Verses
-
Acts 9:11
The Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying,
This verse specifies the 'street which is called Straight' as the precise location where Saul was praying, highlighting how divine guidance directs us to specific, tangible places in our lives.
-
Luke 14:21
“That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
The master commands his servant to go into 'the streets and lanes of the city' to bring in the marginalized, showing that God’s invitation extends to the most public and accessible parts of community life.
-
Acts 12:10
When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
Peter walks down 'one street' after his miraculous release, emphasizing the sudden transition from confinement to freedom within the ordinary infrastructure of the city.