Broad

BROAD brod (rochabh, "width"; rechobh, "a broadway," "street," "court"; eurchoros, "spacious"):

Occurs frequently as a term of dimension (Exodus 27:1; 1 Kings 6:6; Ezekiel 40:6,43 the Revised Version (British and American), "handbreadth long") and as indicative of strength (Nehemiah 3:8; Jeremiah 51:58). The centers of communal life are called the "broad places," often rendered "streets" (Jeremiah 5:1; Song of Solomon 3:2; Nahum 2:4). A court before the temple: "the broad place on the east" (the King James Version "the east street," 2 Chronicles 29:4); "broad plates" (Numbers 16:38,39, the Revised Version (British and American) "beaten").

Figurative:

Relief from distress: "Yea, he would have allured thee out of (Hebrew "the mouth of") distress into a broad place" (Job 36:16); the liberty of obedience or liberty within the law (Psalms 119:96, "broad," "roomy," "at liberty"); the all-sufficiency of God for His people (Isaiah 33:21). Jerusalem could not boast of a river or navy--Yahweh's presence with and within her would more than supply these deficiencies; the road to destruction: "Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction" (Matthew 7:13); the ostentatious piety of the Pharisees: "They make broad (platuno, "widen") their phylacteries" (Matthew 23:5).

See CITY; GATE.

L. Kaiser

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'BROAD'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.