אֹ֫רַח
o.rach
way
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word "Orach" (אֹרַח): Path and Journey The Hebrew word *orach* appears 58 times throughout the Bible with the fundamental meaning of "way" or "path." This term denotes a physical route or direction of travel, functioning as a concrete noun for the literal paths people traverse. The frequency of its occurrence across biblical texts suggests it was a common, essential term for describing movement and navigation in the ancient Hebrew-speaking world. Given its broad attestation in the biblical corpus, *orach* likely carried both literal and potentially figurative applications. Its 58 occurrences indicate the concept of "way" was significant enough to warrant repeated reference, suggesting that descriptions of paths, journeys, and directional movement were important themes in biblical narratives and teachings. However, without access to specific contextual examples from the lexicon data, the full range of metaphorical or theological extensions of this term cannot be definitively established from the information provided. The word's persistence across biblical literature demonstrates that the notion of a "way"—whether understood as physical terrain, a route of travel, or a course of action—held consistent importance in Hebrew communication and thought. This foundational vocabulary choice reflects the practical concerns of ancient communities and possibly deeper conceptual frameworks about direction, purpose, and life's journey.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
58 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
The caravans that travel beside them turn away. They go up into the waste, and perish.
Job 6:19The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them.
Job 8:13So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man will perish,
Job 13:27You also put my feet in the stocks, and mark all my paths. You set a bound to the soles of my feet,
Job 16:22For when a few years have come, I will go the way of no return.
Job 19:8He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
Job 22:15Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,
Job 30:12On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction.
Job 31:32(the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler);
Job 33:11He puts my feet in the stocks. He marks all my paths.’
Job 34:11For the work of a man he will render to him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
Psalms 8:8the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
Psalms 16:11You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
Psalms 17:4As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
Psalms 19:5which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
Psalms 25:4Show me your ways, Yahweh. Teach me your paths.
Psalms 25:10All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
Psalms 27:11Teach me your way, Yahweh. Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies.
Psalms 44:18Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path,
Proverbs 5:6She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
Psalms 119:9How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
Psalms 119:15I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.
Psalms 119:101I have kept my feet from every evil way, that I might observe your word.
Psalms 119:104Through your precepts, I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Psalms 119:128Therefore I consider all of your precepts to be right. I hate every false way.
Psalms 142:3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.
Proverbs 1:19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.
Proverbs 2:8that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints.
Proverbs 2:13who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,
Proverbs 2:15who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths,
Proverbs 2:19None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life.
Proverbs 2:20So you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
Proverbs 3:6In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 4:14Don’t enter into the path of the wicked. Don’t walk in the way of evil men.
Proverbs 4:18But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the perfect day.
Proverbs 8:20I walk in the way of righteousness, in the middle of the paths of justice,
Proverbs 9:15to call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways,
Proverbs 10:17He is in the way of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof leads others astray.
Proverbs 12:28In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.
Proverbs 15:10There is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way: whoever hates reproof shall die.
Proverbs 15:19The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.
Proverbs 15:24The path of life leads upward for the wise, to keep him from going downward to Sheol.
Proverbs 17:23A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.
Proverbs 22:25lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.
Isaiah 2:3Many peoples shall go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the law shall go out of Zion, and Yahweh’s word from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 3:12As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.
Isaiah 26:7The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.
Isaiah 26:8Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we have waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
Isaiah 30:11Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
Isaiah 33:8The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man.