STRAIT; STRAITEN; STRAITLY

strat, strat'-'-n, strat'-il: The word "strait" and its compounds are used in English Versions of the Bible in the literal sense of "narrow" (tsar, 2 Kings 6:1; Isaiah 49:20; mutsaq, Job 37:10; 'atsal, Ezekiel 42:6) and in the figurative sense of "strict" (shabha`, Exodus 13:19; caghar, Joshua 6:1; tsarar, "to be distressed," 2 Samuel 24:14 parallel; yatsar, Job 20:22; metsar, Lamentations 1:3). In Apocrypha the verb "straitened" occurs in Susanna verse 22. In the New Testament we have stenos (Matthew 7:13 f parallel, the Revised Version (British and American) "narrow"; polus, "much"; so the Revised Version (British and American) Mark 3:12; 5:43; sunecho, "to urge," "hold together," Luke 12:50; Philippians 1:23). It occurs in its superlative form in Acts 26:5, "After the straitest (akribestatos, "most exact," "scrupulous") sect of our religion," i.e. "the most precise and rigorous in interpreting the Mosaic Law, and in observing the more minute precepts of the Law and of tradition" (Thayer, Lexicon, under the word; compare Acts 22:3).

See also STRAIGHT; STRAIGHTWAY ,STRAIGHTWAY .

M. O. Evans

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.