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Bible Encyclopedias
Stade
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (στάδιον ), the proper designation of a term used in two senses in the Bible.
I. A "furlong," a Greek measure of distance universally current in the East from the time of Alexander the Great, and hence occasionally occurring in the Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 10:16; 2 Maccabees 10:29; 2 Maccabees 11:5; 2 Maccabees 12:9; 2 Maccabees 12:17) and the New Test. (Luke 24:13; John 6:19; John 11:18; Revelation 14:20; Revelation 21:16), but regularly in Josephus for the determination of the location of places. One (Olympic) stadium, as a measure, contained, according to Herodotus (2, 149), 600 Greek feet, i.e., according to Pliny (2, 21; comp. Censorinus, p. 13), 125 Roman paces or 625 feet, so that eight stadia made up a Roman mile (comp. Strabo, 7, 322; Pliny, 3, 39, 8). According to late researches (see Ukert, Geogr. d. Griechen, 1, 2, 73 sq.; Forbiger, Handb. 1, 551 sq.), 600 Greek feet = 570 feet 3 inches 4 lines, Paris measure, or 6063 feet English. It appears, likewise, from the above passages of Luke, that 60 stadia were reckoned as 6 ½ miles, and John (John 11:18) reckons 15 stadia as 1 3/8 of a mile. In the Talmud the stadium is called רַיס or רוּס, of which 7½ went to the Roman mile (Reland, Paloest. p. 408). (See METROLOGY).
II. A "race" course in the public games (1 Corinthians 9:24; comp. Hebrews 12:1; in the Talmud, איצטרין, Aboda Sara, 1, 7), where the lists (δρόμος ), whether armed or unarmed, was located, and which was generally (not always; see Forbiger, ut sup. p. 551 sq.) 125 paces or 600 Greek feet long (see Potter, Gr. Antiq. 1, 962 sq.). Whoever first reached the goal (σκόπος ) received from the arbiter (ἀθλοθέτης, βραβεύς, or βραβεντής, Sueton. Nero, 53) the prize (βραβεῖον, 1 Corinthians loc. cit.; Philippians 3:14), namely, a crown (στέφανος, 1 Corinthians 9:25) of living twigs or leaves. Every important city of Greece and the Greek colonies of Asia Minor (also the Palestinian cities that contained many Greek inhabitants; Josephus, Life, § 17, 64) had its stadium, either separate or in connection with the gymnasia (Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterth. 2, 678). See Lydii Agonistica Sacra (Rotterd. 1657). (See GAME).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Stade'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/s/stade.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
