Acts 9:11

ἐπὶ τὴν ῥύμην τὴν καλουμένην εὐθεῖαν, into the street which is called Straight, ἐπὶ with the accusative signifies ‘upon,’ and here the sense given by it is that of motion first to the street, and then along it.

ῥύμη is only a word of late classical authors. In N.T. it is used in contradiction to πλατεῖα, which is a wide, open space. So ῥύμη = lane. It is found in like contrast in LXX. of Isaiah 15:3; also it occurs in Tob 13:18; Sir 9:7 μὴ περιβλέπου ἐν ῥύμαις πόλεως, where the context suggests a reference to the less public and open places of the city.

A long, straight street still runs through Damascus, and is probably (so persistent is every feature of Oriental life) the same in which Ananias found Saul in the house of Judas.