CAUSEWAY (מְסִלָּה, H5019, highway; raised way, public road (never a city street); LXX ἀνάβασις, going up; stairs; Vul. via, way, path; Luther Strasse road). A paved road or path built above the ground level, as over wet ground or through shallow water. “Causeway” (better “causey,” kô'-zĭ) appears twice in KJV (1 Chron 26:16, 18; RSV “road”) where מְסִלָּה, H5019, denotes “the ascending highway,” viz., “a raised way” leading from the Tyropoeon Valley up to the W side of the Temple area. This was the principal approach to the lower city.

In 2 Chronicles 9:11 both KJV and ASV tr. מְסִלֹּ֤ות (apparently meant for מִסְעָד, H5026, [ות] BDB, 700; cf. 1 Kings 10:12) as “terraces”; whereas RSV disregards Heb. and renders LXX ἀναβάσεις and Vul. gradus as “steps.”

Figuratively מְסִלָּה, H5019, refers to the “march” of locusts (Joel 2:8); the “courses” of the stars (Judg 5:20); the “conduct” of the upright (Prov 16:17); and the “ascents” to Zion in the minds of the pious (Ps 84:5).