race, racing

Contest of speed or endurance. The metaphor of the footrace seldom occurs in the OT (Ps 19:5; Jer 12:5; Eccl 9:11), probably because competitive sports had no significant place in the social life of ancient Israel. But metaphorical allusions to the footrace are numerous in the NT (1Cor 9:24-27; Phil 1:27-30; Phil 3:13-14; 1Thess 2:2; cf. Col 1:28-29; 1Tim 4:7-10; 2Tim 4:7-8; Heb 12:1-2; Jude 1:3).