εὔχομαι

Forms

εὔχομαι (eúkhomai) ^[1] Mycenaean Greek e-u-ke-to “claims, declares”.^[1][2] An athematic past εὖκτο (eûkto) is found in the Thebaid.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *eukʰomai,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- (“to speak solemnly”).^[3][4] Beekes identifies it with Avestan aojaite (“proclaims solemnly”) and Sanskrit ओहते (óhate, “boasts, praises”), from a reduplicated present *h₁é-h₁ugʷʰ-e-toi, with *gʷʰ giving ⟨χ⟩ after ⟨υ⟩.^[3] It is an old term of religious language.^[3] The athematic εὖκτο (eûkto) corresponds to the Avestan aoxta, though Szemerényi took it for a new aorist.^[3][1]

Unreduplicated forms are found in Latin voveō (“to vow”), वाघत् (vāghát, “one who vows”) and Old Armenian գոգեմ (gogem, “to say”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean e-u-ke-to is found on a Pylos tablet where the priestess Eritha claims to hold land on behalf of her god.^[2][1] In Homer the verb means to declare proudly, to boast that one is of a certain lineage or has done a deed, and to pray to the gods.^[5][6][2]

Semantic evolution

Spicq takes “to affirm aloud, to make a solemn declaration” as its basic meaning, from which come both the boast and the prayer.^[2] In Homer it can mean to vow a sacrifice to a god, and the prayer with a vow.^[2] Homeric heroes “boast to be” the sons of famous fathers.^[5][2] From Homer and Hesiod on it also means to pray that the gods do something or that something may happen.^[5][7] Aristotle uses it of a wish that cannot come true.^[7]

In the New Testament it means to pray to God and to wish.^[8][9] Modern Greek εύχομαι (éfchomai) is a learned form meaning to wish, to give one's blessing and to pray.^[10]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – A Pylos tablet has e-u-ke-to for a priestess's claim.^[2][1]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for boasting, declaring and praying.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for prayers to the gods.^[7][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for an impossible wish.^[7][11]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for prayer to God and for a pious wish.^[8][9]
• Modern Greek – εύχομαι (éfchomai) means to wish.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To declare, claim; to say confidently that one is or has done something.^[5][2]
2. To boast; to exult.^[5][3]
3. To promise solemnly, to vow.^[3][2]
4. To pray, usually with a dative of the god; to pray that something may happen.^[7][5][8]
5. To pray for something; to wish for something.^[5][7][9]

Word family

• ἀπεύχομαι (apeúkhomai)
• ἐξεύχομαι (exeúkhomai)
• ἐπεύχομαι (epeúkhomai)
• κατεύχομαι (kateúkhomai)
• μετεύχομαι (meteúkhomai)
• προσεύχομαι (proseúkhomai)
• συγκατεύχομαι (sunkateúkhomai)
• συνεπεύχομαι (sunepeúkhomai)
• συνεύχομαι (suneúkhomai)
• ἐπευχή (epeukhḗ)
• εὐκτέον (euktéon)
• εὐκτός (euktós)
• εὐχή (eukhḗ)
• εὖχος (eûkhos)

Related words

• εὐχωλή (eukhōlḗ)
• Latin voveō
• Modern Greek εύχομαι (éfchomai)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b c United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge