Bible Lexicons

For εὐχή = ";prayer"; (as in James 5:15) cf. P Strass I. 41.32 (A.D. 250) τ ̣ῆ ̣ς ̣ μὲν π ̣αιδὸς ἤδ ̣[η γ ]ε ̣γ ̣αμημένης κατὰ τὰς εὐχὰς τοῦ πάππου, BGU IV. 1080.5 (iii/A.D. ?) συνχαίρων ἐπὶ τῇ ὑπαρχθείσῃ σοι ἀγαθῇ [ἐ ]σ ̣ευβεῖ (l. εὐσεβεῖ) καὶ εὐτυχῇ (l. εὐτυχεῖ) [σ ]υμβιώσι κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς ἡμῶν εὐχὰς καὶ προσευχάς, and P Giss I. 22, where a mother writes to her son, rejoicing that he is ἀπρόσ [κοπ ]ον καὶ ἱλαρώτατον, and adds.10 ταῦ [τά μ ]οι ή πᾶσα εὐχή ἐστι [καὶ μ ]έριμνα. In ib. 23 the same mother writing to her daughter speaks of her prayer for her children as .5 πάντων (πασῶν ?) τῶν εὐχῶν μου ἀναγκαιοτάτην. The Christian usage is seen in P Oxy VI. 939.8 (iv/A.D.) ταῖς εὐ ]χαῖς ἡμῶν ἐπένευσεν διασώσας ἡμῖν [τὴν ἡμῶν ] κυρίαν, ";He inclined His ear to our prayers by preserving for us our mistress"; (Edd.), BGU III. 954.15 (vi/A.D.) τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν εὐχήν, i.e. the Lord’s Prayer. According to Priene 174.18 (ii/B.C.) one of the duties of the priest of Dionysus is prayer—καὶ τὰς εὐχὰς εὔξεται ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως τῆς Πριηνέων : cf. the inscr. (probably i/B.C.) found on the lintel of the Temple of Pnepheros and Petesuchos in the Fayûm—Πνεφερῶτι καὶ Πετεσούχῳ καὶ τοῖς συννάοις θεοῖς μεγάλοις μεγάλοις ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ τῶν τέκνων εὐχήν (P Fay p. 32), and the fragmentary Jewish inscr. over a seven-branched candlestick from Akmonia—ὑπὲρ εὐχῆ (l. εὐχῆς) πάση (l. πάσης) τῇ πατρίδι (C. and B. ii. p. 651). In this latter connexion it is interesting to notice in a series of accounts of the four commissioners for the waterworks of the ";metropolis"; (? Hermopolis) the mention not only of the water-rate (128 drachmae a month) for the proseucha of Theban Jews, but also of a similar water-rate for the εὐχεῖον, apparently ";a place for prayer"; (P Lond 1177.60—A.D. 113) (= III. p. 183, Chrest. I. p. 227) : see further ExpT xix. p. 41. For εὐχήν (with ἀνέθηκεν or ἀνέστησεν understood) at the end of Anatolian inscrr. see Ramsay in ExpT x. p. 13, where it is noted that the word indicates both ";prayer"; and ";vow,"; sometimes the one thought being more prominent, sometimes the other. MGr εὐχή, ";blessing,"; ";prayer.";