Bible Lexicons

πρό is found 48 times in the NT, including 9 times with the articular inf., and always c. gen.

(1) For the local use ";before,"; ";in front of,"; which is rare in the NT (Acts 3:1-26, James 1:1-27), we may cite P Petr II. 45iii. 24 (B.C. 246) (= III. p. 334) πρὸ [τῆς πύλης ] ὅδον ἐξήνεγκαν, and OGIS 50.12 (mid. iii/B.C.) ἀναθεῖναι πρὸ τοῦ νεὼ τοῦ Διονύσου. We have found no instances in our sources of the Hebraizing πρὸ προσώπου (Matthew 11:10 (from LXX), Luke 9:52), but for πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν (2 Maccabees 8:17, 3 Maccabees 4:4) cf. BGU II. 362v. 8 (A.D. 215) πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν θέμενος [τ ]ὰ κελευσθέντα, similarly Aristeas 284, and OGIS 210.8 (c. A.D. 247) πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχουσι τὰ περὶ τούτου κελευσθέντα : see Deissmann LAE, p. 183 f.

The thought of preference, as in James 5:12, 1 Peter 4:8, appears in the common epistolary phrase πρὸ πάντων —P Oxy II. 294.30 (A.D. 22) πρ ]ὸ μὲν πάντων σεαυτοῦ ἐπιμέλου εἵν᾽ ὑ [γιαίνῃς, ib. 292.11 (c. A.D. 25) πρὸ δὲ πάντων ὑγια <ί >νειν σε εὔχ [ο ]μαι ἀβασκάντως τὰ ἄριστα πράττων, ";before all else you have my good wishes for unbroken health and prosperity"; (Edd.).

(2) For the temporal use ";before,"; ";earlier than,"; cf. P Hib I. 60.4 (c. B.C. 245) πρὸ ἕκτης ὥρας τῆι ιθ ̄, ";before the sixth hour on the 19th,"; P Fay 122.23 (c. A.D. 100) πρὸ ἡ ]μερῶν τριῶν, ";three days beforehand"; (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:2; Proleg, p. 101), BGU II. 592i. 3 (ii/A.D.) τετελεύτηκεν πρὸ δω [δε ]καετίας, P Gen I. 47.4 (A.D. 346) πρὸ ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν τούτων, and from the inscrr. OGIS 56.45 (B.C. 238) πρὸ τοῦ νέου ἔτους, ib. 90.31 (Rosetta stone–B.C. 196) τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ βασιλείων. For the phrase πρὸ πολλοῦ cf. P Hib I. 170 (end of a letter—B.C. 247) τούτου γὰρ οὕνεκεν πρὸ πολλοῦ σοι γράφω, and P Oxy VIII. 1153.16 (i/A.D.) ἃ ἐδ ̣ω ̣ρήσατό σοι Παυσανίας ὁ ἀδελφός σου πρὸ πολλοῦ (";some time ago";). Οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν, ";our predecessors,"; is supplied in P Tebt I. 61(b).384 (B.C. 118–7) : cf. also ib. 15.21 (B.C. 114) [[διὰ τῆς πρὸ ταύτης ]] ἐπισ (τολῆς).

John 12:1 πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα is often treated as a Latinism like ante diem tertium Kalendas (cf. Jannaris Gr. § 1651, Schulze Graeca-Latina p. 15), but Moulton (Proleg. p. 100 f.) regards the second gen. as practically an ablative = ";starting from,"; and finds exx. of the construction in phrases which have nothing to do with the Latin formula. See e.g. the illiterate P Fay 118.15 (A.D.110) πρὼ δύο ἡμερον ἀγόρασον τὰ ὀρνιθάρια τῆς εἱορτῆς καὶ πέμσεις αὐτά, ";buy the fowls two days before the feast and send them,"; and the Mysteries inscr. from Andania Syll 653 (= .3 736).70 (B.C. 92) πρὸ ἁμερᾶν δέκα τῶν μυστηρίων.

Similar exx. are supplied by Rouffiac p. 29—Priene 41.2 (decree of Senate—before B.C. 136) πρὸ ἡμερῶν πέντε εἰδυιῶν Φεβροαρίων, and 105.23 (c. B.C. 9) πρ ]ὸ ἐννέα καλανδῶν Ὀκτωβρίων, similarly .55. See also Babrius xxviii. 4 πρὸ τῆς ὥρης.

(3) For πρό c. articular inf. (as in Matthew 6:8 al.), cf. P Frankf 1.35 (B.C. 214–3) πρ ̣ὸ τοῦ αὐτὸν ἢ τὰ ἐκφόρια κομίσασθαι, and for πρὸ τοῦ c. opt. or subj. cf. BGU III. 814.14 (iii/A.D.) πρὸ τοῦ [εἰσέ ]λθοις εἰς τὴν παρεμπολήν σο ̣ν, and P Fay 136.6 (iv/A.D.) πρὸ τοῦ τις ὑμᾶς ἐνέγκῃ, ";before anyone fetches you."; Cf. MGr προτοῦ (νά) c. aor. or pres. subj. (Thumb Handb., p. 193).