Bible Lexicons

From its original locative meaning ";over"; (as in P Par 1145 (B.C. 117) τὰ μὲν ὑπὲρ [γῆς ], ταῦθ᾽ ὑπὸ γῆς), ὑπέρ came to be applied in a variety of ways.

1. c. gen. (a) = ";for,"; ";on behalf of,"; ";in the place of"; : P Tebt I. 6.49 (B.C. 140–139) ἐπιτ ]ελεῖν τὰ νομιζόμενα τοῖς θεοῖς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν τ [έκ ]νων, ";to pay the customary offerings to the gods on behalf of us and our children"; (Edd.), P Oxy IV. 743.35 (B.C. 2) συνπροσγενέσθαι αὐτῶι ὡς ἀνθομολογη (σομένῳ) ὑπέρ σου οὕτως ὡς ὑπ ̣(έρ) μου, ";stand by him, as he will agree in everything for you just as for me"; (Edd.), and BGU I. 246.13 (ii/iii A.D.) νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἐντυνχάνω τῷ θεῷ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν. Cf. also with Mark 9:40 the Christian P Iand I. 16.8 (v/vi A.D.) τὸ νόμιμον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐστιν, and with 1 Corinthians 15:29 Michel 1001i. 10 (will of Epicteta—c. B.C. 200) τοῦ καὶ κατασκευαξαμένου τὸ μουσεῖον ὑπὲρ τοῦ μεταλλαχότος ἁμῶν υἱοῦ Κρατησιλόχου.

From this it is an easy transition to ὑπέρ in a substitutionary sense, as when one man writes a letter for another, seeing that he is unable to write it for himself, e.g. P Tebt I. 104.39 (B.C. 92) ἔγραψεν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ Διονύσιος Ἑρμαίσκ [ου ὁ προγεγραμμένος διὰ τ ]ὸ αὐτὸν μὴ ἐπίστασθ [αι γρά ]μματα, ib. II. 373.23 (A.D. 110–1) γέ ]γραφα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ φάσ [κοντος μὴ εἰδέναι γράμματα. Other exx. will be found s.v. ἀγράμματος, and see A. T. Robertson in Exp VIII. xviii. p. 321 ff., where the bearing of this use of ὑπέρ upon certain theological statements in the NT is discussed. Note also P Oxy IV. 722.28 (A.D. 91 or 107) οὐκ ἐξόντος τῷ ̕Α ̣χ ̣[ιλλεῖ οὐδ᾽ ἄλλῳ ὑ ]πὲρ αὐτοῦ ἀπαίτησιν ποιε [ῖσθαι ] . . . τῶν προκει [μ ]ένων λύτρων, where ὑ ]πὲρ αὐτοῦ seems to imply acting in his name or on his behalf (cf. Wenger Stellvertretung, p. 12), and BGU I. 361ii. 17 (A.D. 184) Φιλώτας ῥήτωρ ὑπὲρ Κασίου εἶπεν. , . : cf. John 11:50, Galatians 3:13, Philemon 1:13.

(b) = ";concerning,"; ";about,"; ";as to,"; a somewhat colourless use of ὑπέρ, by which it is equivalent to little more than περί, for which it is often a v.l. in MSS. of the NT (see s.v. περί) : P Par 45.2 (B.C. 152) (= UPZ i. p. 329) ἀπόντος μου πεφρόντικα ὑπὲρ σοῦ χρήσιμα τῶν σῶν πραγμάτων, P Tebt I. 6.41 (B.C. 140–139) καθάπερ οὖν καὶ πρ [ό ]τερο [ν ] προστετάχαμεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνηκόντων τοῖς ἱερο [ῖς κομ ]ίζεσθαι, ";in accordance therefore with our previous ordinance concerning the dues which belong to the temples"; (Edd.), ib. I. 19.4 (B.C. 114) ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐσήμαινες πέμψαι γεωργῶν ἀπροσδέητοί ἐσμεν, ";as for the cultivators whom you said you were sending, I do not require them"; (Edd.), similarly .9, P Goodsp Cairo 4.6 (ii/B.C.) ( = Selections, p. 24) ὑπὲρ ὧν ἠβουλόμεθα, α ̣̓πεσ ̣τάλ ̣καμεν πρὸς σέ Γλαυκίαν, ";as regards those things we wished, we have sent to you Glaucias,"; and OGIS 5.69 (B.C. 311) ὑπὲρ δὴ τούτων καὶ γράψαι μοι ἐδόκει, 90.31 (Rosetta-stone-B.C. 196) φροντίζων ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνηκόν [των εἰς ] αὐτὰ διὰ παντός.

The preposition is common also in connexion with payments, e.g. P Eleph 5 recto.19 (B.C. 284–3) ἐλογισάμην πρὸς Ἑρμαγόραν ὑπὲρ τοῦ οἴνου, P Oxy IV. 745.2 (c. A.D. 1) ὑπὲρ ὧν καὶ ἔθου χειρόγραφον, ";for which (a purchase of wine) you drew me a bond,"; ib. II. 278.10 (hire of a mill—A.D. 17) ὑπὲ [ρ ] τοῦ σημ [αι ]νομένου μύλου ἑκάστου μ [ηνὸ ]ς ἀργ [υρί ]ου δραχμὰς δύο τριώβολ (ον), ib. III. 522.7 (ii/A.D.) ὑπ (ὲρ) μισθ (οῦ) ἐργ (ατῶν) (δραχμαὶ) ι ̄α ̄, ib. 514.3 (A.D. 190–1) ἔσχον παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ὑπὲρ ὀψωνίου ἀργυ (ρίου) (δραχμὰς) υ ̄, ";I have received from you as my salary 400 drachmae"; (Edd.), and P Iand 37.7 (v/vi A.D.) ὑπὲρ συνηθείας τοῦ ῥιπαρ (ίου) with the editor’s note. For the stronger ἀντί in connexion with the metaphor of purchase, cf. Mark 10:45 ( = Matthew 20:28) λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν with 1 Timothy 2:6 ἀντίλυτρον ὑπὲρ πάντων : see Proleg. p. 105.

2. c. acc. = ";over,"; ";above,"; ";beyond,"; lit. and metaph. : P Hib I. 38.7 (B.C. 252–1) τῶν συρίων ὑπὲρ τὴν σκηνὴ [ν ] ο ̣ὐσῶν, ";the Syrian cloths being above the cabin"; (Edd.), P Petr III. 6 (a).41 (B.C. 236) ὑπὲρ ὀφρὺν δεξιάν, P Tor II. 8.70 (B.C. 119) ὑπὲρ ἑαυτὸν φρονῶν, P Flor I. 86.1 (i/A.D.) ἀπὸ Ἑρμοῦ π ̣ο ̣λ ̣[ε ]ως τῆς ὑπὲρ Μέμ ̣φι ̣ν, P Ryl II. 74.3 (A.D. 133–5) εἰς τοὺς ὑπὲρ Κόπτον ἀνε <λ >θεῖν ̣, ";to visit the regions beyond Coptos,"; P Flor I. 57.62 (A.D. 223–5) ὑπὲρ τὸν α ̣̓ρ ̣ι ̣θμ [ὸ ]ν [τ ]ῶν ἑβδομήκον ̣τ ̣α ἐτ ̣ω ̣ν ̣ ἐγε ̣ν ̣όμην, and P Oxy X. 1298.7 (iv/A.D.) ἐγὼ μόνος πάνυ ἐμαυτὸν τηρῶν ὑπὲρ τὸν ἀσφαλήν, ";I have been keeping myself quite alone beyond the point of safety"; (Edd.). Cf. also ib. XVI. 1849.1 (vi/vii A.D.) μίαν ὑπὲρ μίαν (sc. ἡμέραν), ";day by day.";

The gradual weakening of the construction of ὑπέρ c. acc. in late Greek is seen in the fact that in the NT this construction occurs only 19 times, as compared with 126 occurrences of ὑπέρ c. gen. : cf. Proleg. p. 105. For the use of διά (with gen. and with acc.) for ὑπέρ in late Greek, see Bell’s note ad P Lond 1917.7, where reference is also made to jannaris Gr. §§ 1521, 1534 (c).

See as usual the monographs on the prepositions by Kuhring, Rossberg, and Regard, as described in Abbreviations I. General.