Epiousion (ἐπιούσιον) is aKoine Greek adjective used in theLord's Prayer verse "Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον"[a] ('Give us today ourepiousion bread'). Because the word is used nowhere else, its meaning is unclear. It is traditionally translated as "daily", but most modern scholars reject that interpretation. The word is also referred to byepiousios, its presumedlemma form.
Since it is aKoine Greekdis legomenon (a word that occurs only twice within a given context) found only in the New Testament passagesMatthew 6:11 andLuke 11:3, its interpretation relies uponmorphological analysis and context. The traditional and most common English translation isdaily, although most scholars today reject this in part because all otherNew Testament passages with the translation "daily" include the wordhemera (ἡμέρᾱ, 'day').[1][2]
TheCatechism of the Catholic Church holds that there are several ways of understandingepiousion (which theCatechism callsepiousios), including the traditional 'daily', but most literally as 'supersubstantial' or 'superessential', based on its morphological components.[3] Alternative theories are that—aside from the etymology ofousia, meaning 'substance'—it may be derived from either of the verbseinai (εἶναι), meaning "to be", orienai (ἰέναι), meaning both "to come" and "to go".[4][5]
The word is visible in theHanna Papyrus 1 (𝔓75), the oldest surviving witness for certainNew Testament passages.[6]
Epiousion is the only adjective in theLord's Prayer. It is masculine,accusative, singular, agreeing ingender,number, andcase with the noun it qualifies,ἄρτον,arton ("bread"). In aninterlinear gloss:[7][8]
Τὸν
The
ἄρτον
bread
ἡμῶν
of us
τὸν
the
ἐπιούσιον
epiousion
δὸς
give
ἡμῖν
us
σήμερον
today
Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸνἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον
The bread {of us} theepiousion give us today
"Give us today ourepiousion bread"
In the 20th century, another supposed instance appeared to come to light. In an Egyptianpapyrus dated to the 5th century CE which contains ashopping list,[9][10] a word transcribed asepiousi was reported as being next to the names of several grocery items. This seemed to indicate that it was used in the sense of "enough for today", "enough for tomorrow", or "necessary". However, after the papyrus containing the shopping list, missing for many years, was rediscovered at theYale Beinecke Library in 1998, a re-examination found the wordelaiou (oil), notepiousi (the original transcriber,A. H. Sayce, was apparently known to be a poor transcriber). In addition, the document was reassessed to date from the first or second century CE, not the 5th century.[11] Therefore, the use ofepiousion seems indeed to occur nowhere else in ancient Greek literature besides Matthew, Luke, andDidache.
Epiousei, used in Acts 7:26 and elsewhere[12] to refer to thenext day, may be a cognate word.[13]
There are several reasons thatepiousion presents an exceptional translation challenge. The word appears nowhere else in other Ancient Greek texts, and so may have been coined by the authors of the Gospel. Jesus probably did not originally compose the prayer in Greek, but inhis native language, but the consensus view is that theNew Testament was originally written inKoine Greek. This implies the probability oflanguage interpretation (i.e., spoken Aramaic to written Greek) at the outset of recording the Gospel. Thus, the meaning of any such word is often difficult to determine, because cross-references and comparisons with other usages are not possible, except by morphological analysis.
The most popular morphological analysis sees prefixepi- and a polysemantic wordousia even though that does not follow the standard Greek form of building compound words. Usually theiota at the end ofepi would be dropped in a compound whose second word starts with a vowel (compare, e. g.,eponymvsepigraph).[13] This is not an absolute rule, however:Jean Carmignac has collected 26 compound words that violate it.[14] Alternatively, the word may be analyzed as a feminine participle from two different verbs.[15]
To sum up, both modern and ancient scholars have proposed several different translations forepiousion. EvenJerome, the most important translator of the Bible to Latin, translated this same word in the same context in two different ways. Today there is no consensus on the exact meaning. What follows is a review of the alternative translations:
Daily has long been the most common English translation ofepiousion. It is the term used in theTyndale Bible, theKing James Version, and in the most popular modern English versions.[16] This rests on the analysis ofepi asfor andousia asbeing; the word would mean "for the [day] being" withday being implicit.[4]
This version is based on the Latin rendering ofepiousion asquotidianum, rather than the alternative Latin translation ofsupersubstantialem. Thisquotidianum interpretation is first recorded in the works ofTertullian,[17] and is the translation found in theTridentine Mass.[18]
Some translators have proposed slight variations ondaily as the most accurate.Richard Francis Weymouth, an English schoolmaster, translated it as "bread for today" in theWeymouth New Testament.[19]Edgar J. Goodspeed inAn American Translation used "bread for the day." Another option is to viewepiousion as an allusion toExodus 16:4 where God promises to provide a day's portion ofmanna every day. This verse could be an attempt to translate the Hebrew of "bread sufficient to the day" into Greek.[20]
The wordepiousei (ἐπιούσῃ) is found in Acts 7:26, 16:11, 20:15, 21:18 and 23:11. This word is typically taken to mean "next" in the context of "the next day or night".[12] It has been suggested thatepiousion is a masculinised version ofepiousa.[21]
Today, most scholars reject the translation ofepiousion as meaningdaily. The worddaily only has a weak connection to any proposedetymologies forepiousion. Moreover, all other instances of "daily" in the EnglishNew Testament translatehemera (ἡμέρα, "day"), which does not appear in this usage.[1][2] Because there are several other Greek words based onhemera that meandaily, no reason is apparent to use such an obscure word asepiousion.[4] Thedaily translation also makes the term redundant, with "this day" already making clear the bread is for the current day.[22]
In theVulgate Jerome translatedepiousion in Matthew 6:11 assupersubstantial (Latin:supersubstantialem), coining a new word not before seen in Latin.[4] This came from the analysis of the prefixepi- assuper andousia in the sense ofsubstance. The Catholic Church believes that this, orsuperessential, is the most literal English translation via Latin, which lacks a grammatical form forbeing, the literal translation of the Greekousia, and so substance or essence are used instead.
This interpretation was supported by early writers such asAugustine,Cyril of Jerusalem,Cyprian of Carthage andJohn Cassian.[22][23]
This translation is used by some modern Bibles. In theDouay-Rheims Bible English translation of the Vulgate (Matthew 6:11) reads "give us this day our supersubstantial bread".[24] The translation ofsupersubstantial bread[25] has also been associated with theEucharist, as early as in the time of theChurch Fathers[26] and later also by theCouncil of Trent (1551).[27]
In 1979, theNova Vulgata, also called the Neo-Vulgate, became the official Latin edition of the Bible published by theHoly See for use in the contemporaryRoman rite. It is not an edition of the historical Vulgate, but a revision of the text intended to accord with modern critical Hebrew and Greek texts and produce a style closer to classical Latin. TheNova Vulgata retains the same correspondence-of-meaning forepiousion in the Lord's Prayer contained in the Gospel according to Matthew[28] and Luke[29] as in the Vulgate, i.e.,supersubstantialem andquotidianum.
According to theCatechism of the Catholic Church, there are several meanings toepiousios, and thatepi-ousios is most literally translated assuper-essential:[3]
"Daily" (epiousios) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Taken in a temporal sense, this word is apedagogical repetition of "this day," to confirm us in trust "without reservation." Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is necessary for life, and more broadly every good thing sufficient for subsistence. Taken literally (epi-ousios: "super-essential"), it refers directly to theBread of Life, theBody of Christ, the "medicine of immortality," without which we have no life within us. Finally in this connection, its heavenly meaning is evident: "this day" isthe Day of the Lord, the day of the feast of the kingdom, anticipated in theEucharist that is already the foretaste of the kingdom to come. For this reason it is fitting for the Eucharistic liturgy to be celebrated each day.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, "supersubstantial" is thought to be a more accurate translation. Here is howFather Thomas Hopko ofSaint Vladimir's Seminary in New York explains it:
epiousios [...] [is] an absolutely unique word. Etymologically [...],epi- means "on top of" and-ousios means "substance" or "being". So it means suprasubstantial bread. Suprasubstantial bread: more-than-necessary bread. In the first Latin translation of the Lord's Prayer, done by Jerome it was [...],panem supersubstantialem. Somewhere along the way it became "cotidianum, daily". Luther translated "daily" from the beginning:tägliches Brot.But in all languages that traditionally Eastern Christians use—Greek, Slavonic, and all the Arabic languages: Aramaic, Arabic—it doesn't say that; it just says a word that's similar to that [...] How do they translate it [into those languages]? [...] they claim that the best translation would be: "Give us today the bread of tomorrow". Give us today the bread of the coming age, the bread that when you eat it, you can never die. What is the food of the coming age? It's God himself, God's word, God's Son, God's lamb, God's bread, which we already have here on earth, on earth, before the second coming. So what we're really saying is, "Feed us today with the bread of the coming age", because we are taught by Jesus not to seek the bread that perishes, but the bread that, you eat it, you can never die.[30]
This translation has often been connected to theeucharist. The bread necessary for existence is thecommunion bread of theLast Supper. That the gospel writers needed to create a new word indicates to Eugene LaVerdiere, an American Catholic priest and biblical scholar of the post-Vatican II era, that they are describing something new. Eating the communion bread at the Last Supper created the need for a new word for this new concept.[31]
Supersubstantial was the dominant Latin translation ofepiousion from Matthew for many centuries after Jerome, and influenced church ritual. It was the basis for the argument advanced by theologians such asCyprian that communion must be eaten daily.[32] That only bread is mentioned led to the practice of giving the laity only the bread and not the wine of the Eucharist. This verse was cited in arguments against theUtraquists. The translation was reconsidered with theProtestant Reformation.Martin Luther originally keptsupersubstantial but switched todaily by 1528.[32]
Those rejecting this translation include some Roman Catholic Biblical scholars, such asRaymond E. Brown,[33]Jean Carmignac,[34] and Nicholas Ayo.[22]
There is no known source word from Aramaic or Hebrew, the native languages of Jesus, that translates into the Greek wordepiousion. In fact, there is no word in either of these languages that easily translates assupersubstantial,[4] a unique translation for a unique Greek word.
M. Eugene Boring, a Protestant theologian atTexas Christian University, claims that the connection with the Eucharist is ahistoric because he thinks that the ritual only developed some time after the Gospel was written and that the author of Matthew does not seem to have any knowledge of or interest in the Eucharist.[35]Craig Blomberg, also a Protestant New Testament scholar, agrees that these "concepts had yet to be introduced when Jesus gave his original prayer and therefore could not have been part of his original meaning."[36]
Another interpretation is to linkepiousion to the Greek wordousia meaning both the verbto be and the nounsubstance.Origen was the first writer to comment on the unusual word. A native Greek speaker writing a century and half after the Gospels were composed, he did not recognize the word and thought it was an originalneologism. Origen thought "bread necessary for existence" was the most likely meaning, connecting it to theto be translation ofousia.[17]
George Ricker Berry translated the word as simply "necessary" in 1897.[37] PhilosopherRaïssa Maritain, wife of philosopherJacques Maritain, writes that during her era of the 1940s this translation was found to be the most acceptable by modern scholars. Her own conclusion was stated as being in agreement withTheodore of Mopsuestia, that being the "bread we need." This was seen as vague enough to cover what was viewed as the three possible etymological meanings: (1) literal – the "bread of tomorrow or the bread of the present day," (2) analogical – the "bread we need in order to subsist," and (3) spiritual/mystical – the bread "which is above our substance" (i.e., supersubstantial).[38]
Joseph Fitzmyer translates the verse as "give us this day our bread for subsistence." He connects this to the Aramaictargum translations of Proverbs 30:8.[39]
Likedaily, this translation also has the problem that there are well known Greek words that could have been used instead.[32]
The "for the future" translation is today held by the majority of scholars.[40] Early supporters of this translation includeCyril of Alexandria andPeter of Laodicea by way of linkingepiousion with the verbepienai, "of tomorrow."[41][42] According to Jewish theologianHerbert Basser, this translation was also considered (but eventually rejected) as a possibility byJerome, who noted it as an aside in his commentary to Matthew that theGospel of the Hebrews usedma[h]ar ("for tomorrow") in this verse.[43]
Raymond E. Brown claims it is also indicated by earlyBohairic andSahidic sources.[44][33] Referencingepiousei in Acts 7:26, the Lutheran theologianAlbert Schweitzer, reintroduced this translation in modern times.[13] A "for the future" reading leads to a cluster of related translations, including: "bread for tomorrow," "bread for the future," and "bread for the coming day."[13]
Beyond the literal meaning, this translation can also be read in aneschatological context: "the petition for an anticipation of the world to come."[45] Others seetomorrow being referenced to the end times and the bread that of themessianic feast.[46] Raymond Brown argues that all the other phrases of theLord's Prayer are eschatological, so it would be incongruous for this phrase to be speaking prosaically about bread for eating.[44]Eduard Schweizer, a Swiss protestant New Testament scholar and theologian, disagrees. Humble bread was not traditionally presented as part of the messianic feast and the prosaic need for bread to survive would have been a universal sentiment of Jesus' followers.[47]
The Catholic theologian Brant Pitre acknowledges the "for the future'" interpretation is held by a majority of scholars, but criticizes it for lacking support among ancient Christian interpreters.[40] Pitre also cites that an adjectival form for "tomorrow" exists in ancient Greek,αὔριον in Matthew 6:34, and could have been used instead of the one-time-useἐπιούσιον.[48][4]
Another potential issue with a "for the future" translation is it seems to contradictMatthew 6:31, where only a few verses later Jesus tells his followers not to worry about food, that God will take care of such needs.W.D. Davies, a Welsh Congregationalist scholar, andDale Allison, an American New Testament scholar, however, do not see a contradiction:Matthew 6:34 tells one not to be anxious about such needs: that a pious person asks God in prayer for these needs to be filled, may rather be why there is no need to worry.[5]
Kenneth E. Bailey, a professor of theology and linguistics, proposed "give us today the bread that doesn't run out" as the correct translation.[49]
TheSyriac versions of the Bible were some of the first translations of the Gospels from the Greek into another language. Syriac is also close to Jesus' ownAramaic, and the translators close in time and language to Jesus should thus have had considerable insight into his original meanings. In Syriacepiousion is translated asameno, meaning lasting, perpetual, constant, trustworthy, never-ceasing, never-ending, or always.[49]
Lutheran scholar Douglas E. Oakman suggests "give us today bread in abundance" as another translation. He notes that in the contemporary literatureousia can mean substance, but it also has a concrete meaning of a large, substantial, estate. Thus as a cognate of the wordperiousios,epiousion could refer to plentiful or abundant bread.[50]
Oakman also notes contemporary sources that translateousia as the royal or imperial estate and proposes that the verse could originally have meant "give us the royal bread ration for today."[50]
Davies and Allison state that the verse has also been translated as "give us this day the bread that belongs to it," though they concede that this expression is little recognized by modern scholars.[5]
TheOld Church Slavonic canon translatesepiousion variously as well. For example,Codex Marianus translates it asнасѫщьнъі (nasǫštĭnŭì, which appears to be acalque ofepiousion using theousia etymology with debatable semantics[51]) in Luke 11:3 butнаставъшааго дьне (nastavŭšaago dĭne, 'for the coming day') in Matthew 6:11.Sava's book agrees in the latter case, but hasдьневьнъі (dĭnevĭnŭì, 'daily') in the former, whileCodex Zographensis hasнадьневьнъі (nadĭnevĭnŭì) andнастоѩшт… (nastojęšt) respectively.[52]
TheNew Church Slavonic version has the calqueнасꙋщный (nasūštnȳĭ) in both cases now,[53][54] following 16th-centuryOstrog Bible,[55][56] and the dictionaries translate the New Church Slavonic word as 'necessary for existence'[57][58] (note that the sense of the word likely changed in course of the time),[51] from which derives Russianнасущный.
| Language | Term | Meaning | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basque | egun honetako | of this day | Elizen Arteko Biblia[59] | |
| eguneco / eguneko | of the day | Joanes Leizarraga[60] / Elizen Arteko Biblia[61] | ||
| Latin /Romance | French | de ce jour | of this day | [62] |
| essentiel | essential | [63] | ||
| nécessaire | necessary | [64] | ||
| dont nous avons besoin | that we need | [65][66] | ||
| qu'il nous faut | that we lack | [67] | ||
| de la journée | of the day | [68] | ||
| pour jour | for the day | [69] | ||
| de demain | of tomorrow | [70] | ||
| spirituel | spiritual | [71] | ||
| Latin | cottidianum/cotidianum | quotidian | Vetus Latina, Matthew 6:11,[72] Luke 11:3,[73]Vulgate, Luke 11:3 (Stuttgart Vulgate)[74] | |
| supersubstantialem | supersubstantial | Vulgate, Matthew 6:11 (Stuttgart Vulgate)[75] | ||
| Spanish | de cada día | of each day | [76] | |
| sustancial de cada día | substantial of each day | [77] | ||
| Germanic | Dutch | dagelijks | daily | [78] |
| dat wij nodig hebben | that we need | [79] | ||
| German | tägliches | daily | [80] | |
| Gothic | 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽 (sinteinan) | ever-daily, always | Wulfila Bible[81] | |
| Norwegian | daglige (Bokmål) | daily | ||
| daglege (Nynorsk) | [82] | |||
| Swedish | dagliga | daily | [83][84] | |
| för dagen som kommer | for the day that comes | [85] | ||
| vi behöver | we need | [86] | ||
| Indonesian | secukupnya | [87] | ||
| Syriac | ܝܘܡܢܐ (yawmānā) | present/of the day | Peshitta | |
| ܐܡܝܢܐ (ameno,ʾammīnā) | lasting, eternal | Curetonian Gospels, liturgical[49]: 120 | ||