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"For the church to evangelize the world without thinking of the Jews, is like a bird trying to fly with one broken wing." Franz Delitzsch

Roman 9 Part Seven PDF Print E-mail

Word Study:  “Wish"

For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for my brothers my kin according to (the) flesh,
The history of “accursed” (anathema) in the Greek, and specifically the Homeric era, dealt primarily with a general appeal to a deity.1  The appeal was accompanied by a sacrifice to the gods in hopes that they would be appeased by the supplicant’s gift.2  However, the importance of the word in the cultic sphere became less pronounced over time.3

In the Old Testament, the idea of “wish” or “pray” took on more significant meaning as it was addressing the divine.4  The idea of “wish” was not present in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament,5 though the concept was found in the expression of “asking from God.”6
The bridge of the intertestamental period for euchomai brings the concept of “wish” back to the forefront even though “pray” still played a prominent role.7  

In the New Testament, euchomai finds its way back to a “wish” concept.    However, this is only possible when the object of the address is God8 and even then the verb is only used a few times in the New Testament.9  The primary example of “pray” or “wish” finds a presence through the Lord’s Prayer of Matthew 610 as reflected in the Vulgate.11  Kittel notes that Paul’s use of euchomai is restricted by the fact that it can never come to pass.12
1Horst Balz, “euchomai,” Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 2, eds. Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider (Grand Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), 89; and Gerhard Kittel, ed., “euchomai,” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 2, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), 775-76; and C. Brown, “proseuchomai,” The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, gen. ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), 862.

2Brown, 862.

3Kittel, 777.

4Brown, 862, 863.

5Balz, 89.

6Kittel, 785.

7Ibid., 783.

8Balz, 89; and Brown, 867.  Balz states the usage at nine verses while Brown believes there are ten usages in the New Testament.

9Ibid. (on both notations).

10Kittel, 803.

11Cranfield, 454.

12Ibid., 785.
 

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