ἐπιούσιος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unknown. Ultimately either from ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, “on”) +‎ εἶμῐ (eîmĭ, “go, come”) or from ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, “on”) +‎ εἰμῐ́ (eimĭ́, “be”). Possible etymologies include:

From the phrase ἡ ἐπῐοῦσᾰ ἡμέρᾱ (hē epĭoûsă hēmérā, “the following day”),^[1] essentially breaking down into ἐπῐοῦσᾰ (epĭoûsă, “next, following”) +‎ -ῐος (-ĭos, adjectival suffix), where ἐπῐοῦσᾰ (epĭoûsă) is the feminine nominative singular of ἐπῐών (epĭṓn) the present participle of ἔπειμῐ (épeimĭ, “follow, come after”) from ἐπ- (ep-, “on”) +‎ εἶμῐ (eîmĭ, “go, come”).
From the phrase ἐπὶ τὴν οὖσᾰν ἡμέρᾱν (epì tḕn oûsăn hēmérān, “for the actual/current day, lit. for the day being”),^[2] essentially breaking down into ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, “on”) +‎ οὖσᾰ (oûsă, “being, actual”) +‎ -ῐος (-ĭos, adjectival suffix), where οὖσᾰ (oûsă) is the feminine nominative singular of ὤν (ṓn), the present participle of εἰμῐ́ (eimĭ́, “be”).
From ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, “on”) +‎ οὐσῐ́ᾱ (ousĭ́ā, “essence, existence, substance”) +‎ -ῐος (-ĭos, adjectival suffix), cognate with ἐπουσῐ́ᾱ (epousĭ́ā, “surplus”) from ἐπών (epṓn, “remaining”), the present participle of ἔπειμῐ (épeimĭ, “remain, be left over”) from ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, “on”) +‎ εἰμῐ́ (eimĭ́, “be”), but a separate Koine innovation of the roots to explain why the iota of ἐπῐ́ (epĭ́) was not dropped.

Not attested outside of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3, in the phrase τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπῐούσῐον (tòn árton hēmôn tòn epĭoúsĭon), traditionally rendered as "our daily bread".

Adjective

ἐπῐούσῐος • (epĭoúsĭos) m or f (neuter ἐπῐούσῐον); second declension

The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
1. for tomorrow, for the future (for possible etymology #1)
2. daily, sufficient for the day (for possible etymology #2)
3. essential, necessary, supersubstantial (for possible etymology #3)

Inflection

Second declension of ἐπῐούσῐος; ἐπῐούσῐον (Attic)

Number	Singular		Dual		Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ἐπῐούσῐος epĭoúsĭos	ἐπῐούσῐον epĭoúsĭon	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epĭousĭ́ō	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epĭousĭ́ō	ἐπῐούσῐοι epĭoúsĭoi	ἐπῐούσῐᾰ epĭoúsĭă
Genitive	ἐπῐουσῐ́ου epĭousĭ́ou	ἐπῐουσῐ́ου epĭousĭ́ou	ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epĭousĭ́oin	ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epĭousĭ́oin	ἐπῐουσῐ́ων epĭousĭ́ōn	ἐπῐουσῐ́ων epĭousĭ́ōn
Dative	ἐπῐουσῐ́ῳ epĭousĭ́ōi	ἐπῐουσῐ́ῳ epĭousĭ́ōi	ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epĭousĭ́oin	ἐπῐουσῐ́οιν epĭousĭ́oin	ἐπῐουσῐ́οις epĭousĭ́ois	ἐπῐουσῐ́οις epĭousĭ́ois
Accusative	ἐπῐούσῐον epĭoúsĭon	ἐπῐούσῐον epĭoúsĭon	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epĭousĭ́ō	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epĭousĭ́ō	ἐπῐουσῐ́ους epĭousĭ́ous	ἐπῐούσῐᾰ epĭoúsĭă
Vocative	ἐπῐούσῐε epĭoúsĭe	ἐπῐούσῐον epĭoúsĭon	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epĭousĭ́ō	ἐπῐουσῐ́ω epĭousĭ́ō	ἐπῐούσῐοι epĭoúsĭoi	ἐπῐούσῐᾰ epĭoúsĭă
Derived forms	Adverb		Comparative		Superlative
Derived forms	ἐπῐουσῐ́ως epĭousĭ́ōs		ἐπῐουσῐώτερος epĭousĭṓteros		ἐπῐουσῐώτᾰτος epĭousĭṓtătos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Quotations

70 CE – 110 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 6:11:
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον
tòn árton hēmôn tòn epioúsion dòs hēmîn sḗmeron
give us today our bread for tomorrow/our bread sufficient for the day/our supersubstantial bread

Descendants

Greek: επιούσιος (epioúsios)

References

^ “ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
^ “ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

“ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ἐπιούσιος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
G1967 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
M. Nijman and K. A. Worp. "ΕΠΙΟΥΣΙΟΣ in a documentary papyrus?". Novum Testamentum XLI (1999) 3 (July), p. 231-234.
B.M. Metzger, "How Many Times Does ΕΠΙΟΥΣΙΟΣ Occur outside The Lord's Prayer?" ExpTimes 69 (1957–58) 52-54.

[1] “ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

[2] “ἐπιούσιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

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