To wish; by implication, to pray to God
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G2172 can mean to pray, wish, or express a desire, often before God. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
Reader summary
Full entry for εὔχομαι (G2172) · Open the biblical lexicon
G2172 can mean to pray, wish, or express a desire, often before God. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] prayed for (1), could wish that (1), I pray that (1), I wish (1), our prayer is for (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 26:29. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Corinthians (2), Acts (2), 3 John (1), James (1).
G2172 can mean to pray, wish, or express a desire, often before God. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone. Its uses include Paul\'s prayer for the Corinthians, his wish before Agrippa, prayer for healing in James, and John\'s concern for Gaius. It shows desire brought before God.
This companion therefore treats the word as a Scripture-governed guide, not as a shortcut around exegesis. It helps teachers ask what people desire for others and whether those desires are shaped by the gospel. It should help readers ask better questions of the passage: who is speaking or acting, what covenant or gospel reality is in view, and how the surrounding context limits or strengthens the claim.
It is not the whole New Testament prayer vocabulary.
G2172 presents prayer or wish as desire expressed before God for witness, holiness, healing, and care.
“Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Paul wishes before God that his hearers would become as he is, except for his chains.
Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not that we will appear to have stood the test, but that you will do what is right, even if we appear to have failed.
Paul prays that the Corinthians will do what is right, not that he will appear approved.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
Believers are told to pray for one another so they may be healed.
Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers.
John prays for Gaius\'s well-being as his soul prospers.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Prayer expressing desire or wish directed toward God, distinct from petition or supplication.
Prayer expressing desire or wish directed toward God, distinct from petition or supplication.
to pray: with accusative of thing(s), 2Co.13:9; with dative of person(s), τ. θεῷ, Act.26:29; before πρὸς τ. θεόν, 2Co.13:7; with accusative and inf., Act.27:29, 3Jn.2; before ὑπέρ, Jas.5:16; ηὐχόμην εἶναι (On imperfect here, see ICC, in l, Lft., Phm 13), Rom.9:3 (Cremer, 718).
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I pray, wish
Read verseI pray, wish
Read verseI pray, wish
Read verseI pray, wish
Read verseI pray, wish
Read verseI pray, wish
Read verseI pray, wish
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
εὔχομαι is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Teach G2172 as desire spoken before God and shaped by love. A faithful teacher should begin with the nearest passage, observe who acts, what is being named, what problem or promise is in view, and what response the text calls for, then move carefully to related passages. It corrects prayer that is self-protective, reputation-centered, or detached from the good of others.
The entry should help readers read Scripture more carefully, not replace the work of tracing the sentence, paragraph, book, and covenant setting. This keeps the word useful for shepherds, teachers, leaders, groups, families, and disciples without letting the word carry claims that belong to the whole passage or canon.
Acts.26.29
The verb can carry both wishing and praying. Context decides the emphasis.
Old Testament prayer brings desire, complaint, blessing, and petition before the Lord.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain