Preposition – ὑπέρ + Genitive, accusative

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The syntax and semantics of the preposition ὑπέρ

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ἡ βροντή, -ῆς	the thunder	noun	B.a.α.i
ἡ περιστερά, -ᾶς	the dove	noun	B.a.α.ii
ἡ συκῆ, -ῆς	the fig tree	noun	B.a.α.i
εὐχαριστεῖ σοι	(he) thanks you (dat)	verb	C.a.β
μέλλει ποιεῖν	(he) is about to do	verb	C.a.α
τὸ λοιπόν	finally	adverb

Noteὑπέρ + gen

With the genitive, ὑπέρ often introduces someone who benefits from the action of the verb. Prayers, requests, and sacrifices may be offered ὑπέρ ‘for’ someone:

(250) Someone who benefits from the verbal action προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωκόντων ὑμᾶς (Matt 5:44)
Pray for those who persecute you

An action may also be performed ὑπέρ ‘for the sake of’ something else where that thing does not benefit but is the reason the action is performed:

Example 251Reason for an action

The bread which I will give ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ζωῆς [for the life of the world] (John 6:51)

It is not as if ‘life’ benefits from this, since ‘life’ is an abstract idea. Instead, giving the world life represents the reason Jesus gives his life away. The same could be said for the numerous times in which Jesus’ sacrifice is described as ὑπέρ ἁμαρτιῶν ‘for sins.’ The ‘sins’ do not benefit, but they represent the reason why Jesus was sacrificed.

At other times, the meaning is very close to περί, which we saw introduces content of some kind:

Example 252Introduces content

Our hope ὑπέρ ὑμῶν [for you] is unshaken (2 Cor 1:7)

The Corinthians do not benefit from Paul’s hope, but they are what his hope is about. This is a very limited use of ὑπέρ with only a small set of words.

Noteὑπέρ + acc

The accusative is used more narrowly. It refers to something that is beyond or more than something else:

Example 253Comparative

I write to you knowing that ὑπὲρ ἃ λέγω ποιήσεις [you will do more than the things I am saying] (Phlm 21)

After exhorting Philemon to do certain things, Paul concludes his letter by expressing his confidence that Philemon will do even more (ὑπέρ) than those things he is requesting.

End of Chapter 27Take the Chapter 27 exam9 questions covering all 4 lessons in this chapter

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