ἐπιχορηγέω

From the study of Sirach 25:22

Range of meaning

To supply, furnish or provide, especially the means of living: to keep or maintain someone. It comes from chorēgos, the wealthy Athenian citizen who paid for a festival chorus as a public duty. The word came to mean generous, full provision for someone else's needs.

Against the English

KJV/Brenton 'maintain' and WEB/NRSV-type 'supports' are accurate in older or financial English. Today, though, 'supports her husband' sounds like emotional encouragement, and 'maintain' sounds like 'keep in good repair'. The Greek is about money and livelihood.

How it drifted

English 'support' has broadened from 'provide the living for' to 'encourage, stand behind'. The verse can now sound as if it condemns a supportive wife, which is not what it means.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek papyri of the Ptolemaic period, the Greek kingdom in Egypt where Ben Sira's grandson made the translation, use chorēgeō/epichorēgeō in marriage contracts for the husband's duty to provide his wife's necessities. Sirach also uses the simpler verb for God 'supplying' wisdom (Sir 1:26). In the New Testament it describes God supplying seed and the Spirit (2 Cor 9:10; Gal 3:5) and the body being 'supplied' through its joints (Col 2:19).

From the study of 2 Corinthians 9:10

Range of meaning

To supply, provide, furnish, support. It is used for providing what someone needs, often fully and generously. Other New Testament uses: God 'supplies' the Spirit (Gal 3:5), the body is 'supplied' through its joints (Col 2:19), and believers 'supply' virtue to faith (2 Pet 1:5).

Against the English

KJV 'ministereth' (from Latin ministrare, 'to serve, furnish') once meant exactly 'supplies'. Most modern readers now hear church ministry or clergy in it. Modern versions all say 'supplies' or 'provides'.

How it drifted

In KJV English, 'minister' as a verb meant to furnish or serve something to someone. That sense has faded, and the word now suggests religious office or pastoral work.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word family comes from chorēgos. In classical Athens this was the wealthy citizen who paid for a festival chorus as a public duty. By Koine times the verbs had widened to 'supply, defray, provide for'. Papyri use ἐπιχορηγέω for a husband's duty to provide for his wife (cited in Moulton–Milligan). The theatrical origin explains the sense of 'generous provision at one's own cost', but first-century readers would not have pictured a chorus.

From the study of 2 Peter 1:5

Range of meaning

To supply, furnish or provide, often generously or at some cost. It also means to provide someone's upkeep or support. It comes from χορηγέω, 'to fund a chorus,' and further back from the Athenian chorēgos, a wealthy citizen who paid for training and costuming a chorus at a civic festival as a public service.

Against the English

KJV, BSB and NIV say 'add', ESV 'supplement', NASB and WEB 'supply', YLT 'superadd'. 'Add' and 'supplement' make it sound like tacking extra items onto something. 'Supply' keeps the sense of generous provision. None of them can easily keep the echo with v. 11.

How it drifted

The KJV tradition chose 'add' because the verse is a list. That fits the shape of the sentence but loses the verb's own sense of furnishing or provisioning. The theatre background is often over-pressed in sermons ('lavish as a chorus-sponsor'). By the first century the compound mostly meant simply 'supply, provide,' though a sense of generosity stays with it.

Used elsewhere in the period

In documentary papyri it is used for providing what someone needs, for example a husband's support of his wife in marriage contracts (per Moulton–Milligan). Elsewhere in the NT: 2 Cor 9:10 (God 'supplies' seed to the sower), Gal 3:5 (God 'supplies' the Spirit), Col 2:19 (the body 'supplied' through its joints), 1 Pet 4:11 (the strength God 'supplies'). In 2 Peter 1:11 God's people will have the entrance into the kingdom 'richly supplied' (πλουσίως ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται).