Εὐοδία

From the study of Philippians 4:2

Range of meaning

Both are ordinary Greek women's names attested in inscriptions. Euodia comes from eu ('well') and hodos ('way, road'), meaning 'prosperous way, good journey'. Syntyche comes from syn ('with') and tychē ('fortune, chance'), meaning something like 'lucky' or 'happy encounter'.

Against the English

The KJV's 'Euodias' looks like a man's name. The accusative form Euodian can grammatically come from a masculine Euodias, but verse 3 refers to both people with feminine pronouns (autais, haitines, 'these women who'), so both are women.

How it drifted

Older English renderings ('Euodias'), and a few speculative early modern readings that made Syntyche a man, blurred the fact that both are women. Modern sermon puns on the names ('Odious' and 'Soon-touchy') come from English sound-play, not from the Greek meanings.

Used elsewhere in the period

J. B. Lightfoot's commentary (1868) notes that both names occur in inscriptions and connects the women's visibility with the unusually public role of women in Macedonia. Inscriptions at Philippi and in Macedonia show women as patrons, priestesses and leaders of religious associations.