Greek word · G4326

προσδέω

prosdeō

to need

To need besides, need in addition, be in further want of something. Related to the adjective aprosdeēs, 'needing nothing further', which Greek and Hellenistic Jewish writers used as a technical term for God's self-sufficiency.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

προσ-δέομαι

[in LXX: Proverbs 12:9 חָסֵר חָסֵר Sirach 6:1-37 * ;]

to want further, need in addition: Acts 17:25.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Acts 17:25

Range of meaning

To need besides, need in addition, be in further want of something. Related to the adjective aprosdeēs, 'needing nothing further', which Greek and Hellenistic Jewish writers used as a technical term for God's self-sufficiency.

Against the English

'As if he needed anything' (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB) gets the sense well. The 'in addition' shade is lost: it implies there is nothing anyone could add to God.

Used elsewhere in the period

Euripides, Heracles 1345–46: 'God, if he is truly God, needs nothing.' 2 Maccabees 14:35 and 3 Maccabees 2:9 call the Lord aprosdeēs. Josephus (Antiquities 8.111) has Solomon say at the temple dedication that the deity needs nothing. Philo uses the same idea often. Epicureans taught that the gods need nothing from humans, and Stoics said God lacks nothing. Seneca (Letters 95.47): 'God seeks no servants; he himself serves the human race.' Psalm 50:9–13 makes the biblical version of the point: 'If I were hungry, I would not tell you.'

Similar words

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 17:25 προσδεόμενός as needing

    Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

    Here: A participle meaning 'as one needing something more'. The prefix pros- ('in addition') suggests God lacks nothing that anyone could top up. The word appears nowhere else in the New Testament. English adds 'as if' to show that Paul is denying the premise.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.