On The Use of The Greek ὑπέρ and ἀντί
There are some who have little or know knowledge or understanding of the Greek language, who have taken it upon themselves, to ignore or reject, the FACT, that the Greek preposition ὑπέρ, in indeed used in Classic, Attic and Koine Greek, for INSTEAD OF.
2 Corinthians 5:21
“For him who knew no sin he made to be sin for (ὑπέρ) us; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”
Galatians 3:13
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for (ὑπέρ) us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45
“even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom (λύτρον, price of release, the price for redeeming, ransom, sum paid for redemption of a pledge, atonement) for (ἀντί) many.”
These verses speak of the Death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Epistles of Paul, we have the Greek preposition ὑπέρ, used. In the Gospels, it is ἀντί. It is clear from the evidence of the uses of these prepositions, that they are interchangeable, and their meaning overlap. Both are used for INSTEAD OF.
Samuel Green Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament
As a service is often rendered on behalf of another by being offered in his stead, the notion of ὑπέρ may become interchangeable with ἀντί
William Jelf A Grammar of the Greek Language
ὑπέρ, Substitution for—one thing being placed as it were over another and thus substituted for it: Eur. Ale. 700
George Winer A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek
In most cases he who acts in behalf on another appears for him (1 Tim. ii.6, 2 Cor. v.15), and hence ὑπέρ somethimes borders on ἀντί, instead of
Colin Brown New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology
hyper E. A. Abbott, Johannine Grammar, 1906, 276). Very similar is the Pauline affirmation that "one died for all" (heis hyper pantbn apethanen), where, as R. Bultmann notes (Der Zweite Brief an die Korinther, 1976, 152 f.), hyper is shown to bear a substitutionary sense by the inference Paul draws: "therefore all died" (2 Cor. 5:14). The death of Christ was the death of all, because he was dying their death. In becoming the object of divine wrath against human sin, Christ was acting vicariously, viz., hyper hembn, not only "on our behalf or "with a view to our good" but "in our place" (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13). He assumed the liabilities of others in "being made sin" and "becoming a curse" (katara, "abstractum pro concreto: bearer of the curse", H. Riesenfeld, hyper, TDNT VIII 509; see also A. T. Robertson, Grammar, 631).
H E Dana and J R Mantey A Manual Grammar of The Greek New Testament
Instead of. Jn. 11:50, "it is expedient for you that one man should die instead of the people, ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ, and not that the whole nation perish"; Gal. 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse instead of us, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν In both of these passages the context clearly indicates that substitution is meant (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15); Cat. of Gr. Papyri, 94:15.
Daniel Wallace The Basics of New Testament Syntax
Significant passages involving ὑπέρ: concerning the substitutionary atonement (ὑπέρ+ gen.).21 The normal preposition used in texts that purportedly deal with Christ’s substitutionary atonement is ὑπέρ (though ἀντί is used in Matt 20:28 / Mark 10:45). However, the case for a substitutionary sense for ὑπέρ is faced with the difficulty that the preposition can bear several other nuances that, on a lexical level, at least, are equally plausible in the theologically significant passages. It is to be noted, however, that BAGD does consider ὑπέρ to have a substitutionary sense on occasion (though they list only one text that bears on the atonement—2 Cor 5:14).
ὑπέρ is, in fact, naturally suited to the meaning of substitution and is used in several passages dealing with the nature of Christ’s atonement. On behalf of the view that ὑπέρ has at least a substitutionary sense to it in passages dealing with the atonement are the following arguments.
ὑπέρ.in the place of, instead of (which is more precisely expressed by ἀντί; hence, the two prepositions are interchanged by Irenaeus, adv. haer. 5, 1, τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι λυτρωσαμένου ἡμᾶς τοῦ κυρίου καί δόντος τήν ψυχήν ὑπέρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν καί τήν σάρκα τήν ἑαυτοῦ ἀντί τῶν ἡμετέρων σαρκῶν): ἵνα ὑπέρ σου μοι διακονῇ, Phm_1:13; ὑπέρ τῶν νεκρῶν βαπτίζεσθαι (see βαπτίζω, at the end), 1Co_15:29; (add, Col_1:7 L text Tr text WH text); in expressions concerning the death of Christ: εἷς ὑπέρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν (for the inference is drawn ἄρα οἱ πάντες ἀπέθανον, i. e. all are reckoned as dead), 2Co_5:14(15),15; add, 21; Gal_3:13
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott Greek Lexicon
ὑπέρ.for, instead of, in the name of, ὑ. ἑαυτοῦ τι προϊδεῖν on his own behalf, Th. 1.141; ὑ. τινὸς ἀποκρίνεσθαι Pl. R. 590a; προλέγειν X. An. 7.7.3; ἐπεὶ οὖν σὺ σιωπᾷς, ἐγὼ λέξω καὶ ὑ. σοῦ καὶ ὑ. ἡμῶν Id. Cyr. 3.3.14, cf. S. El. 554; ὑ. Ζήνωνος πράσσων as Zeno's representative, PSI 4.389.8 (iii B. C.); ἔγραψεν ὑ. αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ φάσκειν αὐτοὺς μὴ εἰδέναι γράμματα PGrenf. 2.17.9 (ii B. C.); θεάσασθε ὃν τρόπον ὑμεῖς ἐστρατηγηκότες πάντ' ἔσεσθ' ὑ. Φιλίππου as though by commission from P., D. 3.6; so in other dialects c. acc., v. infr. B. v.
F W Gingrich and F W Danker Greek Lexicon
ὑπέρ.for, in behalf of mankind, the world, etc.: Mk 14:24 ; Lk 22:19 f ; Ro 5:6 , 8 ; 8:32 ; 14:15 ; 1 Cor 1:13 (where the expr. mh; Pau`lo" ejstaurwvqh uJpe;r uJmw`n ; was chosen for no other reason than its ref. to the redeeming death of Christ); 11:24 ; 15:3 ; Gal 2:20 ; 3:13...in place of, instead of, in the name of ( Eur. ; Polyb. 3, 67, 7; Jos. , C. Ap. 2, 142;—in pap. very oft. uJpe;r aujtou` to explain that the writer is writing ‘as the representative of’ an illiterate pers. ; Dssm. LO 285, 2 [ LAE 335, 4]) i{na uJpe;r sou` moi diakonh`/ Phlm 13
Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
Paul develops the saving significance of Christ’s death with the help of typology in Gal. 3:13 and 2 Cor. 5:21. Jesus in his death vicariously takes the curse for us, and thus secures our liberation from the law. In this context hypér has the sense of “in our favor” but also “in our place or stead.”
English Meaning of: “In/On Behalf of”
Oxford English Dictionary (multi volume)
On the part of (another), in the name of, as the agent or representative of, on account of, for, instead of. (With the notion of official agency.)
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
on behalf of somebody...as the representative of somebody or instead of them
Macmillan English Dictionary
Instead of someone, or as a representative of someone
There are some who have little or know knowledge or understanding of the Greek language, who have taken it upon themselves, to ignore or reject, the FACT, that the Greek preposition ὑπέρ, in indeed used in Classic, Attic and Koine Greek, for INSTEAD OF.
2 Corinthians 5:21
“For him who knew no sin he made to be sin for (ὑπέρ) us; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”
Galatians 3:13
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for (ὑπέρ) us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45
“even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom (λύτρον, price of release, the price for redeeming, ransom, sum paid for redemption of a pledge, atonement) for (ἀντί) many.”
These verses speak of the Death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Epistles of Paul, we have the Greek preposition ὑπέρ, used. In the Gospels, it is ἀντί. It is clear from the evidence of the uses of these prepositions, that they are interchangeable, and their meaning overlap. Both are used for INSTEAD OF.
Samuel Green Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament
As a service is often rendered on behalf of another by being offered in his stead, the notion of ὑπέρ may become interchangeable with ἀντί
William Jelf A Grammar of the Greek Language
ὑπέρ, Substitution for—one thing being placed as it were over another and thus substituted for it: Eur. Ale. 700
George Winer A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek
In most cases he who acts in behalf on another appears for him (1 Tim. ii.6, 2 Cor. v.15), and hence ὑπέρ somethimes borders on ἀντί, instead of
Colin Brown New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology
hyper E. A. Abbott, Johannine Grammar, 1906, 276). Very similar is the Pauline affirmation that "one died for all" (heis hyper pantbn apethanen), where, as R. Bultmann notes (Der Zweite Brief an die Korinther, 1976, 152 f.), hyper is shown to bear a substitutionary sense by the inference Paul draws: "therefore all died" (2 Cor. 5:14). The death of Christ was the death of all, because he was dying their death. In becoming the object of divine wrath against human sin, Christ was acting vicariously, viz., hyper hembn, not only "on our behalf or "with a view to our good" but "in our place" (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13). He assumed the liabilities of others in "being made sin" and "becoming a curse" (katara, "abstractum pro concreto: bearer of the curse", H. Riesenfeld, hyper, TDNT VIII 509; see also A. T. Robertson, Grammar, 631).
H E Dana and J R Mantey A Manual Grammar of The Greek New Testament
Instead of. Jn. 11:50, "it is expedient for you that one man should die instead of the people, ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ, and not that the whole nation perish"; Gal. 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse instead of us, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν In both of these passages the context clearly indicates that substitution is meant (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15); Cat. of Gr. Papyri, 94:15.
Daniel Wallace The Basics of New Testament Syntax
Significant passages involving ὑπέρ: concerning the substitutionary atonement (ὑπέρ+ gen.).21 The normal preposition used in texts that purportedly deal with Christ’s substitutionary atonement is ὑπέρ (though ἀντί is used in Matt 20:28 / Mark 10:45). However, the case for a substitutionary sense for ὑπέρ is faced with the difficulty that the preposition can bear several other nuances that, on a lexical level, at least, are equally plausible in the theologically significant passages. It is to be noted, however, that BAGD does consider ὑπέρ to have a substitutionary sense on occasion (though they list only one text that bears on the atonement—2 Cor 5:14).
ὑπέρ is, in fact, naturally suited to the meaning of substitution and is used in several passages dealing with the nature of Christ’s atonement. On behalf of the view that ὑπέρ has at least a substitutionary sense to it in passages dealing with the atonement are the following arguments.
- The substitutionary sense is found in extra-NT Greek literature. It rarely bears this force in classical Greek, a bit more in the LXX, and extensively in the nonliterary papyri.22 As time progressed, increasingly ὑπέρ encroached on ἀντί’s domain. Indeed, one reason for previous resistance to the idea of a substitutionary ὑπέρ is that such instances were hard to find in the classical era. But throughout the Koine period ὑπέρ began to encroach more and more on the meanings of ἀντί , though never fully phasing it out. It was a relatively common phenomenon for one grammatical or lexical form to swallow up the uses of another in the Hellenistic period.
- ὑπέρ is used in a substitutionary sense in soteriologically insignificant passages in the NT, thus establishing such a nuance in the NT. Cf. Rom 9:3;Philemon 13.
- ὑπέρ is used with a substitutionary force in at least one soteriologically significant passage, admitted even by BAGD: 2 Cor 5:14. As well, there are other soteriologically significant texts in which it is difficult to deny a substitutionary sense to ὑπέρ: Gal 3:13; John 11:50.
ὑπέρ.in the place of, instead of (which is more precisely expressed by ἀντί; hence, the two prepositions are interchanged by Irenaeus, adv. haer. 5, 1, τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι λυτρωσαμένου ἡμᾶς τοῦ κυρίου καί δόντος τήν ψυχήν ὑπέρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν καί τήν σάρκα τήν ἑαυτοῦ ἀντί τῶν ἡμετέρων σαρκῶν): ἵνα ὑπέρ σου μοι διακονῇ, Phm_1:13; ὑπέρ τῶν νεκρῶν βαπτίζεσθαι (see βαπτίζω, at the end), 1Co_15:29; (add, Col_1:7 L text Tr text WH text); in expressions concerning the death of Christ: εἷς ὑπέρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν (for the inference is drawn ἄρα οἱ πάντες ἀπέθανον, i. e. all are reckoned as dead), 2Co_5:14(15),15; add, 21; Gal_3:13
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott Greek Lexicon
ὑπέρ.for, instead of, in the name of, ὑ. ἑαυτοῦ τι προϊδεῖν on his own behalf, Th. 1.141; ὑ. τινὸς ἀποκρίνεσθαι Pl. R. 590a; προλέγειν X. An. 7.7.3; ἐπεὶ οὖν σὺ σιωπᾷς, ἐγὼ λέξω καὶ ὑ. σοῦ καὶ ὑ. ἡμῶν Id. Cyr. 3.3.14, cf. S. El. 554; ὑ. Ζήνωνος πράσσων as Zeno's representative, PSI 4.389.8 (iii B. C.); ἔγραψεν ὑ. αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ φάσκειν αὐτοὺς μὴ εἰδέναι γράμματα PGrenf. 2.17.9 (ii B. C.); θεάσασθε ὃν τρόπον ὑμεῖς ἐστρατηγηκότες πάντ' ἔσεσθ' ὑ. Φιλίππου as though by commission from P., D. 3.6; so in other dialects c. acc., v. infr. B. v.
F W Gingrich and F W Danker Greek Lexicon
ὑπέρ.for, in behalf of mankind, the world, etc.: Mk 14:24 ; Lk 22:19 f ; Ro 5:6 , 8 ; 8:32 ; 14:15 ; 1 Cor 1:13 (where the expr. mh; Pau`lo" ejstaurwvqh uJpe;r uJmw`n ; was chosen for no other reason than its ref. to the redeeming death of Christ); 11:24 ; 15:3 ; Gal 2:20 ; 3:13...in place of, instead of, in the name of ( Eur. ; Polyb. 3, 67, 7; Jos. , C. Ap. 2, 142;—in pap. very oft. uJpe;r aujtou` to explain that the writer is writing ‘as the representative of’ an illiterate pers. ; Dssm. LO 285, 2 [ LAE 335, 4]) i{na uJpe;r sou` moi diakonh`/ Phlm 13
Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
Paul develops the saving significance of Christ’s death with the help of typology in Gal. 3:13 and 2 Cor. 5:21. Jesus in his death vicariously takes the curse for us, and thus secures our liberation from the law. In this context hypér has the sense of “in our favor” but also “in our place or stead.”
English Meaning of: “In/On Behalf of”
Oxford English Dictionary (multi volume)
On the part of (another), in the name of, as the agent or representative of, on account of, for, instead of. (With the notion of official agency.)
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
on behalf of somebody...as the representative of somebody or instead of them
Macmillan English Dictionary
Instead of someone, or as a representative of someone
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