noun · feminine
deēsias
Strong’sG1162
supplication, prayer
stem deēsi-18 times in the New Testamentin 10 of 27 books6 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
δέησις means an entreaty or supplication, a request made known — in the New Testament always addressed to God 1, though the underlying idea of asking or entreaty can also apply to requests made from one person to another 1. Strong's and Dodson give it simply as a petition, request, supplication, prayer 24, and LSJ likewise records "entreaty" as its use in the New Testament and other Greek 3. Abbott-Smith notes that, unlike προσευχή (which is prayer in general and reserved for addressing God), δέησις carries a particular emphasis on the sense of need behind the request 1.
Separately, δέησις can mean simply a want or need, without reference to asking anyone for it — a sense found once in the Greek Old Testament 1 and also in wider Greek usage 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
δέησις, -εως, ἡ
(< δέομαι), [in LXX for תְּחִנָּה, רִנָּה, תְּפִלָּה, etc.;]
SYN.: προσευχή, used of prayer in general, while δ. gives prominence to the sense of need; on the other hand, δ. is used as well of requests from man to man, while π. is limited to prayer to God. ἔντευξις, in the papyri, is the regular word for petition to a superior (Deiss., BS, 250; cf. the Pauline ἐντυγχάνειν, to entreat). Cf. also εὐχή. (Ja 5:15), αἴτημα, ἱκετηρία (Tr., Syn., § li; Cremer, 73, 174, 684).
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1162 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saiddeh'-ay-sis
a petition
Fromfrom G1189;
King Jamesprayer, request, supplication.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
entreaty, NT+5th c.BC+
2 written petition, Refs 1st c.AD+
II want, need, Refs 5th c.BC+; κατὰ τὰς δεήσεις according to their needs, Refs 4th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | deēsias3×δέησις | deēsiais |
| object accusative | deēsian2×δέησιν | deēsiain3×δεήσεις |
| direct address vocative | deēsiar | deēsiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | deēsiau2×δεήσεως | deēsiaiu |
| to, for dative | deēsia5×δεήσει | deēsiai3×δεήσεσιν |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
deēsia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
18 occurrences, every one of them listed
deēsias“prayer”subjectnominative singular3×
Luke 1:13… Mē fobosōr, Zacharior, dioti eisakouita tas deēsias su, kai tas gunaikas su Elisabet …… not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth …
Romans 10:1… eudokias tau ēmau kardiau kai tas deēsias pros ton theon huper autoiu eis …Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is …
James 5:16… huper allēloiu, hopōs iiveia. pollem ischuatō deēsias dikaiou energorōntas.… that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great …
deēsian“prayer”objectaccusative singular2×
Philippians 1:4“prayer”… huper pantoiu vu, meta charau tan deēsian poiorōntos,… every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy,
1 Peter 3:12… epi dikaioin kai oueim autou eis deēsian autoiu, prosōpem de kuriou epi poiarōntoin …… His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord …
deēsiau“prayers”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
Ephesians 6:18“supplication”dia pantau proseuchau kai deēsiau, proseuchorōntois en panto kairo en pneume, …Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in …
Philippians 1:19… apobaineti eis sōtērēan dia tau vu deēsiau kai epichorēgiau teu pneumeu Iēsu Christou,because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit …
deēsia“supplication”to, fordative singular5×
2 Corinthians 1:11sunupourgarōntoiu kai vu huper nu ta deēsia, hina ek polleiu prosōpeiu tem eis …as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on …
2 Corinthians 9:14“pray”kai autoiu deēsia huper vu epipotharōntoiu vin dia tan …And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace …
Ephesians 6:18“supplication”… autem agrupnarōntois en panta proskarterēsia kai deēsia peri pantoiu toiu hagioiu,… petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
Philippians 1:4pantote en panta deēsia mu huper pantoiu vu, meta charau …In every prayer for all of you, I always …
Philippians 4:6“supplication”… en pante ta proseucha kai ta deēsia meta eucharistiau teim aitēmeim vu gnōrizotōr …… nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
deēsiain“prayers”objectaccusative plural3×
Luke 5:33“prayers”… Tois mathētois Iōannou nēsteualō pukneim kai deēsiain poiolō, homoiōs kai tois toiu Farisaioiu, …… Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but …
1 Timothy 2:1“supplications”Parakalamō oun prōtem panteiu poiorō deēsiain, proseuchain, enteuxiain, eucharistiain, huper pantoiu anthrōpoiu,First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone—
Hebrews 5:7… en tai hēmerai tau sarkau autou deēsiain tē kai hiketēriain pros ton dunorōnton …… Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and …
deēsiai“prayers”to, fordative plural3×
Luke 2:37“prayers”… ouk apostēote teu hiereu nēsteiai kai deēsiai latreuarōntas nuktan kai hēmeran.… never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
1 Timothy 5:5“supplications”… elpizatē epi theon kai prosmenatō tai deēsiai kai tai proseuchai nuktau kai hēmerau;… puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.
2 Timothy 1:3… tan peri su mneian en tai deēsiai mu, nuktau kai hēmerau… you night and day in my prayers.