Epiousios — “Daily Bread”
eh-pee-OO-see-os · Greek · ἐπιούσιος
Among all the words in the Gospels, epiousios stands alone. It appears nowhere else in Greek literature, ancient or classical. It is used only once — in the prayer Christ taught.
In the Lord's Prayer, we ask: "Give us this day our daily bread." The word translated "daily" is epiousios — a word so rare that its meaning has been debated for centuries.
Because it appears only here, its meaning must be inferred from its parts and context. It may derive from words meaning "for the coming day," "necessary for existence," or even "beyond substance" — each pointing somewhere different.
The tradition has preserved several interpretations:
No single translation fully captures the word. Each reveals a different facet of what the prayer asks.
The Fathers did not read this petition as a simple request for physical sustenance. Many saw in epiousios a reference to a deeper nourishment — the bread that sustains not the body alone, but the soul.
For some, it points to the Eucharist: the bread that is not merely bread, but participation in divine life. For others, it signifies Christ himself — the true bread that comes down from heaven, of which John's Gospel speaks at length.
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. — Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3
To translate epiousios simply as "daily" is practical — but incomplete. The word gestures beyond ordinary necessity toward a deeper dependence: not merely on provision, but on the Giver.
It invites a question the prayer itself seems to press: what truly sustains life? Not only food, but meaning. Not only bread, but the Word that bread can only point toward.