ἐπερώτημα, ἐπερωτεματος, τό (ἐπερωτάω); 1. an inquiry, a question: Herodotus 6,67; Thucydides 3, 53. 68. 2. a demand; so for the Chaldean ωΐΡΰΕμΘΰ in Dan_4:14 Theod.; see ἐπερωτάω, 2. 3. As the terms of inquiry and demand often include the idea of desire, the word thus gets the signification of earnest seeking, i. e. a craving, an intense desire (so ἐπερωτᾶν εἰς τί, to long for something, 2Sa_11:7 (but surely the phrase here (like μΐ ωΘΡΰΗμ) means simply to ask in reference to, ask about)). If this use of the word is conceded, it affords us the easiest and most congruous explanation of that vexed passage 1Pe_3:21 : "which (baptism) now saves us (you) not because in receiving it we (ye) have put away the filth of the flesh, but because we (ye) have earnestly sought a conscience reconciled to God" (συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς genitive of the object, as opposed to σαρκός ῤύπου). It is doubtful, indeed, whether εἰς Θεόν is to be joined with ἐπερώτημα, and signifies a craving directed unto God (Winer's Grammar, 194 (182) yet less fully and decidedly than in edition 5, p. 216f), or with συνείδησις, and denotes the attitude of the conscience toward (in relation to) God; the latter construction is favored by a comparison of Act_24:16 ἀπρόσκοπον συνείδησιν ἔχειν πρός τόν Θεόν. The signification of ἐπερώτημα which is approved by others, viz. stipulation, agreement, is first met with in the Byzantine writers on law: "moreover, the formula κατά τό ἐπερώτημα τῆς σεμνοτάτης βουλῆς, common in inscriptions of the age of the Antonines and the following Caesars, exhibits no new sense of the word ἐπερώτημα; for this formula does not mean 'according to the decree of the senate' (exsenatusconsulto, the Greek for which is κατά τά δόξαντα τῇ βουλή), but 'after inquiry of or application to the senate,' i. e. 'with government sanction.'" Zezschwitz, Petri quoted in de Christi ad inferos descensu sententia (Lipsius 1857), p. 45; (Farrar, Early Days of Christianity, i. 138 n.; Kähler, Des Gewissen, i. 1 (Halle 1878), pp. 331-338. Others would adhere to the (more analogical) passive sense of ἐπερώτημα, viz. 'the thing asked (the demand) of a good conscience toward God' equivalent to the avowal of consecration unto him).

ἐπερώτημα eperōtēma 1x pr. an interrogation, question; in NT profession, pledge, 1Pe_3:21

** ἐπ -ερώτημα , -τος , τό , [in LXX : Da TH Dan_4:14 ( H7595 ), Sir_33:3 * ;] 1. a question, au inquiry ( Hdt ., Thuc .). 2. a demand: 1Pe_3:21 ( v. ICC , in l ).†

ἐπερώτημα [page 231] ἐπερώτημα is used in the same technical way as the verb (see s.v. ἐπερωτάω in P Cairo Preis 1 .16 (ii/A.D.) ἐὰν γὰρ μηδὲν ἐπερώτημα ᾖ ἐνγεγρα [μμένον . . ., with Wilcken s note ἐπερώτημα = stipulatio (d. i. ἐπερωτηθεὶς ὡμολόγησα ). This would seem to help the meaning of the word in the difficult passage 1Pe_3:21 : cf. Blenkin s note in CGT ad l. For the word = inquiry of and hence sanction, cf. Syll 397 .6 (Roman age) κατὰ τὸ ἐπερώτημα τῶν κρατίστων Ἀρεοπαγειτῶν , ib. 593 .4 (after middle of iii/A.D.) καθ᾽ ὑπομνηματισμὸν τῆς ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλῆς καὶ ἐπερώτημα τῆς βουλῆς τῶν Φ . For the form ἐπερώτησις , see P Oxy IV. 718 .13 (A.D. 180 92) ὡς ἐξ ἐπερω [τήσεως κτήτ ]ο̣ρος , in answer to an inquiry concerning the landlord (Edd.), ib. IX. 1205 .9 (A.D. 291) ἐπερωτήσεώς τε γενομένης [ὡμολογήσαμεν , Syll 555 .2 (about A.D. 1) τᾶς ] δ᾽επερωτάσ [ε ]ως καὶ τοῦ χρησμοῦ ἀντίγραφά ἐστι τάδε .

ἐπερώτημα [Etym: from ἐπερωτάω] "a question", Hdt. , Thuc.

ἐπ-ερώτημα, -τος, τό [in LXX: Da TH Dan.4:14 (שְׁאֵלָא), Sir.33:3 * ;] __1. a question, au inquiry (Hdt., Thuc.). __2. a demand: 1Pe.3:21 (see ICC, in l).† (AS)