Did St. Paul pray for a dead man? Some scholars think so. (Hahn 664, Hahn and Mitch 398, Keegan, Nylund, Wild 900)
In his Second Letter to Timothy, St. Paul mentions the name of his Ephesian friend Onesiphorus twice:
May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiph′orus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. 2 Timothy 1:16-18
And again:
Greet Prisca and Aq′uila, and the household of Onesiph′orus. 2 Timothy 4:19
In verse 16 of the first chapter of his second letter to Timothy, St. Paul asks that the Lord be merciful to the household of Onesiphorus, and two verses later, he prays that Onesiphorus find mercy from the Lord on Judgment Day.
In the 19th verse of chapter 4 of the same letter, St. Paul asks that Timothy greet the household of Onesphorus for him, but does not greet Onesiphorus by name.
Note that in the first passage, St. Paul uses five verbs in the aorist tense of Koine Greek: refreshed, not ashamed, arrived, searched, found, and rendered. That is, each was a completed past action.
Note too, that in the second passage, St. Paul asks Timothy to greet the household of Onesiphorus but does not greet him personally.
Also, some surmise that Onesiphoros paid for his risky visit to St. Paul with his life. (Witherington and Witherington III 325)
For these reasons, some scholars believe that St. Paul is referring to his friend as if he were dead. If that’s true, then the first passage would be “an early example of the Christian practice of praying for the dead.” (Hahn and Mitch 398)
Possible Objections
One possible objection to the interpretation of this passage as a prayer for a dead person is that St. Paul never mentions that Onesiphorus is dead. Another is that not every “eschatological prayer” of St. Paul is for a dead person. One can find another instance of such a prayer in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, and that prayer is for the living Thessalonian church, not for a dead person. (Nylund)
May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
Some point out that St. Paul mentions other households without also immediately mentioning the living head of that household. (Nylund) For example:
Now, brethren, you know that the household of Steph′anas were the first converts in Acha′ia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints; 1 Corinthians 16:15
In this case, St. Paul does mention Stephanas, who is very much alive, by name two verses later (1 Corinthians 16:17).
Aquila and Prisca are greeted by name immediately before the greeting to the household of Onesiphorus, but Onesiphorus is not mentioned, which would have been a bit strange if he were still alive.
Jewish Prayers for the Dead
The Second Book of Maccabees (2 Maccabees 12:38-45) records Judas Maccabeaus and his army praying for the souls of the fallen soldiers and taking a collection to be sent to Jerusalem for a sin offering for the dead.
Moreover, Orthodox Jews today offer prayers for the merit of their departed loved-ones (Hecht):
“One of the most sacred rituals observed by all Jews throughout the generations is the practice of reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish prayer for the merit of the departed soul of one’s father or mother. It is said at the funeral, during the week of mourning (shiva), for the following 11 months, and then every year on the anniversary of passing.”
Catacomb inscriptions of the early Church
A variety of prayers for the dead have been found on the walls of the ancient Roman catacombs used by early Christians to bury their dead. These prayers date from the second century and include simple acclamatory prayers and more formal prayers for the dead:
There are prayers, called acclamatory, which are considered to be the most ancient, and in which there is the simple expression of a wish for some benefit to the deceased, without any formal address to God. The benefits most frequently prayed for are: peace, the good (i.e. eternal salvation), light, refreshment, life, eternal life, union with God, with Christ, and with the angels and saints — e.g. PAX (TIBI, VOBIS, SPIRITUI TUO, IN ÆTERNUM, TIBI CUM ANGELIS, CUM SANCTIS); SPIRITUS TUUS IN BONO (SIT, VIVAT, QUIESCAT); ÆTERNA LUX TIBI; IN REFREGERIO ESTO; SPIRITUM IN REFRIGERIUM SUSCIPIAT DOMINUS; DEUS TIBI REFRIGERET; VIVAS, VIVATIS (IN DEO, IN [Chi-Rho] IN SPIRITO SANCTO, IN PACE, IN ÆTERNO, INTER SANCTOS, CUM MARTYRIBUS). For detailed references see Kirsch, “Die Acclamationen”, pp. 9-29; Cabrol and Leclercq, “Monumenta Liturgica” (Paris, 1902), I, pp. ci-cvi, cxxxix, etc. Again there are prayers of a formal character, in which survivors address their petitions directly to God the Father, or to Christ, or even to the angels, or to the saints and martyrs collectively, or to some one of them in particular. The benefits prayed for are those already mentioned, with the addition sometimes of liberation from sin. Some of these prayers read like excerpts from the liturgy: e.g. SET PATER OMNIPOTENS, ORO, MISERERE LABORUM TANTORUM, MISERE(re) ANIMAE NON DIG(na) FERENTIS. (Toner)
Conclusion
While the hypothesis that St. Paul prayed for a dead man is speculative, the weight of the evidence favors it, especially when considering the practice of the early Christians and at least some Jews.
Work Cited
Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The New Testament. Edited by Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, Ignatius Press, 2010.
Hahn, Scott. Catholic Bible Dictionary. Edited by Scott Hahn, PRH Christian Publishing, 2009.
Hecht, Sholom Ber. “Mourner’s Kaddish.” Chabad.org, Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/514160/jewish/Mourners-Kaddish.htm. Accessed 22 December 2025.
Keegan, Terence J. “The Second Letter to Timothy.” New Collegeville Bible Commentary: One Volume Hardcover Edition, edited by Daniel Durken, Liturgical Press, 2017.
Nylund, Jan H. “Onesiphorus.” The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry et al., Lexham Press, 2016.
Toner, Patrick. “Prayers for the Dead.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04653a.htm>.
Wild S.J., Robert A. “The Pastoral Letters.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond Edward Brown, et al., Prentice-Hall, 1990.
Witherington, Ben, and Ben Witherington III. Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, Volume 1: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John. InterVarsity Press, 2006.
