Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. [1 Timothy 2:8, NASB]
Βούλομαι οὖν προσεύχεσθαι τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ἐπαίροντας ὁσίους χεῖρας χωρὶς ὀργῆς καὶ διαλογισμοῦ. [Nestle-Aland 28th ed.]
Paul calls the Christian men of Ephesus to prayer. The Greek word ἄνδρας used in this verse is the accusative plural of ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, whose primary meaning according to BDAG (the leading New Testament Greek lexicon) is ‘an adult human male’, that is, ‘a man’ or ‘a husband’:
In verse 1, where Paul urged prayer to be made for all people:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [ESV]
Παρακαλῶ οὖν πρῶτον πάντων ποιεῖσθαι δεήσεις προσευχὰς ἐντεύξεις εὐχαριστίας ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων,
the ‘people’ is standing for ἀνθρώπων, the genitive plural of ἄνθρωπος, whose primary meaning is given by BDAG as ‘a person of either sex’, that is, ‘a human being’:
