Question: Does the Greek text of 2 Tim. 1:16-18 imply that Onesiphorus had already been dead by the time of writing these words?:

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> The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft
>  refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: But, when he was in
>  Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant
>  unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how
>  many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
> 
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Answer: 
The key of this text is the phrase **that day**, which occurs in the following three verses:

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> [**2 Tim 1:16-18**](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy%201%3A12&version=NASB;SBLGNT) (NASB)  
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> 16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— 18the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on **that day**—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.
> 
> 
> [**2 Tim 4:8**](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy%204%3A8&version=NASB;SBLGNT) (NASB)  
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> 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on **that day**; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
> 
> 
> [**2 Tim 1:12**](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy%201%3A12&version=NASB;SBLGNT) (NASB)  
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> 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until **that day**.
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> 
> 

If the author of the epistle refers to himself as receiving his reward of due compensation on **that day**, and the author was alive when he wrote these words, then why should we assume that Onesiphorus was necessarily already dead just because he too was supposed to receive his reward of due compensation on **that day**?
The text provided in the question is an accurate translation of the [Greek text seen here](http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/2ti1.pdf). This does not state that Onesiphorus is already dead, but gives us clues that lead to that conclusion. First, the mention of Onesiphorus' grieving family ("The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus"), then the hope that the Lord will grant mercy in that (Judgement) day. [2 Timothy 4:19](http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__P119.HTM) says: "Greet Prisca and Aquila 9 and the family of Onesiphorus," once again implying that Onesiphorus is dead, or at least absent. 

We can pause from looking at the actual words of the passage, to look at the context in which Second Timothy was written. Although traditionally attributed to Saint Paul, [most modern critical scholars argue that 2 Timothy was written after Paul's death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Epistle_to_Timothy#Authorship). Paul never mentioned Onesiphorus in his undisputed epistles, so it is likely that Onesiphorus was a literary construct invented by the actual author of *2 Timothy*. 

Returning to the meaning of Greek words in this passage, the name Onesiphorus means ‘bringing advantage’. When we consider that Onesiphorus is singled out as someone not ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment and was the one person who sought out Paul in Rome, when others had abandoned him, then he truly did bring advantage. Although Greeks were sometimes given aspirational names, the appropriateness of Onesiphorus in this case is further evidence that he was a literary construct and existed only within Second Timothy. Onesiphorus was not dead if he never lived.