χρείας τῆσδ̓, ‘this urgent matter’ (as they infer it to be from the speaker's distress). So “χρεία” sometimes=‘a request’: O. T. 1435“καὶ τοῦ με χρείας ὦδε λιπαρεῖς τυχεῖν;” ὑπεσπανισμένον, ‘scanted,’ i.e., ‘imperfectly done.’ With Aesch. this partic. means ‘scanted of’ a thing, ‘insufficiently provided’ with it: e.g. “βορᾶς” ( Aesch. Pers. 490), “φόνου” ( Aesch. Ch. 577). Cp. Shakesp. Othello 1. 3. 267 “You think | I will your serious and great business scant” (i.e. ‘neglect’).
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VII: The Ajax. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1907.
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