adjective
chrēstos
Strong’sG5543
useful, gentle, pleasant, kind
stem chrēst-7 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books4 of 26 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
χρηστός, -ή, -όν
(< χράομαι), [in LXX chiefly for טוֹב (freq. of God: Ps 24 (25):8, al.), also for יָקָר (Ez 27:22 28:13), יָשָׁר (Pr 2:21 א A);]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5543 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkhrase-tos'
employed, i.e. (by implication) useful (in manner or morals)
Fromfrom G5530;
King Jamesbetter, easy, good(-ness), gracious, kind.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(χράομαι) of things, like{χρήσιμος}, useful, good of its kind, serviceable, [τόξα] χρηστὰ οὐδέν Refs 5th c.BC+; [γῆ] Refs 5th c.BC+; οἰκία, opposed to μοχθηρά, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ χ. μέλιττα, opposed to οἱ κηφῆνες, Refs 4th c.BC+: frequently of wholesome food, μελίτωμα Refs; ποτόν, σῖτος, Refs 5th c.BC+: with genitive, for a thing, νεύρων for the sinews, Refs 4th c.BC+ (but pleasant to taste, nice, Refs 5th c.BC+; of victims and omens, auspicious, ἱρά, σφάγια, Refs 5th c.BC+; τελευτὴ χ. a happy end or issue, Refs: plural, τὰ χ., as substantive, benefits, kindnesses, Refs; χρηστόν τι συμβουλεύειν, χρηστὰ ἐπιτηδεύειν, Refs 5th c.BC+; χρηστὰ λέγειν, πράττειν, etc., Refs 4th c.BC+ also, happy event, ἐκτελοῖτο δὴ τὰ χ. Refs 4th c.BC+; prosperity, success, τὰ χ. δ᾽ αὔθ᾽ ἕκαστ᾽ ἔχει φίλους Refs 5th c.BC+
2 in moral sense, opposed to κακός, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to πονηρός, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ χ., opposed to τὸ αἰσχρόν, Refs 5th c.BC+; χρηστός, opposed to λυπρός, Refs 5th c.BC+ if working for good, Refs 5th c.BC+
3 good for its purpose, effective (even for evil), τραῦμα, δῆγμα, Refs 2nd c.AD+
4 Grammars, in use, current, ποιηταῖς χρηστά Refs
II of persons, good, especially in war, valiant, true, Refs 5th c.BC+: generally, good, honest, worthy, Refs 5th c.BC+; of women, ἐρεῖ τις ὡς Κλυταιμνήστρα κακή· Ἄλκηστιν ἀντέθηκα χρηστήν Refs 4th c.BC+; of good citizens, useful, deserving, Refs 5th c.BC+; but also ironically, ὁ χ. οὑτοσί Refs 4th c.BC+
II.b frequently on Epitaphs, Refs
II.c with infinitive, ὅσοι προβατεύειν χ. Refs 4th c.AD+
II.2 οἱ χρηστοί, like{οἱ ἀγαθοί}, those of good family, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 of the gods, propitious, merciful, bestowing health or wealth, θεῶν χρηστῶν ἥκειν εὖ Refs 5th c.BC+
II.4 of men, good, kindly, δούλῳ.. χ. γενόμενός ἐστι δεσπότης πατρίς NT+4th c.BC+
II.4.b sometimes simple, silly, like{εὐήθης, χρηστὸς εἶ ὅτι ἡγῇ}.., you're a nice fellow, to think that.., Refs 5th c.BC+
II.5 of a man, strong, able in body for sexual intercourse, ={γυναικὶ χρῆσθαι δυνάμενος}, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.6 of the dead, whence χρηστὸν ποιεῖν ={ἀποκτιννύναι}, in a treaty between the Spartans and Tegea, Refs 4th c.BC+
III adverb -τῶς well, properly, Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | chrēstos4×χρηστὸς | chrēstas | chrēstem1×χρηστὸν | chrēstois1×χρηστοί | chrēstais | chrēsteim1×χρηστὰ |
| object accusative | chrēston | chrēstan | chrēstoin | chrēstain | ||
| direct address vocative | chrēstor | chrēstar | chrēstoir | chrēstair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | chrēstou | chrēstau | chrēsteu | chrēstoiu | chrēstaiu | chrēsteiu |
| to, for dative | chrēsto | chrēsta | chrēste | chrēstoi | chrēstai | chrēstei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
chrēst is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
7 occurrences, every one of them listed
chrēstos“good”subjectnominative singular4×
Matthew 11:30tos gar zugos mu chrēstos kai tem fortiem mu elafrem atō.For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Luke 5:39“good”… thelatō neon; legatō gar; Tos palaios chrēstos atō.… old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
Luke 6:35… kai evi huiois Hupsistou, hoti autos chrēstos atō epi toin acharistoin kai ponēroin.… the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
1 Peter 2:3ei geueva hoti chrēstos tos kurios.… have tasted that the Lord is good.
chrēstem“kindness”subject or objectdirect singular1×
Romans 2:4… tau makrothumiau katafronasō, agnoarōntos hoti tem chrēstem tou theou eis metanoian sin agatō?… and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
chrēstois“kind”subjectnominative plural1×
Ephesians 4:32genovōr eis allēloin chrēstois, eusplanchnois, charizorōntois heautoi kathōs kai tos …Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving …
chrēsteim“good”subject or objectdirect plural1×
1 Corinthians 15:33mē planovōr; ftheralō ētheim chrēsteim homiliais kakosais.… not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”