εὔχρηστος

From the study of 2 Timothy 2:21

Range of meaning

Useful, serviceable, of good use. From eu ('well') + chrēstos ('usable').

Against the English

KJV 'meet for the master's use' is accurate, but 'meet' (= fitting) is now archaic. 'Useful' (BSB, ESV, NIV, NASB) is right.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only in the Pastoral Letters and Philemon. In 2 Tim 4:11 Mark is 'useful to me for ministry'. Phlm 11 plays on the name Onesimus ('Useful'): once useless (achrēstos) to Philemon, now useful (euchrēstos). The word is common in everyday Greek for serviceable things and people.

From the study of 2 Timothy 4:11

Range of meaning

'Easy or good to use, useful, serviceable, beneficial.' It is built from eu- ('well') and chrēstos ('usable,' from chraomai, 'to use'). It is used of tools, goods, land and people who do their job well. Its opposite is achrēstos, 'useless.'

Against the English

BSB, WEB and NASB say 'useful.' ESV says 'very useful,' which brings out the 'well' part. NIV and NLT say 'helpful,' which is warmer but less concrete. KJV and YLT say 'profitable,' which in 1611 meant 'beneficial, serviceable,' but modern readers tend to hear money.

How it drifted

Only the KJV's 'profitable' drifts. It used to mean 'of benefit,' and now it mostly means 'financially gainful.'

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears only three times in the NT, all in Paul's letters. In 2 Timothy 2:21, a person who cleanses himself becomes a vessel 'useful (euchrēston) to the master, ready for every good work.' In Philemon 11, Onesimus 'once was useless (achrēston) to you, but now is useful (euchrēston) to you and to me,' a play on Onesimus's name, which means 'useful.' It is common in papyri and inscriptions praising useful people, and the Shepherd of Hermas uses it for stones that become fit for building once they are shaped.