Word study chresis

Word Study — χρῆσις (chrēsis), “use”

χρῆσις (chrēsis) means use, function, the employment of a thing according to what it is for. It comes from χράομαι (chraomai), to use, to employ. Paul uses it twice in Romans 1:26–27: “the natural use,” and “the natural use of the woman.” He is naming function according to nature, not mere activity.

The same root gives χρῆμα (chrēma), a thing used, and in the plural χρήματα, money, wealth: a thing whose life is to be put to use. Related are χρεία (chreia), need or use, and χρήσιμος (chrēsimos), useful.

The family circles one idea: a thing has a use. χρῆσις names putting it to that use. In Romans 1:26–27 the thing in view is the natural relation of woman and man. Paul did not grab a soft word for “what people do.” He grabbed the word for use according to nature.