What does χρή (chrḗ) mean in the Bible?
χρή (chrḗ) is a Greek word meaning "it needs (must or should) be".
Greek · G5534
χρή
It needs (must or should) be
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χρή G5534
Pronunciation chrḗ
What does χρή (chrḗ) mean in the Bible?
χρή (chrḗ) is a Greek word meaning "it needs (must or should) be".
Full entry for χρή (G5534) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5534?
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include should (1).
Where does χρή (chrḗ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at James 3:10. Its strongest book concentrations include James (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It should 1× James 3:10
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row James 3:10
Aligned rows 1
Books represented 1
James 1
Source forms
χρή 1x chrē James 3:10
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x James 3:10
Evidence Summary
Greek word. it needs (must or should) be
Source Gloss
it needs (must or should) be
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
1 Greek text appearance shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
James 3:10 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
χρή, crh
it is necessary, proper
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 1 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 1
Voice
active 1
Mood
indicative 1
NT Occurrences
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Origins
χρή is built from these roots:
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain