λῡσῐτελ-έω G3081
it is profitable, it is better, it pays
This impersonal verb expresses that something is advantageous, profitable, or better—it pays or benefits. Classical usage often appeared in commercial contexts or ethical deliberations about what course of action yields benefit. Jesus uses it in Luke 17:2 in a severe warning: it would be better for someone to have a millstone around their neck than to cause a little one to stumble.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Luke 17:2 contains Jesus' sobering statement that it would be more profitable (less disastrous) for an offender to be drowned than to cause a believer to sin. The multilingual glosses (it-is-better, conviene, il-vaut-mieux) capture the comparative sense. Jesus' hyperbolic warning emphasizes the gravity of leading others astray, measuring eternal consequences against even the most violent physical death. 1×
AR["خَيرٌ"]·ben["লাভজনক"]·DE["λυσιτελεῖ"]·EN["It-is-better"]·FR["il-vaut-mieux"]·heb["מוּטָב-לוֹ"]·HI["लाभदायक"]·ID["lebih-baik"]·IT["lusitelei"]·jav["langkung-sae"]·KO["낫다"]·PT["melhor-lhe-seria"]·RU["лучше"]·ES["conviene"]·SW["ni-afadhali"]·TR["yararlıdır"]·urd["اچھا"]
Related Senses
H2896a 1. good (quality or moral) (305×)H7563 1. wicked person (259×)H7451c 1. moral evil or wickedness (234×)H5771 1. iniquity, sin, wrongdoing (222×)H6662 1. righteous person (substantive) (195×)G0266 1. sin, failure, transgression (173×)H2403b 1. sin, transgression (170×)H2617a 1. Covenant faithfulness, steadfast love (167×)H2398 1. Qal: to sin, commit sin (165×)H6666 1. righteousness, moral uprightness (145×)G5485 1. grace, divine favor (141×)H7451a 1. morally evil, wicked (129×)H2403b 2. sin-offering, sacrifice for sin (120×)G2570 1. good, right, excellent (98×)H6588 1. transgression, offense against God (88×)G0018 1. good (moral quality) (85×)H2896b 1. good, what is good (85×)H7451b 1. evil, wickedness (moral) (83×)H7451a 2. evil, harm, calamity (80×)G1342 1. righteous, upright (of persons) (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
λῡσῐτελ-έω, properly indemnify for expenses incurred, or pay what is due, and then 'pay', i.e. profit, avail (compare λύω see 2), with dative, __I with subject expressed, οὔ φημ᾽ ἂν λυσιτελεῖν σφῷν [τοῦτο] Refs 5th c.BC+ __I.2 mostly impersonal, λυσιτελεῖ μοι it profits me, is better for me, with participle, οἷς οὐδ᾽ ἅπαξ ἐλυσιτέλησε πειθομένοις Refs 5th c.BC+: with infinitive, λ. προϊέναι Refs;…