to put something to use: to take up a thing, a right, or a way of behaving and let it serve a purpose, including in how one handles another person
This verb is about reaching for something already at hand and letting it do its work. What gets taken up simply stands beside the verb: ropes to brace a straining ship, a little wine for a weak stomach, a right Paul could have claimed from the churches, the law itself. The word passes no judgment on the thing taken up. It says only that someone reached for it and put it into service.
Greek could also set a quality beside this verb instead of an object, and that is where English has to change words. When Paul asks whether he showed flippancy in changing his travel plans, or says he hopes not to be harsh when he arrives, the verb is describing the manner of his conduct rather than a tool in his hand. English simply says he "acted" one way or another.
From there the step to people is short. A Roman officer "used" Paul kindly, which every English Bible sensibly turns into "treated him kindly." The Greek has not switched to a different word. It has only changed what stands beside the verb, and that is the pattern worth watching:
- a thing or a resource beside the verb gives "use"
- a quality or a manner beside the verb gives "act"
- a person beside the verb gives "treat"
Paul plays on the verb in 1 Corinthians 7:31, where those who use the world are told not to be using it up (καταχράομαι). The plain verb is neutral about excess, and it is the compound built on it that carries the overreach.
Nuances
What unexpressed object Paul's imperative "rather use it" supplies in 1 Corinthians 7:21: the opportunity of freedom, or the enslaved believer's present condition.
- majoritySupply freedom: an enslaved believer who can become free should take that opportunity.; S. Scott Bartchy, ΜΑΛΛΟΝ ΧΡΗΣΑΙ: First-Century Slavery and the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:21 (SBLDS 11; Missoula: Scholars Press, 1973); J. Albert Harrill, The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity (HUT 32; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995)
- minoritySupply the present condition: the believer should go on serving God where they are, in line with the "remain as you were called" argument that runs through 1 Corinthians 7:17-24.; Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; rev. ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014), on 7:21