From euthus ('straight/direct'). Euthuno means to guide or direct on a straight course β used of the helmsman steering a ship and of the prophetic preparation for the coming Messiah.
John the Baptist's ministry is described with euthuno: 'Make straight the way of the Lord' (John 1:23). This echoes Isaiah 40:3. The prophet is the cosmic helmsman, steering humanity toward the coming Christ. James 3:4 uses the nautical image β a small rudder (euthuno-ing the ship) controls the whole vessel. The tongue, like a rudder, steers the whole person. Both applications β prophetic preparation and personal self-governance β involve making what is crooked straight. The gospel straightens what sin has bent: lives, relationships, institutions, hearts. The eschatological hope is 'every crooked path shall be made straight' (Luke 3:5).