Words · Greek Words · Lesson 1, word 4 of 5
μετάνοιαmetanoia
Repentance: a change of mind that turns the life.
Why this word is here. John the Baptist's and Jesus' first preaching word ('Repent, for the kingdom has come near'); constantly preached and constantly reduced to its etymology.
What it means
Abbott-Smith: after-thought, change of mind, repentance. In the New Testament it is repentance from sin: the call of John ('a baptism of repentance'), of Jesus and of the apostles, joined to fruit ('produce fruit worthy of repentance'), to turning to God, and in 2 Corinthians 7 worked by godly sorrow. The verb metanoeo is its partner throughout.
The Old Testament background is the Hebrew shuv, return, which the Greek translators often render with this word family. Repentance is therefore a reorientation of mind, heart and road at once.
Where you meet it
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 1:4 (BSB)
John appears 'preaching a baptism of repentance (metanoia) for the forgiveness of sins.' The New Testament's opening movement starts here.
I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:7 (BSB)
'There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (metanoei).' The verb, in the chapter of the lost sheep, coin and son.
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'Godly sorrow brings repentance (metanoia) that leads to salvation without regret.' Paul distinguishes it from worldly sorrow that brings death.
Why it matters
Metanoia keeps repentance from being reduced to apology or to a sacramental transaction. It is the doorway Jesus himself sets at the front of the gospel, and it is a gift as much as a duty: Acts says God 'granted repentance' to the Gentiles (Acts 11:18).
Watch out
This entry corrects two opposite over-claims, both built on the etymological fallacy. The first dissects meta + noia and concludes metanoia is 'only a change of mind, no sorrow, no turning'. The second reads centuries of penitential practice back into the word and makes it 'doing penance'. The texts decide: repentance in the New Testament involves the mind changed, sorrow that is godly, and a road actually turned (Luke 3:8-14 lists the fruit in wages, coats and honesty). Word parts describe; sentences define.
In this lesson
- logos (λόγος): A word, saying, message, and the Word made flesh.
- agape (ἀγάπη): Love: the bond of God and his people, in Christ.
- pistis (πίστις): Faith: trust, belief, and faithfulness in one word.
- ekklesia (ἐκκλησία): An assembly, the gathered people of God, the church.
Sources
- Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (1889)
- STEP Bible lexicon data (Abbott-Smith)
- SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
Review status: in-theological-review. Every Contend page passes a human theological review against the Statement of Faith before it is published as approved teaching. This section is in that queue.