REPENT! -- What does this really mean?

INTRODUCTION

Anybody who speaks English – particularly anybody who has been influenced by messages from any variety of Christian church – hears the term repent and all of its related words regularly.  On the basis of this exposure, most people think they know the meaning of this word group, at least as it is used today.  The question of the moment is whether this current use is connected to usages in the Greek and Hebrew texts of the bible.

ETYMOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH TERM

English is a relatively young language that developed from a pigeon dialect from Norman French (political rulers in Britton after 1066) and Saxon (the majority of peasants and native nobility in Britain).  The first record of this particular term was as an intransitive verb in the 14^th century CE.  Modern meanings as listed in the English dictionary are as follows:

·      Intransitive verb

1.     Turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life

2.     a  Feel regret or contrition

b  Change one’s mind

·      Transitive verb

1.     Cause one to feel regret or contrition

2.     Feel sorrow, regret, or contrition for something

As an adjective the term means creeping or prostrate.  This use first appeared in 1669.

The verbal use derived from Anglo-French repentir, from Midieval Latin repoenitere, from Latin re- + poenitere.  The primary thrust of meaning is regret with a close connection to penitent.  The adjectival use derived from the present participle of the Latin verb repere, to creep.

NEW COVENANT USE

Two words in the Greek New Covenant books are commonly translated by the English term repent – μετανοεω and μεταμελομαι.  Although these two verbs are generally translated by the same English term, they do not really mean the same thing.  The verb μετανοεω as used in the bible means a change of one’s mind accompanied by a corresponding change in conduct.  The verb μεταμελομαι may include a change of one’s mind, but it places primary emphasis on a sense of regret.  When I was studying Koine Greek, the teacher laid great stress on the idea that true repentance requires a change of mind, whether or not regret or contrition is also present.  In this respect, μεταμελομαι is closer in meaning to the etymological origins of the English term repent.  This probably reflects the strongly Roman Catholic influence on the development of Christian theology.  Nevertheless, there is no single English verb that quite has the same meaning as μετανοεω.

USAGE IN THE LXX

Both μετανοεω and μεταμελομαι occur in the LXX texts as one possible translation for the niphal stem for the Hebrew root נחם.  According to BDB, the niphal stem this root has four meanings listed:

·      Be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion for others

·      Be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent for one’s own actions

·      Comfort oneself, be comforted

·      Be relieved, comfort oneself

The niphal stem of this Hebrew root occurs 47 times in the Hebrew bible.  Of these, the Greek translation employs form of μετανοεω 13 times and μεταμελομαι 7 times.  This result is in accordance with the findings of Moulton & Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, which asserts that in classical Greek these two verbs were nearly synonomous.  The distinction between the two verbs became significantly more pronounced in the New Covenant texts and subsequent Christian writings.  In my opinion, this may have been the result of Jewish influence arising from the Hebrew bible.

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE

There is no classical Hebrew verb that corresponds to the modern usage of repent in its various forms, but two verbal roots convey different aspects of repent: µjn and bwv.  As mentioned above, the niphal stem of µjn is translated by μετανοεω and μεταμελομαι almost interchangeably in the LXX.  The root µjn occurs a total of 108 times, and it is attested in niphal, piel, pual, and hitpael forms.  Meanings connected with the niphal stem are listed above; meanings listed for the other stems are as follows:

·      Piel – comfort, console

·      Pual – be relieved, be consoled

·      Hithpael – essentially the same as the niphal

The root bwv occurs 1075 times in the Hebrew bible as we now have it, and it is attested in the qal, polel, hiphil, and hophal stems.  Of all these occurrences there is not one instance in which this root is translated by either μετανοεω or μεταμελομαι in the LXX.  (There is a single instance in which μετανοεω is listed as a possible translation for bwv; but this is listed as questionable. The LXX text deviates from that of the MT at this point, and there is no Hebrew original for comparison.)  Out of the large number of occurrences, the most common meanings are as follows:

·      Return

·      Come/go back

·      Be restored

·      Bring/put back (causative form)

·      Pay back

For the many different uses of this root, the one closest to the present topic is the one in which YHWH speaks to his people through the mouth of a prophet: ‘If you will keep my commands, judgments, and statutes with a whole heart and return to me, then I will return to you.’  Words to this effect occur in the writings of essentially every prophet of Israel.  Inherent in this statement and those like it are the following:

·      An analysis of past and current conducts and attitudes

·      A determination of the will to turn back to the standards defined by YHWH as GOOD

·      A determination to conduct oneself in accordance with those standards (turn back to YHWH)

·      When an individual or a corporate group turns back to YHWH in this way, YHWH promises that he will return to them.  This promise implies restoration of personal and corporate blessing in accordance with both the Sinai and the New Covenants.

The root שוב continues in use in modern Hebrew and is inflected with the qal, hiphil, and hophal stems.  Modern uses for each verbal stem are as follows:

·      Qal --   return, revert, repeat, become

·      Hiphil -- reply, return, replace, restore, revoke, reverse

·      Hophal -- be put back/replaced/returned/restored  

The term תשובה is a feminine noun derived from the root שוב.  In modern Hebrew in means answer/reply or repentance.   This term also occurs a total of 9 times with the meanings return (to a place or a time of year) or answer.  The meaning of 'repent' is not attested in the biblical text.

REPENT!

This exhortation is thrown around a lot, especially in Christian circles; and I suppose that each Christian sect has its own perspective on what repentance was supposed to look like.  John the Baptizer had a definite idea when he said to the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mat 3:7, 8), “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee the wrath to come?  Therefore bring forth fruit worthy of repentance (μετανοεω).”  John was a Levitical priest, and the only standard he knew was based on Torah and the prophets.  Yeshua had the same standard in mind when he said on various occasions, “Your sins are forgiven, now go and sin no more.”  Rav Shaul’s emphasis was similar when addressing Gentiles (c.f. Acts 14): “… We are also men of the same nature as you, preaching to you to turn (επιστρεφω) from these empty things to the living God…”  (Note: επιστρεφω is the normal translation for bwv in the LXX.)  Note specifically, the emphasis is change of mind to be followed by change of conduct in accordance with the revealed word of YHWH.  This combination, it seems to me, is all too often missed among Christians.