To revert (literally, figuratively or morally)
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
ἐπιστρέφω is the Greek verb that translates the Hebrew שׁוּב; to turn, to return, to convert. It is the verb of repentance in its most concrete spatial form: not a feeling of sorrow (that is μετανοέω, G3340) but the actual bodily turn of direction, the movement of a person who was going one way and now goes another.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπιστρέφω (G1994) · Open the biblical lexicon
ἐπιστρέφω is the Greek verb that translates the Hebrew שׁוּב; to turn, to return, to convert. It is the verb of repentance in its most concrete spatial form: not a feeling of sorrow (that is μετανοέω, G3340) but the actual bodily turn of direction, the movement of a person who was going one way and now goes another.
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include return (3), turn (3), Turning (3), returns (2), turned (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (11), Luke (7), Mark (4), Matthew (4).
ἐπιστρέφω is the Greek verb that translates the Hebrew שׁוּב; to turn, to return, to convert. It is the verb of repentance in its most concrete spatial form: not a feeling of sorrow (that is μετανοέω, G3340) but the actual bodily turn of direction, the movement of a person who was going one way and now goes another. The local Greek index currently counts about 36 occurrences for exact Strong's ID G1994, and the verb carries the full weight of OT repentance theology.
In the LXX it is the primary translation of שׁוּב (to turn, return), the verb that the prophets used when they called Israel to return to the Lord: 'Return to me and I will return to you' (Mal 3:7, Zech 1:3). That prophetic idiom of return enters the NT directly. Luke 1:16-17 describes John the Baptist's mission as turning (ἐπιστρέφω) many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, echoing Malachi 3 and 4 explicitly.
Acts uses ἐπιστρέφω as the standard vocabulary for conversion: people 'turned to the Lord' (Acts 9:35, 11:21), 'turned to God from idols' (1 Thess 1:9), and Saul is sent to turn Gentiles 'from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God' (Acts 26:18). This is the primary NT conversion verb. But ἐπιστρέφω is not only an evangelistic term. Luke 22:32 uses it for Peter's post-denial restoration: 'when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.'
The movement described here is the re-orientation of a disciple who has already followed Jesus, departed from faithfulness, and must turn back. This gives the word a pastoral register alongside its evangelistic one. The preacher who holds both dimensions has a verb that covers the whole arc of the believing life: the first turn toward God in conversion and the repeated turns back to him in repentance and renewal throughout the life of faith.
ἐπιστρέφω is represented in the local Greek index with about 36 occurrences for exact Strong's ID G1994 and functions in three primary contexts: (1) evangelistic conversion, turning from idols, darkness, or sin to God; (2) prophetic fulfillment, John the Baptist as Elijah turning Israel back to God; and (3) pastoral restoration, the believer who has drifted and must turn again. Abbott-Smith notes very frequent LXX use, chiefly for שׁוּב, the primary OT repentance verb, establishing the word's deep roots in prophetic return theology.
Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
Peter's Pentecost sermon uses both μετανοήσατε (repent, the change of mind) and ἐπιστρέψατε (turn back, the directional reorientation) as a two-verb command. The pairing is not redundant; it names the interior and the exterior dimensions of a single act. Repentance is both a change of mind (μετάνοια) and a turn of direction (ἐπιστρέφω). The result is soteriological: sins blotted out and times of refreshing from God's presence.
This verse is the clearest NT formulation of repentance as a two-movement act: inner change + directional turn.
Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.
The angel's description of John's mission directly echoes Malachi 4:6 and 3:7. ἐπιστρέψει (future of ἐπιστρέφω) is the fulfillment of the prophetic promise that Elijah would turn Israel back to God before the Day of the Lord. This usage establishes that ἐπιστρέφω carries the full freight of OT repentance theology into the NT: the same verb the LXX used for the prophetic return calls is now used for the forerunner of the Messiah.
The preacher who handles this verse can trace the unbroken line from the prophets through John to the ministry of Jesus.
But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus uses ἐπιστρέψας (turning again, aorist participle of ἐπιστρέφω) for Peter's coming restoration after his denial. The verse presupposes the fall; Peter will deny, but already looks to the return. The verb here is not evangelistic conversion but discipleship restoration: a person who already follows Jesus, who has already turned, must turn again after the departure that Jesus knows is coming.
'When you have turned again' is not a conditional; it is a certainty. Jesus intercedes so that faith will not ultimately fail, and the turn will come. This is the pastoral dimension of ἐπιστρέφω: not only the first conversion but the return after the stumble.
For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
Paul describes the Thessalonians' conversion with ἐπεστρέψατε (you turned), the simple aorist marking a decisive, completed reorientation. The structure is directional: away from idols, toward God. This is the evangelistic conversion register at its most explicit: a one-time directional change from the old object of worship to the new. The verb makes visible the spatial logic of biblical conversion: it is not merely a change of belief but a change of direction, a turning of the whole person toward a new center.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Turning to God or away from sin; moral conversion or repentance, not merely physical turning around.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 39 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseI turn back to
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 35 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 36 lexical occurrence verses.
ἐπιστρέφω is built from these roots:
Describes repentance and faith directed toward the Lord. Acts 11:19-26
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
ἐπιστρέφω is the verb that gives repentance its direction. μετάνοια (G3341) names the change of mind; ἐπιστρέφω names the turn of the body; or rather, the turn of the life. When Peter commands 'repent and turn back' in Acts 3:19, the two verbs together describe a single act from two angles: what happens inside and what happens in the direction you are moving.
This is why the prophets' use of שׁוּב, the verb ἐπιστρέφω most often translates in the LXX; was never merely sentimental. 'Return to me,' God says through Malachi and Zechariah. Return is spatial. It assumes you left. It assumes you know the way back. It assumes that God is still there to be returned to. The preacher who works with ἐπιστρέφω has three distinct registers: prophetic, evangelistic, and pastoral.
The prophetic register is the return call that runs through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and the minor prophets; always the same structure: you departed, now turn back. The evangelistic register is Acts: people turning from idols, from darkness, from their prior direction, to the living God. The pastoral register is Luke 22:32: the disciple who will fall and must turn again.
That verse is often neglected precisely because it requires the preacher to acknowledge that the Christian life involves not only a first turn but ongoing turns, repeated re-orientations, recoveries from departures large and small. The intercession of Jesus; 'I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail'; is what makes those subsequent turns possible.
ἐπιστρέφω is not only conversion vocabulary. It is the vocabulary of the whole life lived in the direction of God.
Acts.3.19
ἐπιστρέφω is a compound verb: ἐπί (upon, toward, back) and στρέφω (to turn, twist). The prefix ἐπί gives the compound a directional quality; turning toward something, or turning back in a returning sense, that the simple στρέφω lacks. Abbott-Smith distinguishes the transitive use (to cause someone to turn; Lk 1:16, Jas 5:19-20) from the intransitive use (to turn oneself; Acts 9:35, 11:21, 1 Thess 1:9).
The LXX usage is extensive: שׁוּב (return, repent) accounts for the majority of the LXX occurrences, which imports the full semantic range of the OT's primary repentance verb. A key distinction from the NT's other repentance vocabulary: μετανοέω (G3340) and μετάνοια (G3341) name the change of mind, the interior re-evaluation; ἐπιστρέφω names the turn of direction, the movement in a new bearing.
Acts 3:19 pairs both verbs, showing they are complementary rather than synonymous.
ἐπιστρέφω is the bridge verb between the OT repentance vocabulary and the NT. Its LXX usage for שׁוּב establishes it as the direct translation of the prophets' return calls: 'Return to me and I will return to you' (Mal 3:7; Zech 1:3), 'Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God' (Hos 14:1). These calls structure the NT use from the very beginning: John the Baptist's mission (Lk 1:16-17) is described in ἐπιστρέφω language as the fulfillment of Malachi's Elijah promise.
The NT does not abandon the directional, physical metaphor of turning that the OT established; it presses it into service for both conversion (the first turn to God) and ongoing renewal (the repeated turns back after departure). The prodigal son's return (Lk 15:20) is the narrative form of ἐπιστρέφω without the word itself, the structural event the word names.
The Hebrew שׁוּב that stands behind ἐπιστρέφω also generates the noun תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah, return, repentance) that becomes the primary Jewish term for the repentance process. The NT inherits that tradition and makes ἐπιστρέφω its Greek equivalent.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain