To turn away or back (literally or figuratively)
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G654 is a Greek verb for turning away, turning back, removing, refusing, deserting, or redirecting. Acts 3:26 says God sent His Servant to bless people by turning each one from wicked ways, presenting repentance as saving blessing rather than mere condemnation.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀποστρέφω (G654) · Open the biblical lexicon
G654 is a Greek verb for turning away, turning back, removing, refusing, deserting, or redirecting. Acts 3:26 says God sent His Servant to bless people by turning each one from wicked ways, presenting repentance as saving blessing rather than mere condemnation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include do not turn away from (1), has deserted (1), He will remove (1), if we reject (1), Put (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:42. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Timothy (2), Matthew (2), Acts (1), Hebrews (1).
G654 is a Greek verb for turning away, turning back, removing, refusing, deserting, or redirecting. Acts 3:26 says God sent His Servant to bless people by turning each one from wicked ways, presenting repentance as saving blessing rather than mere condemnation. Matthew 26:52 records Jesus telling a disciple to put his sword back in its place after the arresting party is attacked, interrupting violent defense.
Matthew 5:42 tells disciples not to turn away from one who asks to borrow, placing generosity against reflexive refusal. Other uses concern ears turned from truth, people deserting Paul, myths rejected, godlessness removed, and a false accusation that Jesus was turning people toward rebellion. G654 opens repentance, refusal, desertion, generosity, nonviolence, and removal.
It corrects both harsh turning-away from people in need and boundaryless readings that make every request obligatory regardless of fraud, abuse, capacity, or safety.
G654 describes causing something or someone to turn away or back, or reflexively turning oneself away. Objects include wickedness, truth, a petitioner, a sword, a person, myths, and godlessness. Direction and object control the ethical meaning.
When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
God's raised Servant blesses hearers by turning each one away from wicked ways toward covenant restoration.
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him. “For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Jesus commands the sword to be returned to its place after a disciple uses violence during His arrest.
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Jesus directs disciples away from reflexive refusal toward open-handed response to someone asking or seeking a loan.
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. To reject or refuse allegiance; turning away from what one previously followed or accepted.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
Read verseI turn away, restore, reject
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 9 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 1 selected witness from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀποστρέφω is built from these roots:
The term highlights the painful reality that some distance themselves from faithful servants when the cost of association becomes high.2 Timothy 1:15-18
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G654 shows that turning away can be rescue or betrayal. In Acts, God's Servant blesses by turning people from wicked ways; repentance is grace that interrupts harm and restores direction. In Gethsemane, Jesus stops a disciple's sword, refusing violent defense of His mission in that moment. In the Sermon on the Mount, disciples resist the instinct to dismiss a person who asks for help.
These commands form generous, peaceable people, but they do not require ignoring context. A caregiver, church, or individual may assess capacity, offer noncash help, decline manipulation, and maintain safety boundaries. Refusing an abuser access can be a necessary turning away from evil, not failure of generosity. Conversely, communities must not disguise indifference to poverty as discernment.
Faithful application asks what love, justice, truth, stewardship, and safety require for this person and request. Turning from evil should lead toward repair and good, not simply a new label. Putting away the sword rejects retaliation while leaving room for protection and lawful responsibility.
Acts.3.26
G654 combines turning with a prefix of separation and can be transitive or reflexive. It may mean turn away, turn back, remove, refuse, desert, or put back, so the object and resulting direction are essential to translation.
The prophets repeatedly call Israel to turn from evil and return to the Lord, while wisdom joins generosity to prudence and justice. Jesus embodies nonretaliation and open-handed care, and the apostles continue calling communities from falsehood toward truth.