More than feeling bad: it is turning back to God. “Return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate.” In Mark 1:15, the Greek word is metanoeō (G3340): Strong’s says it means ‘to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider’. It is made from meta, which often marks a change, and noeō, ‘to think’: a change of mind....
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind the word “Repent” in this verse is the Greek word metanoeō (said meh-tah-no-EH-oh).
Strong’s says it means ‘to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider’. It is made from meta, which often marks a change, and noeō, ‘to think’: a change of mind. Strong’s adds ‘feel compunction’, an old word for the sting of conscience.
This form, metanoeite, is a command to many people, in a form that usually describes something ongoing rather than one moment. The next word, pisteuete, ‘believe’, is in the same form.
In the Berean Standard Bible, this word is always “repent” or one of its forms, 33 times in all:
Word by word
| μετανοεῖτε | καὶ | πιστεύετε | ἐν | τῷ | εὐαγγελίῳ |
| repent | and | believe | in | the | gospel |
Original form
What this tells us
John the Baptist has just been arrested: “After the arrest of John, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God” (Mark 1:14). The man who prepared the way is in prison, and it would be easy to think the story has stalled. Instead Jesus walks into Galilee with news. These are the first words he preaches in Mark’s Gospel: “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near.” The word behind “Repent” is metanoeō: to change your mind, to turn around in how you think. Notice what comes first. Not a list of what you did wrong, but news that God has come near. Then: “Repent and believe in the gospel!” Repenting and believing stand side by side, both an answer to that news. You can hear the same order in the story Jesus tells of the lost son. Far from home, “he came to his senses” (Luke 15:17), and he set off for his father’s house. “But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion” (Luke 15:20). Some Christians stress repentance as one turning at the start of faith, others as a daily return to God, and many hold both; all of them hear the same invitation in this verse. So the question here is not ‘Have I felt bad enough?’ but ‘Will I turn toward what God is doing?’
What the original says
Behind the words “turn back” in this verse is the Greek word epistrephō (said eh-pee-STREH-foh).
It means to turn, to turn back. Strong’s says it is made from epi, ‘upon, toward’, and strephō, ‘to turn’.
This form, epistrepsate, is a command, like metanoēsate, “Repent”, just before it. Peter puts the two side by side: repent, and turn back.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is “turn” 22 times and “return” 10 times, counting their other forms. John the Baptist would “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children” (Luke 1:17):
Word by word
| μετανοήσατε | οὖν | καὶ | ἐπιστρέψατε | πρὸς | τὸ | ἐξαλειφθῆναι |
| repent | therefore | and | turn | toward | the | being blotted out |
Original form
What this tells us
A man lame from birth has just been healed at the temple gate, and “all the people were astonished and ran to them” (Acts 3:11). Peter tells the crowd plainly what they had done: “You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you” (Acts 3:14). “You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead” (Acts 3:15). Then he says something no one expects: “I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders” (Acts 3:17). The words “turn back” are epistrephō: to turn around, to face the other way. Peter sets it right beside “Repent”. Change your mind, and turn your whole life back toward God. And he says why: “so that your sins may be wiped away”. Think of a slate wiped clean, with nothing left on it to hold against you. The prophets had promised the same: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). And Peter does not stop at a clean slate. He goes on: “that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:20). Turning back opens the way to being refreshed, not only to being let off. If what you have done feels too big, notice who Peter is speaking to: the very people who rejected Jesus. The door he opens for them is open for you too.
What the original says
Behind the word “return” in this verse is the Hebrew word shuv (said SHOOV).
It means to turn back, to return. It is everywhere in the Old Testament: it is in 921 verses of the Berean.
This form, veshuvu, is ‘and’ (וְ) with a command to many people: “and return”. The verse begins with another command: “So rend your hearts and not your garments”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is “return” 354 times, “turn” 122 times, “restore” 86 times, as in “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3), and even “repent” 13 times:
Word by word
| וְקִרְעוּ | לְבַבְכֶם | וְאַל | בִּגְדֵיכֶם | וְשׁוּבוּ | אֶל | יְהוָה | אֱלֹהֵיכֶם | כִּי |
| and · tear | heart · your | and · not | garments · your | and · turn | to | the LORD | God · your | for |
Original form
What this tells us
Joel has just sounded the alarm: “Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain!” (Joel 2:1). The Day of the LORD is coming like “a great and strong army” (Joel 2:2), and the prophet asks, “Who can endure it?” (Joel 2:11). Then, at the darkest moment, the LORD himself speaks: “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). The word for “return” is shuv: to turn back, to come home. It is one of the most common verbs in the Old Testament, used for a traveler heading home and for a people coming back to God. In grief people tore their clothes for everyone to see, but the LORD asks for something deeper than a show: “So rend your hearts and not your garments.” The reason to come back is who he is: “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.” These are the words the LORD used of himself when he passed in front of Moses (Exodus 34:6). Centuries later Jonah prayed them too, almost as a complaint: “I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God” (Jonah 4:2). Joel builds his call on that old and well-known promise. Coming back to God is not about tearing your clothes in public. It is your heart turning toward someone who is already slow to anger and quick to welcome.
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Behind the word “sorrow” in this verse is the Greek word lypē (said LOO-pay).
It means sadness, sorrow, grief.
This form, lypē, is a noun. Word for word Paul writes ‘sorrow according to God’; the Berean says “Godly sorrow”. Then this sorrow “brings repentance”, and the word for repentance is metanoia, which Strong’s says comes from metanoeō.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is “sorrow” 9 of its 16 times, as in “I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” (Romans 9:2):
Word by word
| ἡ | γὰρ | κατὰ | θεὸν | λύπη | μετάνοιαν | εἰς | σωτηρίαν | ἀμεταμέλητον | ἐργάζεται |
| the | for | according to | God | sorrow | repentance | to | salvation | not to be regretted | works |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul had written the church in Corinth a hard letter, and it hurt them. “Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it” (2 Corinthians 7:8). Now news has come back from Corinth, and Paul is glad, “not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:9). The word for “sorrow” is lypē: sadness, grief, the ache of having done wrong. Paul does not say that sorrow is bad. He says there are two kinds: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” One kind turns you toward God. The other only turns you in on yourself, going round and round with no way out. The Gospels show what the first kind looks like. After Peter denied Jesus three times, “he went outside and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). After the resurrection, by the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus met him again and gave him work to do: “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). Paul also names what godly sorrow produced in Corinth: “what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves” (2 Corinthians 7:11). It moves people forward; it does not leave them stuck. If you feel bad about something, that feeling is not the end of the road. The question is where it leads you: toward God, or only deeper into yourself.
What the original says
Behind the second “kindness” in this verse is the Greek word chrēstos (said khray-STOS).
It describes what is good and kind, good to use. Jesus uses it for his yoke: “My yoke is easy” (Matthew 11:30).
This form, chrēston, is a describing word used as a noun: word for word, ‘the kind thing of God’, his kindness. Earlier in the verse is chrēstotēs, the first “kindness”, which Strong’s says comes from chrēstos.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is found in only 7 verses, and it is put 5 different ways, here as “kindness”. Paul’s “Be kind and tenderhearted to one another” (Ephesians 4:32) is this word:
Word by word
| ὅτι | τὸ | χρηστὸν | τοῦ | θεοῦ | εἰς | μετάνοιάν | σε | ἄγει |
| that | the | kindness | of the | God | to | repentance | you | leads |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul is speaking to someone who is quick to judge others: “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another” (Romans 2:1). That person may think that because nothing bad has happened to them, God does not mind what they do. Paul turns the question around and asks what all that time without punishment was for. The second “kindness” in this verse is chrēstos: what is good, kind, easy to bear. Paul asks, “do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?” God’s patience is not God looking away. It is God holding the door open, for as long as it takes. Paul says the same thing in another letter: “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us” (Titus 3:4–5). Kindness comes first, and turning follows. Peter writes that the Lord “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). A teacher who is patient with a struggling student is not saying the mistakes do not matter. The patience is what gives the student room to change. If you have been waiting to feel afraid enough to change, Paul points another way. It is God’s kindness that leads people home.
What the original says
Behind the word “forsake” in this verse is the Hebrew word azav (said ah-ZAHV).
It means to let go, to leave, to forsake. Strong’s gives its first sense as ‘to loosen’.
This form, ya’azov, is a call: “Let the wicked man forsake”. A few words later comes shuv, the word you met in Joel 2:13: “let him return to the LORD”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is “forsake” 92 times, counting its other forms, and ‘leave’ or ‘left’ 45 times, as in “a man will leave his father and mother” (Genesis 2:24):
Word by word
| יַעֲזֹב | רָשָׁע | דַּרְכּוֹ | וְאִישׁ | אָוֶן | מַחְשְׁבֹתָיו | וְיָשֹׁב | אֶל | יְהוָה |
| let forsake | the wicked | way · his | and · man of | iniquity | thoughts · his | and · let return | to | the LORD |
Original form
What this tells us
Isaiah 55 opens like someone in a market calling out free food: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat!” (Isaiah 55:1). Then comes an urgent line just before this verse: “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6). The word for “forsake” is azav: to let go, to leave behind. Isaiah asks two things. First, let go of your own way and your own thoughts: “Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts.” Then come back: “let him return to the LORD.” In this verse repentance has two sides, a leaving and a coming. The next verses explain why it is worth it: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD (Isaiah 55:8). The way God treats someone who comes back is higher than ours, and the verse says it plainly: “He will freely pardon.” Picture a hand that finally lets go of a rope it has gripped for too long, and finds another hand already reaching for it. Whatever you are holding on to, this verse does not ask you to fix it first. It asks you to let go, and to turn toward the LORD who pardons freely.
What the original says
Behind the word “joy” in this verse is the Greek word chara (said khah-RAH).
It means joy, gladness. Strong’s calls it ‘calm delight’.
This form, chara, is a noun. The verse ends with metanoounti, ‘who repents’: the word from Mark 1:15, now used of one person.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is “joy” 51 of its 55 times, as in “I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10):
Word by word
| γίνεται | χαρὰ | ἐνώπιον | τῶν | ἀγγέλων | τοῦ | θεοῦ | ἐπὶ | ἑνὶ | ἁμαρτωλῷ | μετανοοῦντι |
| there is | joy | before | the | angels | of the | God | over | one | sinner | repenting |
Original form
What this tells us
Tax collectors and sinners are gathering around Jesus, and the religious leaders grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). Jesus answers with three stories about lost things: a sheep, a coin and a son. This verse closes the second story. A woman searches her whole house for one coin, and when she finds it she calls her friends: “Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin” (Luke 15:9). The word for “joy” is chara: gladness, delight. Notice where the joy is: “in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” The story is not about how the coin felt. It is about the one who searched for it, and how glad she was to find it. The first story ends 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). The third story ends with a feast. The father of the lost son says, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!” and “they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:24). Heaven’s answer to one person turning back is not a sigh or a lecture. It is a celebration. When you turn back to God, you are not slipping in through a side door, hoping no one notices. Heaven notices, and is glad.
Behind "repent" are 5 different words
Your English Bible says "repent" 51 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Joel 2:13 is a call to come back. Read it slowly:
Name it
Isaiah 55:7 names a way and thoughts to leave behind. What are yours? Write one thing you want to turn from, and turn to God with it.
Carry with you
Romans 2:4 says God’s kindness leads to repentance. Where has his kindness been calling you back?
A note
If you feel you’ve failed too many times to come back, you’re not alone. Talking with a pastor or counselor can help.