Precept Upon Precept Lesson 2

Precept Upon Precept Lesson 2

Matthew, Part 1

REPENT

ENGLISH

REPENT´, [Fr. repentir; It. pentire, pentirsi; Sp. arrepentirse; L. re and pœiteo, from pain]

1. To feel pain, sorrow or regret for something done or spoken; as, to repent that we have lost much time in idleness or sensual pleasure; to repent that we have injured or wounded the feelings of a friend. A person repents only of what he himself has done or said.2. To express sorrow for something past.3. To change the mind in consequence of the inconvenience or injury done by past conduct….5. In theology, to sorrow or be pained for sin, as a violation of God’s holy law, a dishonor to his character and government, and the foulest ingratitude to a Being of infinite benevolence.

Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke 13. Acts 3.[1]

HEBREW

שּׁב[SHOOV] It is the twelfth most frequently used verb in the ot, appearing just over 1050 times. It appears most often in Jeremiah (111x) followed by Psalms (71x), Genesis (68x), Ezekiel (62x), I Kings (62x), II Chronicles (61x), II Kings (55x), Isaiah (51x).

The Bible is rich in idioms describing man’s responsibility in the process of repentance. Such phrases would include the following: “incline your heart unto the Lord your God” (Josh 24:23): “circumcise yourselves to the Lord” (Jer 4:4); “wash your heart from wickedness” (Jer 4:14); “break up your fallow ground” (Hos 10:12) and so forth. All these expressions of man’s penitential activity, however, are summarized by this one verb. For better than any other verb it combines in itself the two requisites of repentance: to turn from evil and to turn to the good.

To begin with, the basic meaning of šûb “to (re)turn” implying physical motion or movement appears over 270 times. Theologically, it is used to deal with the covenant community’s return to God (in the sense of repentance), or turning away from evil (in the sense of renouncing and disowning sin), or turning away from God (in the sense of becoming apostate). Thus, we encounter the interesting phenomenon of two prophets (Isaiah & Jeremiah) back to back in the canon, the first virtually silent on the subject and the second quite vocal. Perhaps the relative paucity of references in Isaiah is the prophet’s way of saying the die has already been cast. Quite poignantly God says to Isaiah, “Make the heart of this people fat … lest they be converted (šûb) and healed.” A point of no return has been reached. God has foreseen the stubbornness of his people and has incorporated it into his plan. The prophet, therefore, is not to be frustrated (Mt 13:13ff.).

The association between the ideas of a return from exile and a return to the covenant should be obvious. A return from exile was reclamation as much as a return from any form of sin. That God should permit either return is corroborative of his covenantal faithfulness.

To be sure, there is no systematic spelling out of the doctrine of repentance in the ot. It is illustrated (Ps 51) more than anything else. Yet the fact that people are called “to turn” either “to” or “away from” implies that sin is not an ineradicable stain, but by turning, a God-given power, a sinner can redirect his destiny. There are two sides in understanding conversion, the free sovereign act of God’s mercy and man’s going beyond contrition and sorrow to a conscious decision of turning to God. The latter includes repudiation of all sin and affirmation of God’s total will for one’s life. [2]

GREEK

μετανοέω; μετάνοια,[Meta-no-OW, META-noi-ah]to change one’s way of life as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness—‘to repent, to change one’s way, repentance.’ ‘they went out and preached that the people should repent’ Mk 6:12. ‘do you fail to understand that God is kind because he wants to lead you to repent?’ Ro 2:4.

Though in English a focal component of repent is the sorrow or contrition that a person experiences because of sin, the emphasis in μετανοέω and μετάνοια seems to be more specifically the total change, both in thought and behavior, with respect to how one should both think and act. Whether the focus is upon attitude or behavior varies somewhat in different contexts. Compare, for example, Lk 3:8, He 6:1, and Ac 26:20.[3]

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There are two words in the NT which convey the idea of repentance, metanoéō and epistréphō (1994), to come back, convert, turn about. These words derive their moral content not from Greek, but from Jewish and Christian thought, since nothing analogous to the biblical concept of repentance and conversion was known to the Greeks. Metanoéō presents repentance in its negative aspect as a change of mind or turning from sin while epistréphō presents it in its positive aspect as turning to God. Both, however, have much the same content of meaning. Christ’s call to repentance (Matt. 4:17) has as its motive the nearness of the kingdom, participation in which is conditioned upon the new disposition (Matt. 18:3). It is addressed, not as in the OT to the nation, but to the individual; and not merely to flagrant sin, but to all sin (Luke 13:3), both great and small. The inner and radical character of the change required is illustrated by the figure of the tree and its fruits. The first four Beatitudes may be taken as descriptive of elements of true repentance. Poverty of spirit (the confession of one’s spiritual helplessness–see ptōchós [4434], poor), sorrow for sin, meekness, and hunger and thirst for righteousness are all characteristics of the soul that is turning to God from sin. In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus draws a picture of the true penitent person. Such is assured of the forgiveness of the Father whose love has anticipated his return and gone out to seek and save (Luke 15:4). Of fastings and other external accompaniments Christ says little, as indicated in the parable of the publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:10–14). No external acts can take the place of an internal sorrow for one’s sins.[4]

[1] Webster, N. (2006). Noah Webster's First Edition of an American Dictionary of the English Language (1848). Anaheim, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education.

[2] Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (909). Chicago: Moody Press.

[3] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (509). New York: United Bible societies.

[4] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.