After what I learned about conversion last time, I wanted to know what kinds of words had been translated as "conversion" when the New Testament came to us from the Greek. I'd found that our one word, conversion, had been translated into Japanese into four different words, which each brought their own interesting layers of meaning to the concept, and I wondered what kinds of Greek words had given rise to these translations.
Not surprisingly, I found four different Greek words.
The first word (and the only one that I'm looking at in this post) is used in a number of different passages, which all draw on a passage from Isaiah 6:9:
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
This verse is referenced in various ways; there's the four verses that use the most common Greek root of conversion and also reference Isaiah 6:9:
Matthew 13:15: ...lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mark 4:12: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
John 12:40: He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
Acts 28:27: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
There's an additional 2 verses that use this same Greek word, but don't reference Isaiah, and interestingly, had 2 different Japanese words when I was looking at that language.
Luke 22:32: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
This verse used the word 立ち直る, which my dictionary defines as "to regain one's footing/get back on one's feet/recover", and that generally fits with the idea of returning. The night of Christ's trial and the day of His crucifixion were to be a dark, dark time for Peter, and it's so kind of Christ to allow for time for recovery. How typical of Him!
Acts 3:19: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...
After looking at the roots of the word "converted", I'm less uncertain about which of the two Japanese words is the most likely candidate than I was a week ago: 本心に立ち返る, meaning "come back/return to a starting point with a true heart". Which fits perfectly with what I'm learning from this study of the Greek roots.
All six of these verses draw on the same Greek word: epistrepho. This is most frequently translated as "to turn", but has also been rendered as converted, return, turn about, turn again, and come/go again. The commentary in Strong's Concordance is interesting:
Epistrepho, as a verb, means, "to turn about", or "towards" and is translated "to return": Then he [a deamon] saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished". ... It also denotes "to make a turn towards", Luke 1:16, James 5:19-20, intransitively in Mark 5:30, "to turn oneself around", in the passive voice Mark 5:30, in the active voice Matthew 13:15, "be converted", Acts 11:21; 14:15; 15:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, "ye turned," INDICATING AN IMMEDIATE AND DECISIVE CHANGE, CONSEQUENT UPON A DELIBERATE CHOICE, CONVERSION IS A VOLUNTARY ACT IN RESPONSE TO THE PRESENTATION OF TRUTH.-Strong's Concordance, G1994, emphasis added.
Conversion, then, is turning to Christ, and away from whatever else it was that kept us from Him.
The original thing that set me to studying about conversion was the use of the Japanese word
悔い改める, which means "to repent", and is a compound of "regret" and "reformation/change", in a place where the English says "converted". And as I study what conversion is, I think that repentance, the process of regret and correction, is indeed nearly synonymous with conversion. But conversion is an indicator of choice: you're choosing to leave behind the old ways, to turn to the Lord, and allow Him to change you.
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