μετανοέω metanoeō — to change one's mind, to think differently

The word

μετανοέω (metanoeō) is the standard Greek verb translated “repent” in the New Testament. It is the verb in John the Baptist’s preaching (“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” Matthew 3:2), Jesus’s opening proclamation (“Repent and believe in the gospel,” Mark 1:15), and Peter’s Pentecost sermon (“Repent and be baptized,” Acts 2:38). It occurs about 34 times in the New Testament; the cognate noun μετάνοια (metanoia) appears about 22 times.

The verb is a compound of two parts:

• μετά (meta) — “after,” “with,” or in compounds often “change of”
• νοέω (noeō) — “to perceive, understand, think”

The basic sense is to change one’s mind — to think differently, to reconsider. BDAG s.v. metanoeō documents the lexical range from this neutral cognitive sense (“reconsider”) through to the fuller religious sense that the word develops in Jewish-Greek and early Christian usage.

What is and is not in the Greek

The English word “repent” carries strong connotations that the Greek does not necessarily carry on its own:

• Sorrow or regret — these belong more naturally to a different Greek verb, metamelomai (μεταμέλομαι). Matthew 27:3 says of Judas that he metamelētheis — “having changed his mind / felt regret” — and returned the silver. The two verbs overlap but are not identical.
• Contrition or penitence as the lexical core — penitential interior posture is not the dictionary definition of metanoeō. The word describes a change of mind or direction. This does not mean emotion or moral feeling are absent from the original meaning — the word describes the nature of the turning, not its emotional content. Greek users of metanoeō could and did include emotional dimensions; the lexical centre is the change itself, and the English “repentance” tradition has filled out the emotional and moral content in ways that extend, but do not contradict, the Greek.
• Specific behaviour change — the Greek verb names a change of mind. Any change of behaviour follows from the change of mind, but the verb itself does not specify it.

The English “repent” — coming from Latin re-paenitere via Old French — has historically carried the penitential and emotional charge, partly because the Vulgate’s Latin renderings (paenitentiam agite, “do penance”) shaped the medieval reception of the word.

The Hebrew layer: shuv and nicham

In the Old Testament, “repent” in English usually translates one of two Hebrew verbs:

• שׁוּב (shuv) — the most common verb, occurring more than 1,050 times in the Hebrew Bible. Its basic sense is “to turn” or “to return.” When Israel “repents” in the prophets, the verb is most often shuv — turning back to the LORD, returning from a wrong path. The image is directional rather than cognitive.
• נָחַם (nicham) — in the Niphal stem, “to be sorry, to be moved, to relent.” This is the verb used when the text says God “repents” of an action (Genesis 6:6, Exodus 32:14). The English translation “repent” is awkward here; modern translations often render it “relent” or “regret” instead.

The Septuagint uses metanoeō and metamelomai to render both shuv and nicham in different contexts, which has produced the layered English vocabulary that uses the single word “repent” for several distinct underlying ideas.

Why this matters in reading the Gospels

When John the Baptist or Jesus says “repent” in the Gospels, the underlying Greek is metanoeō — change your mind, think differently. The English word imports a register of sorrow and contrition that the Greek does not necessarily carry. Some readings of the Gospel emphasise the emotional aspect; others emphasise the cognitive shift. Both are within the range of how the word has been understood across Christian history. The Greek itself does not adjudicate.

For the related shift in Mark 1:15, see our Translation Watch entry on metanoeō.