[B-Greek] METANOIW 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

Polycarp66 at aol.com Polycarp66 at aol.com
Sun Feb 1 18:13:56 EST 2004


In a message dated 2/1/2004 1:33:40 PM Eastern Standard Time, mauros at iol.ie 
writes:
At 05:00 01/02/2004, David Bielby wrote:

>Matthew 4:17, Acts 26:20 and other references use METANOIAS or METANOIW
>Would you agree that METANOIAS/W is a change of behavior as a result of a
>complete change of heart and attitude?  (Louw & Nida)
>
>Or is METANOIAS/W simply a change of mind? (BDAG's primary)
>
David:
I would recommend something more extensive than these brief references -- 
the 3 or 4 page entry in:
Balz, Horst, and Gerhard Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New 
Testament. vol. 2  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.
would be a good starting place.


>One of my questions may be a bit off topic..but is so close I hope it's
>alright.  Here it is: If I want to study the meaning of
>a word like METANOIAS by looking at how it's used in ancient literature, is
>it worth the trouble to scan TLG and see if the word tended to be used one 
>way in Classical
>literature and another way in Koine?  Will changes in it's use over time 
>become clear?

Much of this  work has been done for you in the first part of the entry on 
METANOEW etc, in:
Spicq, Ceslas. Theological Lexicon of the New Testament. 3 vols. Peabody, 
Mass: Hendrickson, 1996.

He begins his survey by remarking " .... in accordance with its very 
etymology, METANOEW has a meaning of its own, attested in secular 
literature as well in Scripture " and he gives many examples from 
Epicharmus ( 460 B.C ) onwards. Then he turns to Scripture:

>>In the OT, the object of repentance is sins committed [ Wis 11:23; 
12:19; Sir 17:24; 48:15) as much as the malice that inspired them (Jer 8:6; 
18:6), but it is not simply a case of a psychological evolution of a person 
coming around to himself, but of satisfying God's requirements. METANOIA 
becomes a religious idea, because it is God who leads the human heart to 
repentance and pardons only those who are repentant.<<

He cites the Letter of Aristeas [ ?before/after 100 B.C ] thus:
  >>Ep. Arist. 188 inherits this conception: "The best thing you can do to 
maintain the royal power is to imitate God's indefectible mercy; for in 
showing magnanimity and in punishing the guilty with more indulgence than 
they deserve, you will turn them away from evil and lead them to 
repentance.<<

The notion here of "turning away" and being "led" come through from the 
Hebrew bible; I see another posting has given you the two terms used in the 
Hebrew,  SHUB  ( turn ) and NAHAM [ it means both "repent" and "relent", 
the latter used of God -- both terms are used in Joel 2:14:
   >> Who knows but He may turn and relent, << ]

[ BTW: if you are investigating how the equivalent  Greek forms occur in 
the LXX, a useful tool is:
Muraoka, Takamitsu. Hebrew/Aramaic Index to the Septuagint. Keyed to to the 
Hatch-Redpath Concordance. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.
You pick a term such as SHUB and find a (long) list of which METANOIA is 
but one or NACHAM, a much shorter list ]

Then, turning to the NT, Spicq begins:

>>In the NT. METANOEW and  METANOIA(56 occurrences) retain this basic 
meaning. "change opinions. regret. be grieved about something," but they 
are used almost exclusively for the attitude of unbelievers and sinners 
returning to God, and they are laden with a new theological density; they 
form an essential part of the kerygma lexicon, urging " conversion " to 
Christianity. There is no longer any question of distinguishing between 
change of thoughts. of heart. of actions. The change is that of the soul. 
of the whole person (the new creature), who is purified of stains and whose 
life is transformed, metamorphosed. <<


>The bottom line is: How are pastors to interpret the meaning of METANOIAS
>and METANOIW in the GNT?  What are we to tell our people it means 
>specifically?

One could always begin with Philo's citation in  On The Virtues XXXIII -- 
on Repentance  [# 183 in Yonge's edition ] of Dt. 30
>> Moreover, Moses delivers to us very beautiful exhortations to 
repentance, by which he teaches us to alter our way of life, changing from 
an irregular and disorderly course into a better line of conduct; for he 
says that this task is not one of any excessive difficulty, nor one removed 
far out of our reach, being neither above us in the air nor on the extreme 
borders of the sea, so that we are unable to take hold of it; but it is 
near us, abiding, in fact, in three portions off us, namely, in our mouths, 
and our hearts, and our hands;<<

but perhaps add his rider [ in Spec. Laws I.58 ]:
>> But some men have gone to such a pitch of extravagant madness, that 
they have left themselves no retreat or way to repentance, <



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