G3340 — μετανοέω (metanoeō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3340
Original: μετανοέω
Transliteration: metanoeō
Pronunciation: met-an-o-eh'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: μετά (G3326, "after/with") + νοέω (G3539, "to think, perceive") — lit. "to think differently afterwards"
Occurrences: 32 unique verses (36 tokens)
Books: 6 (Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, 2 Corinthians, Revelation)
First Occurrence: Matt 3:2 — "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From Thayer's Greek Lexicon: To change one's mind, i.e. to repent; to feel compunction. Specifically, to change one's mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins. Used especially of those who, conscious of their sins and with manifest tokens of sorrow, are intent on obtaining God's pardon. Mental direction may be specified: ἀπό τῆς κακίας (away from wickedness, Acts 8:22); ἐκ τινος (out of something, Rev 2:21; 9:20; 16:11); μετανοεῖν καὶ ἐπιστρέφειν ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν (repent and turn to God, Acts 26:20).

Etymology: A compound of two concepts — μετά (after, with, implying change) and νοέω (to exercise the mind, observe, think). The word is fundamentally cognitive and volitional — a deliberate re-orientation of thought and will — not merely emotional remorse.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 041005 — Change Behavior
Broader domain: 041 — Behavior and Related States
Other words in subdomain: ἀμετανόητος (G279), ἐπιστρέφω (G1994), ἐπιστροφή (G1995), μετάνοια (G3341), παλιγγενεσία (G3824), στρέφω (G4762)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[041] Behavior and Related States
Representative UBS neighbors include ἀμετανόητος (G279), ἐπιστρέφω (G1994), and μετάνοια (G3341), matching the repentance/turning cluster already visible in the Louw-Nida data.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
repent / Repent	19	59%
repented	6	19%
that repenteth	2	6%
ye repent	2	6%
Other variants	3	9%

KJV renders this word exclusively as "repent" and its inflected forms. No translation ambiguity.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	10	2.5
Luke	9	0.8
Matthew	5	0.5
Acts	5	0.5
2 Corinthians	1	0.4
Mark	2	0.3

Heaviest concentration in Revelation (10 of 32 uses), where unrepentance under judgment is a repeated motif. Luke uses it most among the Gospels for its breadth of pastoral and parabolic teaching on repentance. Absent from John's Gospel entirely; absent from Paul's letters except one occurrence in 2 Corinthians.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Kingdom Proclamation — Repentance as Entry Condition¶

Matt 3:2 — "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Matt 4:17 — "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Mark 1:15 — "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
Acts 2:38 — "Repent, and be baptized every one of you... for the remission of sins."

2. Universal Divine Command¶

Acts 17:30 — "God... commandeth all men every where to repent."
Acts 3:19 — "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out."
Luke 13:3, 5 — "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

3. Response to Preaching and Mighty Works¶

Matt 11:20 — "he upbraid the cities... because they repented not."
Matt 12:41 — "The men of Nineveh... because they repented at the preaching of Jonas."
Luke 10:13 — "if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes."
Mark 6:12 — "they went out, and preached that men should repent."

4. Heavenly Joy over the Repentant Sinner¶

Luke 15:7 — "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons."
Luke 15:10 — "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

5. Interpersonal Repentance and Forgiveness¶

Luke 17:3 — "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him."
Luke 17:4 — "seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent."
2 Cor 12:21 — Paul bewails those "which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness."

6. The Seven Churches — Urgent Eschatological Repentance¶

Rev 2:5 — "repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly."
Rev 2:16 — "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly."
Rev 3:3 — "hold fast, and repent."
Rev 3:19 — "be zealous therefore, and repent."

7. Hardened Refusal to Repent under Judgment¶

Rev 9:20 — "the rest of the men... repented not of the works of their hands."
Rev 9:21 — "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication."
Rev 16:9 — "blasphemed the name of God... and they repented not to give him glory."
Rev 16:11 — "repented not of their deeds."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occ	Typical Pattern
θεός (God)	G2316	8x	"repent and turn to God"; God commands repentance
λέγω (say)	G3004	8x	proclamation formula — "saying, Repent"
ἔργον (works)	G2041	5x	"repent of your works" (Revelation judgment scenes)
οὐρανός (heaven)	G3772	4x	"kingdom of heaven at hand" / "joy in heaven over one who repents"
ἐπιστρέφω (turn/return)	G1994	3x	"repent and turn" — the two movements of conversion
βασιλεία (kingdom)	G932	3x	"the kingdom is at hand — repent"
πορνεία (fornication)	G4202	3x	"repent of her fornication" — Revelation Jezebel passages
ἀφίημι (forgive)	G863	3x	"if he repent, forgive him"; sins blotted out upon repentance

Word Family / Cognates¶

G3341 μετάνοια (metanoia) — the noun: repentance, change of mind (23v)
G0279 ἀμετανόητος (ametanoētos) — adjective: unrepentant, impenitent (1v, Rom 2:5)
G3326 μετά (meta) — preposition/prefix: after, with (changes implied)
G3539 νοέω (noeō) — to think, perceive, exercise the mind

Synonyms¶

G3338 μεταμέλλομαι (metamellomai) — regret, remorse; the closest NT partner returned by search_relationships.py, but one that emphasizes feeling rather than full reorientation.
G5339 φείδομαι (pheidomai) — spare, refrain; listed by search_relationships.py as a semantic neighbor in the broader repentance/behavior network.
G3709 ὀργή (orgē) — wrath, anger; returned by search_relationships.py within the same wider moral-response field.
G659 ἀποτίθημι (apotithēmi) — put off, lay aside; a change-of-conduct neighbor returned by search_relationships.py.
G1556 ἐκδικέω (ekdikeō) — avenge, vindicate; a judicial-response neighbor returned by search_relationships.py.
G2919 κρίνω (krinō) — judge, decide; a judgment-related semantic neighbor returned by search_relationships.py.
G3627 οἰκτείρω (oikteirō) — have compassion; a mercy-oriented neighbor returned by search_relationships.py.
G5574 ψεύδομαι (pseudomai) — lie, speak falsely; a negative-behavior counterpart returned by search_relationships.py within the same broad domain network.

Antonyms¶

G3710 ὀργίζω (orgizō) — be angry, be provoked; returned by the Greek antonym-bucket data as a behavior set against repentance's turning.
G279 ἀμετανόητος (ametanoētos) — unrepentant, impenitent; alpha-privative form and the clearest lexical opposite (Rom 2:5).

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
μεταμέλλομαι (metamellomai)	G3338	"repent" (5v)	metamellomai = emotional regret or remorse (meta + melomai, "care afterwards"); metanoeō = cognitive/volitional re-orientation; Judas "repented himself" (G3338, Matt 27:3) yet did not change direction; Peter "repented" (G3340) and was restored
נָחַם (nâcham)	H5162	"repent"	OT word meaning to sigh, breathe strongly, feel sorrow; used of both human repentance and God "relenting"; more emotional/compassionate register; the primary Hebrew source word for metanoeō in LXX
שׁוּב (shûwb)	H7725	"repent/return"	to turn back, the primary OT conversion verb; directional/relational (turn away from sin, turn toward God); LXX typically renders it ἐπιστρέφω (G1994), not metanoeō

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	PMI Score	Notes
נָחַם (nâcham)	H5162	7.46 (14x)	Primary LXX source; Thayer notes "Sept. several times for נִחַם"; covers both human repentance and divine relenting
שׁוּב (shûwb)	H7725	3.60 (9x)	Secondary; the directional "turning" aspect; usually rendered ἐπιστρέφω but occasionally overlaps with metanoeō contexts

The Hebrew background reveals two streams: nâcham (emotional sorrow, compassionate relenting) and shûwb (volitional turning). Greek metanoeō synthesizes both: the cognitive/volitional reorientation that presupposes genuine sorrow.