G3341 — μετάνοια (metanoia)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3341
Original: μετάνοια
Transliteration: metanoia
Pronunciation: met-an'-oy-ah
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: μετά (G3326, "after/with") + νοέω (G3539, "to think, perceive") — lit. "a thinking differently afterwards"
Occurrences: 24 unique verses (24 tokens)
Books: 9 (Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, 2 Corinthians, 2 Timothy, Hebrews, 2 Peter)
First Occurrence: Matt 3:8 — "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From Strong's: From G3340 (metanoeō); (subjectively) compunction for guilt, including reformation; by implication, reversal of another's decision. The noun form of metanoeō — capturing the state or disposition of changed thinking, not merely the act.

Etymology: A compound noun from μετά (after, implying change) and νοέω (to exercise the mind). As the noun form of the verb metanoeō, it denotes the settled condition or result of having changed one's mind — the posture of repentance rather than the moment of repenting. The word is fundamentally cognitive-volitional, not merely emotional.

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), μετανοέω (G3340), παλιγγενεσία (G3824), στρέφω (G4762)

Domain Neighbors (041005 — Change Behavior)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G279	ἀμετανόητος	1	impenitent
G509	ἄνωθεν	8	from above, again
G1080	γεννάω	33	begat, is born
G1994	ἐπιστρέφω	9	return, to turn
G1995	ἐπιστροφή	1	conversion
G3340	μετανοέω	12	repent
G3824	παλιγγενεσία	2	regeneration
G4762	στρέφω	9	turned

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
repentance	14	58.3%
of repentance	7	29.2%
for repentance	2	8.3%
that repentance	1	4.2%

KJV renders this word exclusively as "repentance" — no translation ambiguity. All variation is prepositional context, not alternate glosses.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Peter	1	1.6
2 Timothy	1	1.2
Hebrews	3	1.0
2 Corinthians	2	0.8
Acts	6	0.6
Luke	5	0.4
Matthew	3	0.3
Mark	2	0.3
Romans	1	0.2

Acts has the highest raw count (6 of 24), concentrated in the apostolic preaching of repentance. Luke contributes 5 more from John the Baptist and Jesus' teaching. Hebrews clusters 3 uses in the warning passages of chapter 6 and 12. Absent from John's Gospel, the Johannine epistles, and Revelation (though the verb metanoeō dominates Revelation).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Baptism and Repentance — Preparatory Condition¶

Matt 3:8 — "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance"
Matt 3:11 — "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance"
Mark 1:4 — "John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins"
Luke 3:3 — "preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins"
Acts 13:24 — "John had first preached... the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel"
Acts 19:4 — "John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance"

2. Repentance Linked to Forgiveness of Sins¶

Luke 24:47 — "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations"
Acts 5:31 — "Him hath God exalted... for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins"
Acts 11:18 — "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life"

3. Repentance as Divine Gift¶

Acts 5:31 — "to give repentance to Israel" — God as the giver
Acts 11:18 — "God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life"
2 Tim 2:25 — "if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth"
Rom 2:4 — "the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance"

4. Repentance Paired with Faith — Twin Foundations¶

Acts 20:21 — "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ"
Heb 6:1 — "the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God"

5. Godly Sorrow Producing Repentance¶

2 Cor 7:9 — "ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner"
2 Cor 7:10 — "godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death"

6. Repentance and the Call of Sinners¶

Matt 9:13 — "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"
Mark 2:17 — "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"
Luke 5:32 — "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"
Luke 15:7 — "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance"

7. Repentance Bearing Fruit / Works¶

Matt 3:8 — "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance"
Luke 3:8 — "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance"
Acts 26:20 — "that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance"

8. Warning — Repentance Foreclosed or Sought in Vain¶

Heb 6:6 — "If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance"
Heb 12:17 — "he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears"

9. God's Patience Allowing Time for Repentance¶

2 Pet 3:9 — "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise... but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance"
Rom 2:4 — "the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occ	Typical Pattern
θεός (God)	G2316	11x	God gives/grants/leads to repentance
ἔρχομαι (come)	G2064	6x	"come to repentance"; John who "cometh" preaching repentance
λέγω (say)	G3004	5x	proclamation formula in narrative contexts
πᾶς (all)	G3956	5x	"all nations," "all people" — universal scope of repentance call
ἁμαρτία (sin)	G266	4x	"repentance for the remission of sins"
ἁμαρτωλός (sinner)	G268	4x	"call sinners to repentance"
ἄφεσις (remission/forgiveness)	G859	4x	"baptism of repentance for the remission of sins"
βάπτισμα (baptism)	G908	4x	"baptism of repentance" — John's baptism formula
δίκαιος (righteous)	G1342	4x	contrast — the righteous vs. sinners needing repentance
ἄξιος (worthy)	G514	3x	"fruits worthy of repentance"
κηρύσσω (preach)	G2784	3x	"preach the baptism of repentance"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G3340 μετανοέω (metanoeō) — the verb: to repent, change one's mind (32v)
G0279 ἀμετανόητος (ametanoētos) — adjective: unrepentant, impenitent (1v, Rom 2:5)
G3326 μετά (meta) — preposition/prefix: after, with (implies change)
G3539 νοέω (noeō) — to think, perceive, exercise the mind

Synonyms¶

G1994 ἐπιστρέφω (epistréphō) — turn, return, convert; the directional/relational movement that accompanies repentance; often paired with metanoeō in conversion formulas (Acts 26:20)
G1995 ἐπιστροφή (epistrophē) — conversion; the noun form of epistréphō (Acts 15:3, 1v)

Antonyms¶

G279 ἀμετανόητος (ametanoētos) — impenitent; alpha-privative of the same root (Rom 2:5)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
μεταμέλλομαι (metamellomai)	G3338	"repent" (KJV uses this in Matt 21:29, 21:32, 27:3)	metamellomai = emotional regret/remorse (meta + melomai, "care afterwards"); metanoia = cognitive-volitional change of mind producing transformation; Judas "repented himself" (G3338, Matt 27:3) but did not change direction; 2 Cor 7:10 draws the contrast explicitly — godly sorrow works metanoia, worldly sorrow works death
נָחַם (nâcham)	H5162	"repent" in OT	nâcham = sigh, breathe strongly, feel sorrow/comfort; used of both human repentance and God "relenting"; more emotional/compassionate register; LXX sometimes renders it with metanoeō

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

No direct Hebrew source found for the noun metanoia in the LXX alignment data. However, the verb form G3340 metanoeō maps primarily to: - H5162 נָחַם (nâcham) — PMI 7.46, 14x co-occurrences — emotional sorrow/relenting - H7725 שׁוּב (shûwb) — PMI 3.60, 9x co-occurrences — volitional turning/returning

The noun metanoia inherits these Hebrew conceptual roots through its verb form.