TR: shûwb → epistréphō (Return / Turning / Conversion)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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שׁוּב (shûwb) → ἐπιστρέφω (epistréphō) → ἐπιστρέφω (epistréphō)
H7725, 952x in OT LXX co-occ: 322x 38x in NT
"turn back, return" PMI: 24.70 "turn, return, convert"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7725 | שׁוּב (shûwb) | 952v | turn back, return, restore, repent |
| H4878 | מְשׁוּבָה (mᵉshuwbah) | 12v | backsliding, apostasy (derived noun) |
| H7729 | שׁוּבָה (shuwbah) | 1v | returning (Isa 30:15) |
| H8666 | תְּשׁוּבָה (tᵉshuwbah) | 8v | return, answer |
Key OT passages: - Deut 30:2 — "And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice" - Jer 3:12 — "Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD" - Hos 14:1 — "O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity"
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| shûwb (H7725) | ἐπιστρέφω (G1994) | 322x | Primary equivalent — carries the spiritual turning/repentance sense |
| shûwb (H7725) | ἀποστρέφω (G654) | 267x | Secondary — captures "turn away from" (aversion/apostasy sense) |
| shûwb (H7725) | ἀναστρέφω (G390) | 67x | Tertiary — narrative physical return |
| shûwb (H7725) | ἀποδίδωμι (G591) | 53x | Specialized — captures "render/recompense" sense |
| shûwb (H7725) | ἀποκαθίστημι (G600) | 19x | Specialized — captures "restore" sense |
Reverse mapping: G1994 epistréphō ← Hebrew sources: - H7725 shûwb — 322x (overwhelmingly dominant) - H6437 panah — 27x - H5437 sabab — 28x
Semantic mapping: The LXX translators split shub's broad semantic range across multiple Greek words, each capturing a different strand. Epistréphō inherits the core meaning: volitional turning — both physical return and spiritual conversion. The restitution/compensation sense routes through apodidōmi instead.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1994 | ἐπιστρέφω (epistréphō) | 38v | turn (back), return, convert |
| G1995 | ἐπιστροφή (epistrophē) | 1v | conversion (Acts 15:3) |
Key NT passages: - Acts 3:19 — "Repent ye therefore, and be converted (epistréphō), that your sins may be blotted out" - Acts 26:18 — "to turn (epistréphō) them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God" - 1 Thess 1:9 — "how ye turned (epistréphō) to God from idols to serve the living and true God" - Luke 1:16 — "many of the children of Israel shall he turn (epistréphō) to the Lord their God"
TODO(need G1994 study)
Direct OT→NT Quotations¶
| NT Verse | Quotes OT | Shared Word | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark 4:12 | Isa 6:10 | shub → epistréphō | "lest at any time they should be converted (shub/epistréphō), and their sins should be forgiven them" |
| John 12:40 | Isa 6:10 | shub → epistréphō | Same quotation: spiritual turning withheld as judicial hardening |
| Acts 28:27 | Isa 6:10 | shub → epistréphō | Paul quotes the same passage to explain Israel's rejection |
| 2 Cor 3:16 | cf. Exo 34:34 | shub → epistréphō | "when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away" — allusion to Moses returning |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - The volitional, directional sense: both shub and epistréphō describe a deliberate change of course toward God - The call-and-response pattern: God calls, the person/people turns — Jer 3:12/Acts 3:19 - The pairing with repentance vocabulary: shub + nacham (OT) parallels epistréphō + metanoeō (NT) - Physical and spiritual senses coexist in both testaments
What shifts: - OT shub is overwhelmingly corporate/national ("Return, O Israel"); NT epistréphō is more often individual conversion - The restitution/compensation sense of shub (Hiphil) does not carry through epistréphō — the LXX routes that meaning through apodidōmi (G591) and apokathistēmi (G600) instead - NT epistréphō acquires a more specifically conversion-from-paganism sense absent from the OT (1 Thess 1:9 "turned from idols") - The adverbial "again" function of shub (87 OT verses) is handled by palin (G3825) in the NT, not by epistréphō
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-05-03