The Word We’d Rather Avoid

re·pent (rĭ-pĕnt′) v.

A harsh, judgmental, old-fashioned religious command shouted at sinners from a distance, meaning “Feel really bad about yourself, clean up your behavior, and prove you’re sorry before God will tolerate you again.” Often associated with finger‑pointing, fire‑and‑brimstone sermons, public shame, and the underlying assumption that grace comes after moral improvement—if it comes at all.

 

If that is what “repent” means, it deserves to be discarded. My point: it does not mean that at all!

So, what does repent, repenting, or repentance mean?

My research on this subject reveals a wonderful, grace-filled, life-giving gift that extends to personal and relational wholeness with God, self, and others.

Let’s begin by looking at the meaning of the biblical words translated as repent*.

 

Repent* in the Bible

When I add an ‘*’ after the word, I am referring to “repent” and its cognates or related words such as repented, repenting, and repentance. In English translations of the Bible, “repent*” occurs more than 70 times.

As a general caution, when undertaking a word study, one must be sensitive to that word’s range of meaning and the contexts in which it is found.

Although some of these words are used in reference to God, we will focus on usage in reference to humans. Here are some basic observations about words translated as “repent*”:[1]

1. Nacham (Hebrew: the “ch” is pronounced as in Bach): One scholar states that it is:

… generally understood to be to draw a deep breath, and this is taken as the physical mode of giving expression to a deep feeling, either of relief or sorrow.

He continues with a comment about its impact on a person,

… we must not tie it down too strictly, either to one formal process, or to one set time in a man’s life, but must understand by it such a state of deep feeling as leads to a change or amendment of life.

2. Metanoeō and metamelomai (Greek): These two words are frequently used to translate nacham in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament predating the birth of the Lord Jesus.

The first (metanoeō) literally conveys the idea of a “change of mind,” and the other (metamelomai) signifies “to regret or repent oneself.”

3. Shub (Hebrew): W. E. Vine comments that,

The basic meaning of the verb is movement back to the point of departure.

In the context of our experience, Ironside proposes that repentance means:[2]

to change one’s attitude toward self, toward sin, toward God, toward Christ.

Girdlestone further writes,

… it is neither sorrow without change, nor change without sorrow, but it is such a deep feeling of sorrow as gives rise to a determination to change.

 Let’s dig a little deeper.

 

What does it include?

Drawing on our observations, we see that repentance combines deep sorrow or regret, which triggers a determination to change toward self, sin, God, and Christ. These are primarily genuine internal experiences that initiate wholesome change. As internal experiences, they engage the mind, emotion, and will.

1. Mind:

As we have already seen, one word translated ‘repentance’ is metanoeō—a word that incorporates the word for mind or intellect (nous). As such, a mental change is a necessary element of repentance. 

For example, if a person speaks or acts against another person or group in a way intended to hurt that ‘other,’ there needs to be a change in the offender’s mind, thinking, or attitude about what has been said or done. A cognitive or mental acknowledgment is required.

Until that change of mind (metanoia) takes place, there is no movement in the process of forgiveness toward rebuilding the damaged or broken relationship. In essence, the unchanged attitude about the wrong affirms the wrong.

2. Emotion:

The biblical languages also include an emotional dimension of regret or remorse in the concept of repentance. 

The Hebrew word nacham “seems to reflect the idea of ‘breathing deeply’, hence the physical display of one’s feelings, usually sorrow, compassion, or comfort.”  

Job, nearing the end of his trial, uses this word when he says (Job 42:6):

“I despise myself, and repent [nacham] in dust and ashes.”

This conveys something of Job’s depths of emotion as he responds to the LORD.  

In the New Testament, Paul links sorrow with repentance when he writes (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NLT): 

Now I am glad I sent [the letter], not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

It is worth noting that sorrow does not necessarily equate with repentance—it may simply be a sorrow over getting caught. However, genuine repentance will be accompanied by sorrow, regret, or remorse.

3. Will:

A third component of repentance is a determination to change and to take steps to set right what that person has done wrong. 

We see this act of the will, and its resulting change, in the Lord’s words to Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:14): 

… if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn [shub] from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

We have a New Testament example in the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32):

When the father asked the first son to go and work in the vineyard, he said, “I will not,” but he later changed his mind [metamelomai] and went.

This determination to change is a matter of the will.   

 

Some personal questions

Our exploration of repentance marks a shift on the ‘map’ of forgiveness from the offended person to the offender’s responsibilities. When we find ourselves in that place, here are a few questions to honestly ask yourself:

• What have I done or said that has damaged or broken my relationship with the other person or group? Although the ‘other’ may have contributed, your focus should be upon what you did or said, not the ‘other.’

• Do you discern a sorrow, regret, or remorse for your actions or words? If you do, name that experience as the beginning of repentance and prayerfully let it do its work in your soul.

Although we should not be emotion-driven, we should be emotion-aware. Emotions are usually an indicator of something deeper, much like an oil light in your dashboard.

• On the other hand, do you discern self-justification, callousness, stubbornness, pride, intransigence, or a similar condition of your heart? If so, you should be concerned. Prayerfully and honestly bring these internal experiences before the Lord (Psalm 139:23-24). Be receptive to what the Lord reveals to you and act accordingly.

• What changes should you see, or do you see, that are impacting your mind, your emotions, and your will?

In the next post, we will investigate something of the grace-filled, life-giving dynamic of repentance.

You can let me know your questions and comments by using this link. 

 

BACK TO Confronting the ‘Other’ with Grace and Truth

TO START at the beginning of this series

Notes:

[1] For these word studies, I have been informed by:

• Walter Bauer, Frederick William Danker, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek‑English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000).
• Robert B. Girdlestone, Old Testament Synonyms (Grand Rapids, MI: Associated Publishers and Authors, 1948), 87-93. (Note: Reproduction of the second edition, which appeared in 1897.)
• Laird Harris, et al., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1980), s.v. “nacham” and “shub.”
• E. Vine, et al. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1985).

[2] Harry A. Ironside, Except Ye Repent (New York, NY: American Tract Society, 1937), 15.

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