Greek word · G1612
ἐκστρέφω
ekstrephō
be warped
Literally "to turn out" or "turn inside out" (a garment), to wrench something out of its proper position. Figuratively, "to twist, distort, pervert", to change something for the worse so that it loses its true shape. In the passive, "to be perverted, warped, corrupted" (LSJ; BDAG).
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἐκ-στρέφω
[in LXX: Deuteronomy 32:20, Amos 6:13 Ezekiel 16:34 A (הָפַךְ), Zechariah 11:16 (פָּרַק pi.), Ezekiel 13:20 (צוּד pi.)* ;]
1. to turn out of (Hom.).
2. to turn inside out; metaphorically, to change entirely, pervert (Aristoph.): Titus 3:11.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Literally "to turn out" or "turn inside out" (a garment), to wrench something out of its proper position. Figuratively, "to twist, distort, pervert", to change something for the worse so that it loses its true shape. In the passive, "to be perverted, warped, corrupted" (LSJ; BDAG).
- Against the English
KJV and YLT "subverted"; WEB and NASB "perverted"; NIV and ESV "warped"; BSB "corrupt". "Warped" keeps the physical picture best. "Corrupt" in modern English suggests bribery or decay, which loses the picture of something bent out of its true form. "Subverted" now means secretly undermined, which is not the point.
- How it drifted
"Subverted" came into English Bibles from the Latin Vulgate's subversus est ("overturned, turned upside down"). In 1611 it still had that physical sense. Today it mostly means covert political sabotage.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) uses it in the Song of Moses: "they are a perverse generation" (γενεὰ ἐξεστραμμένη, Deut 32:20). Amos 6:12 LXX uses it of turning justice into poison. In classical Greek it is used of turning a cloak inside out (e.g., Aristophanes, Clouds 554, of a play "turned inside out" and reused). This is its only use in the NT; the related διαστρέφω ("twist") is used of a "crooked generation" (Phil 2:15; Acts 20:30 of men "speaking twisted things" to draw away disciples).
Where it appears
Titus · 1
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Titus 3:11 ἐξέστραπται has been corrupt
knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Here: Perfect passive: "has been twisted out of shape" and stays that way. The picture is something bent or turned inside out so that it no longer has its proper form. The perfect tense describes a settled condition, not one slip.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.