μεταμορφόω

From the study of Romans 12:2

Range of meaning

To change into another form; to transform; to transfigure. In Greek myth it describes gods and humans changing shape. It is also used for a change in a person's whole state.

Against the English

Every major version says 'be transformed'. NLT's 'let God transform you into a new person' makes God the one acting. That is a fair reading of the passive, but it is interpretation.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament it is used only for Jesus' transfiguration (Mark 9:2; Matthew 17:2), for believers 'being transformed into the same image from glory to glory' (2 Corinthians 3:18), and here. Seneca, Paul's contemporary, wrote: 'I feel I am not merely being improved but transformed (transfigurari)' (Moral Letters 6.1). Moral change described as a change of form was understood in Paul's world.

From the study of 2 Corinthians 3:18

Range of meaning

To change into another form, to transform. It is used for an outward change of appearance and also for an inward change of character.

Against the English

"Changed" (KJV) is weaker than the Greek. "Transformed" is accurate. The English word "metamorphosis" can suggest one sudden, complete change like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, but the present tense here describes a change that is still going on.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same verb is used for Jesus' transfiguration (Matt 17:2; Mark 9:2), where his face shone like the sun, a deliberate echo of Moses. In Rom 12:2 it is used for being transformed by the renewing of the mind. In Greek myth and later writing it describes changes of form, and Ovid's Latin Metamorphoses borrowed the word as its title.

From the study of Matthew 17:2

Range of meaning

To change into another form or appearance; to transform. Built from meta- (change, 'across') and morphē (form, visible shape). In the passive it means 'to be transformed' or 'to take on a different appearance'. It can describe a change of outward appearance, as here, or an inner moral transformation, as in Paul.

Against the English

'Transfigured' (KJV, BSB, YLT, NIV, ESV, NASB) is a church word inherited from Latin. Most readers know it only from this story, so it tells them little. 'Changed' (WEB) is accurate but flat. 'Transformed' (as in NLT's paraphrase of his appearance) is closest in ordinary English. 'Metamorphosis', the English word descended from it, wrongly suggests turning into a different kind of creature.

How it drifted

English 'transfigure' came in through the Latin Vulgate's transfiguratus est and church usage ('the Transfiguration' as a feast and doctrine). As a result the word now names this one event rather than describing what happened.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Greek literature it is the vocabulary of shape-changing, especially gods taking on other forms in myth. Ovid's Latin Metamorphoses reflects the same concept. In the NT it appears only here, in the parallel Mark 9:2, in Romans 12:2 ('be transformed by the renewing of your mind') and in 2 Corinthians 3:18. In that last passage Paul, reflecting on Moses' shining face (Exodus 34), says believers 'are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory'. Luke 9:29 avoids the verb and says 'the appearance of his face became different', possibly to avoid pagan shape-shifting associations for a Gentile audience.