ἀποκαθίστημι

From the study of Acts 1:6

Range of meaning

To put something back in its original condition or position: to restore, reinstate, give back. It is used of healing a withered hand (Mark 3:5; Luke 6:10), of giving back a person or thing that was taken away (Heb 13:19), and of returning an exile or official to their former place. In Jewish Greek it became a word for God's end-time restoration of his people.

Against the English

'Restore' is accurate. KJV's 'restore again' over-translates, though it does catch the sense of 'back' carried by the prefix apo-. 'Will you restore' (BSB) treats the present tense as future. 'Are you now restoring' (WEB) and NASB's 'are restoring' keep the present and the possibility that it is already happening.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) it describes God bringing Israel back to its land: 'I will restore them to their land' (Jer 16:15; cf. Jer 23:8; Hos 11:11; Ezek 16:55). Most importantly, in Mal 3:23 (4:6 in English Bibles) Elijah 'will restore (apokatastēsei) the heart of a father to his son'. Sirach 48:10 develops this: Elijah comes 'to restore the tribes of Jacob'. Jesus uses the verb of Elijah in Mark 9:12 / Matt 17:11 ('Elijah comes first and restores all things'), and Peter uses the related noun in Acts 3:21: 'until the times of restoration (apokatastaseōs) of all things that God spoke through his holy prophets'.

From the study of Mark 3:5

Range of meaning

To bring back to a former state: to restore, re-establish, return. It is used for restoring health, returning property or people, and re-establishing a political or religious order.

Against the English

'Restored' is accurate. KJV/WEB/YLT add 'whole as the other' from a later form of the text.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb is used for medical recovery in Greek writers. In the Septuagint, Malachi 3:23 (4:6 in English Bibles) has Elijah 'restoring' hearts, and Mark 9:12 echoes it: 'Elijah does come first and restores all things.' In Acts 1:6 the disciples ask whether Jesus will 'restore the kingdom to Israel'. Mark 8:25 uses it for the blind man's sight.

From the study of Mark 9:12

Range of meaning

To restore something to its former or proper state. Uses include healing (a restored hand in Mark 3:5, restored sight in Mark 8:25), bringing exiles back to their land, handing back property, and reinstating someone in office. In Jewish usage it took on a hope-filled, end-time sense: God putting Israel back in order.

Against the English

English "restore" is accurate, but "restores all things" can sound like a cosmic repair of everything. NLT's paraphrase, "get everything ready," goes the other way and loses the idea of putting things back as they should be.

How it drifted

The related noun ἀποκατάστασις (Acts 3:21, "restoration of all things") later became the technical term for a final restoration of all beings, associated with Origen and universalist theology. Readers who know that history can hear it in Mark's phrase, but Mark's "all things" comes from Malachi's narrower programme.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Malachi 3:23 (4:6 in English Bibles): Elijah "will restore [ἀποκαταστήσει] the heart of a father to a son and the heart of a person to his neighbour." The Hebrew has "turn back" (heshiv). Sirach 48:10 (c. 180 BC): Elijah is ready "to turn the heart of a father to a son and to re-establish [καταστῆσαι] the tribes of Jacob." In Acts 1:6 the disciples ask if Jesus is "restoring [ἀποκαθιστάνεις] the kingdom to Israel." Later rabbinic texts (m. Eduyot 8:7) picture Elijah settling disputes and making peace, though these are later than Mark.