Greek word · G605

ἀποκατάστασις

apokatastasis

restoration

Bringing something back to its proper, original or rightful state. In the Greek Old Testament it is used for God bringing exiles back to their land (e.g.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀπο-κατά-στασις, -εως, ἡ

(ἀποκαθίστημι),

restoration: Acts 3:21 (in τ. of repairs and restorations of temples, see MM, see word).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Acts 3:21

Range of meaning

Bringing something back to its proper, original or rightful state. In Greek writing of the period it is used for:

  • property given back to its owner
  • health restored after illness
  • a ruler or exiles returned to their position or land
  • planets and stars coming back to their starting positions in the sky (and, in Stoic philosophy, the whole world returning to its starting point after a cosmic fire)

The verb ἀποκαθίστημι (apokathistēmi, "restore") is far more common. In the Greek Old Testament it is used for God bringing exiles back to their land (e.g. Jeremiah 16:15), restoring someone's inheritance (Psalm 16:5, LXX 15:5), and Elijah's future work of turning hearts and setting things right (Malachi 4:6, LXX 3:23).

Against the English

Most modern versions say "restoration" (BSB, WEB, NASB) or "restore"/"restoring" (NIV, ESV). The KJV's "restitution" was accurate in 1611, when it meant restoring something to its former state. Today it suggests paying compensation for a wrong. The NLT's "final restoration" adds a note of finality the Greek does not state.

How it drifted

Two separate drifts. (1) The English word "restitution" narrowed toward the legal sense of compensation. (2) From the 3rd century on, Origen and later Gregory of Nyssa made apokatastasis the technical name for a doctrine that all rational beings, possibly even the devil, will finally be restored to God. Once the word became a doctrine's name, readers began to hear that doctrine in Acts 3:21.

Used elsewhere in the period
  • This is the only use of the noun in the Greek Bible.
  • Josephus (Antiquities 11.63) uses it for the Jews' return to Jerusalem after the exile.
  • Papyri and historians use it for giving back property or reinstating people.
  • Luke's own verb: Acts 1:6 ("will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?") and Luke's source tradition in Mark 9:12 / Matthew 17:11 ("Elijah comes first and restores all things").
  • Sirach 48:10 likewise expects Elijah "to restore the tribes of Jacob".

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 3:21 ἀποκαταστάσεως of restoration

    Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.

    Here: Putting something back in its proper or original condition. It echoes the disciples' question in Acts 1:6, "will you restore (apokathistaneis) the kingdom to Israel?", and the promised work of Elijah (Malachi 4:6; Mark 9:12).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.