Greek word · G6060
μετατρέπω
metatrepō
to turn around
To turn around or change something into something else. It is used of reversals.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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
To turn around or change something into something else. It is used of reversals.
- Against the English
Modern translations write "Turn your laughter…" (BSB) or "Change…". The Greek is a third-person command, "let it be turned." The meaning is the same, but the Greek sounds like a decree or a reversal of fortunes.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Byzantine text uses the related verb μεταστρέφω, the one used in Amos 8:10 in the Septuagint ("I will turn your feasts into mourning") and in Lam 5:15 and 1 Macc 9:41 for joy turned to grief.
Where it appears
James · 1
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James 4:9 μετατραπήτω should be turned
Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
Here: "Let it be turned around": a third-person command. James orders the change to happen. The wording recalls the prophets' language of feasts being "turned into mourning" (Amos 8:10).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.