The Grammar of Grace: The Meaning of "Repent" in the English Bible

The following is excerpted from A. C. Partridge's book English Biblical Translation, specifically where he discusses the crucial importance and fundamental meaning of the English word "repent". Partridge writes:

"The Bible was the testing-ground of translators almost from its written beginnings; for Hebraic traditions and culture soon passed to the Greek, North African and Roman world. In the rights and wrongs of translation began the earliest dissensions of the Christian Church. 

 

Not only the principles of religion, but the doctrinal differences of the creeds turn on the meaning of crucial words and phrases in the original texts; and the texts themselves have been difficult to establish. Thus in Matthew III, 2 the Greek New Testament has metanoeite, meaning 'change your mind' or 'repent'; this Jerome rendered penitentiam agite, 'do penance', in which he was followed by Wyclif. Erasmus saw the ambiguity and suggested for his Latin version ad mentem redite ['come to your senses' or 'return to your right mind'] or resipiscite, 'reconsider'. The significance of this change provided Luther with a reasonable ground for his reform movement."¹

Like the Reformers, let's return to the Greek text of Scripture and reclaim the true biblical meaning of "Repent": change your mind!

Reference: 

¹ A. C. Partridge, English Biblical Translation (London: Andre Deutsch Limited, 1973), p. 3, brackets added.