What Does Luke 1:16 Mean?
And he will turn many of the children of Israel toward the LORD their God.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.THE KEY
The turn is movement toward the God already named as theirs, not toward a stranger they must make their own.
THE MEANING
Many among Israel are turned toward the Lord, their God: a movement of life toward the One already named as theirs. The turning is more than a thought; the person’s direction changes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that turning toward God means approaching a stranger or earning a new belonging; the verse calls him “their God” before naming the turn.
THE ROOT
ἐπιστρέψει
epistrepsei
GROWS FROM
στρέφω
strephō
To turn, twist, or change direction.
“turn toward” in this verse is epistrepsei. The verb in this verse combines the turning root with a prefix that points the motion toward the Lord. The same root can describe turning away or turning toward, so the direction, not the act of turning alone, reveals the change taking place.
ALSO GROWS
apostrephō: Turn away or turn aside.
ἀποστρέφω
This related verb uses the same turning root to describe movement away, highlighting the direction toward the Lord in this verse.
epistrophē: Turning or return.
ἐπιστροφή
This noun form names the turn as a movement in its own right, showing that the verse describes a reorientation.
THE PATTERN
Turning toward God changes the direction of a life and loosens its hold on former allegiances.
Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts, Turn to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the LORD of hosts.To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the authority of the Adversary to God, that they may receive release from their shortcomings, and an inheritance among those who are set apart through leaning their full weight upon me.For they themselves report concerning us what sort of entry we had to you, and how you turned around to God from the idols, to serve the living and true God.THE THREAD
And he will go before him in the breath and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers toward the children, and the unpersuaded toward the mind of the aligned, to make ready a people fitted for the LORD.Luke uses the same turning verb when John turns fathers’ hearts toward their children. The turn toward God also reaches human relationships: its direction becomes visible between people.
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