The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-03-01

a SSuSS VI gum. IL HIS Deen nOCceI,
indeed, that the verb ordinarily used for
evangelical repentance is often found in
the imperative mood but the other verb
never.
There is wide diversity as to the mum
Der OF times in which the words are used
in the New Testament. Your CORE s.
pendent has counted thirty:tour places in
which the verb naetonoeo is employed,
and twenty-four in which the noun me-
tdnoia is found. In twenty three of these
instances m1etanoeo stands undoubtedly
for evangelical repentance, and in the
twenty-fourth certainly for a radical
change of purpose. Of the thirty four
instances in which the cognate verb. is
used, the reference to evangelical repent
ance is fairly disputable in only Sir; and
these six may be still further reduced to
the references of our Lord to the cities
that had witnessed his own miracles
Ouke x: 13 and Matt. xi: 2O), to Tyre
and Sidon Matt. XII 2l), to the Nine
vites (Luke XII: 32), and to the repenting
brother duke xvii: 8 and ~.
On the other hand n1etanaezomai is
used only fve times. These are Matt.
xxi 90, xxi: 80, xvii: 8; Cor. vii ::
8; and Hebrews vii: 81 In no one Of
these passages does the word certainly
mean evangelical repentance, albeit in
one instance (Matt. xxi: 32) it might
seem to do so; but even there it mag de
note merely the natural regret or COM
junction which precedes and leads up to
the saving exercise OF the remaining
places two of them (Matt. xxi: 80 and
Hebrews vii: 81 are instances where the
very idea of the saving grace of repent
ance is ruled out by the nature of the
context; third Matt. xviii has refer
ence to the remorse and suicide of Judas;
and the fourth q Cor. vii 81 is in some
respects the most interesting of all, as it
presents the two words in sharp and in
territorial contrast. In all except the last
one of these passages the new version
translates the term fairly enough, though
rather ambiguously, "repented himself"
repent yourselves" and repent him
self. In Cor vii j: s, alone it is rem
dered "regretted." This is right, as be-
ing equally accurate and less equivocal.
Besides these two instances in which
the verb for natural regret (metamelomaai)
occurs, there are two others in which we
find the cognate verbal adjective (ameta-
neletOS). The first of these is Romans
XII 49, where the Authorized Version
has it, "The gifts and calling Of God are
without repentance" We once knew an
intelligent and well educated elder who
had always carelessly supposed this pas
sage meant that Gods saving grace was
not bestowed on the ground of foreseen
faith and repentance. The new version
is at this point no better than the old
one, and the marginal note (Gr not re-
pented of } sheds little light on the mat
ter. The true sense is that the gifts (and
of course the saving call) of God are en-
regreta6Ie-that is irreUocable.
The other instance of the occurrence
of the verbal adjective expressive of mere
regret or change Of feeling is 2 Cor. vii:
10, where it is asserted Of godly sorrow
that it is something never to be thus re-
GREETED. Here the Authorized Version
is peculiarly unfortunate as suggesting
by the translation Repentance unto sal
walton not TO 6srepented Of" that the two
words are the same or at least have
common derivation, whereas they are
wholly different both in form and origin.
The revisers in this place render the
words accurately: "For godly sorrow
worketh repentance unto salvation, oohich
dringeth no regret" or as in the margin
a repentance "unto a salvation which
bringeth no regret"
Besides these there is only one other
term in the New Testament that has any
special relation to this subject, and that
is the corresponding verbal adjective that
is cognate with the verb for gracious re-
pentance. This term (ametanoeto8) is
found only in one place, Rom. ii 5, and
in such an obvious meaning as to evince
that the distinction between the verbals