Lexicon

G1994 - epistrepho

Strong's: G1994 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: ep-ee-stref'-o Part of speech: verb Root: epi- (upon, toward) + strephō (to turn), literally "to turn toward" or "turn around." NT occurrences: about three dozen, spread across the Gospels, Acts, the letters and Revelation LXX equivalent: regularly renders Hebrew shuv (H7725 - shuv), the prophets' word for Israel's turning back to God

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

To turn around, physically. Jesus "turned him about in the crowd" (Mark 5:30). Peter, "turning about," sees the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 21:20).
To return, go back. The shepherds "returned" (Luke 2:20); the girl's "spirit returned, and she rose up immediately" (Luke 8:55, ASV).
To turn to God, be converted. The religious sense: "they turned to the Lord" (Acts 9:35); "ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9, ASV).
To cause another to turn. The transitive sense, with a human messenger as the subject: of John the Baptist, "many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God" (Luke 1:16, ASV); of a believer restoring a straying brother, "he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death" (James 5:20, ASV).
To turn back, for the worse. "How turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments" (Galatians 4:9, ASV); "the dog turning to his own vomit again" (2 Peter 2:22, ASV).

The verb is directional. It names a change of course, physical or spiritual, and the context tells you which way the turn goes.

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Theological force: conversion as turning

In the New Testament the religious sense always carries a from and a to:

From idols to God: 1 Thessalonians 1:9; Acts 14:15, "that ye should turn from these vain things unto a living God."
From darkness to light: Paul's commission in Acts 26:18, "that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God."
Back to the Shepherd: 1 Peter 2:25, "ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

This is the Old Testament shuv carried forward: you were walking one way, now turn and walk the other.

Paired with metanoeō

Epistrephō often stands beside metanoeō (repent) as the second half of one response:

Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19, ASV)

but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judæa, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. (Acts 26:20, ASV)

Metanoeō names the change of mind; epistrephō names the change of direction that follows. Together they describe what English Christians usually call conversion.

Who does the turning?

The verb answers a modern debate directly. Some say the Bible tells Christians to "make disciples, not converts." The usage shows three agents at work, and none cancels the others:

The hearer turns. In Acts 3:19 the imperative is addressed to the listeners: they must turn. The preacher does not claim to turn them by force.
A human messenger turns others. In Luke 1:16 and James 5:19-20 the subject of the verb is a person, John the Baptist or an ordinary believer. Scripture is not shy about saying a Christian "converteth a sinner."
God grants the turning. "To the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18, ASV); "I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6, ASV).

Seeking someone's conversion is therefore biblical language, not a modern invention. What the New Testament never authorizes is compelling it. See Great Commission.

Not the same as persuading

Epistrephō (turn) and peithō (persuade, G3982) are different verbs. Paul "reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks" (Acts 18:4, ASV). Persuasion is the messenger's act and may or may not succeed. Turning is the hearer's change of course. Agrippa could say "with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian" (Acts 26:28, ASV) and still not turn.

Notable verses

Conversion

Acts 3:19, repent and turn again
Acts 11:21, a great number believed and turned to the Lord
Acts 15:19, the Gentiles who turn to God
Acts 26:18; 26:20, Paul's commission and preaching
1 Thessalonians 1:9, from idols to the living God

A human agent

James 5:19-20, he who converteth a sinner
Luke 1:16-17, John the Baptist will turn many to the Lord

Restoration

Luke 22:32, "when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren"
1 Peter 2:25, returned to the Shepherd
2 Corinthians 3:16, when one turns to the Lord the veil is taken away

Turning back

Galatians 4:9, back to the weak and beggarly rudiments
2 Peter 2:22, the dog to its vomit

Hardened hearts

Isaiah 6:10, quoted in Matthew 13:15 and Acts 28:27: "lest... they should turn again, and I should heal them"

Notes

Lexical workspace for epistrephō.