To pervert
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The Greek verb diastréphō describes turning something away, distorting it, or being in a crooked or perverse condition. Its seven New Testament occurrences require careful attention to speaker and target.
Reader summary
Full entry for διαστρέφω (G1294) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Greek verb diastréphō describes turning something away, distorting it, or being in a crooked or perverse condition. Its seven New Testament occurrences require careful attention to speaker and target.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include perverse (3), [and] distort (1), perverting (1), subverting (1), to turn (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 17:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3), Luke (2), Matthew (1), Philippians (1).
The Greek verb diastréphō describes turning something away, distorting it, or being in a crooked or perverse condition. Its seven New Testament occurrences require careful attention to speaker and target. Elymas tries to turn a governor from the faith and is rebuked for perverting the Lord's straight ways. Paul warns that insiders will distort truth to draw disciples after themselves.
Jesus calls an unbelieving generation perverse while receiving a suffering child; He does not label the child or family morally twisted. At Jesus' trial, accusers falsely claim that He is subverting the nation, so the occurrence records an allegation rather than the narrator's verdict. Philippians contrasts a crooked generation with God's children shining through faithful conduct.
The verb does not authorize Christians to call every opponent, culture, interpretation, disability, mental illness, or sexual minority perverse. Responsible teaching distinguishes active distortion, an established condition, false accusation, pastoral warning, and corporate witness. It protects vulnerable people, requires evidence when leaders allege doctrinal corruption, and keeps correction accountable to truth rather than to power or insult.
Diastréphō appears as attempted diversion from faith, active distortion of the Lord's way or truth, a description of an unbelieving generation, a false charge against Jesus, and a contrast for faithful public witness. Speaker and target prevent careless labeling.
But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
Elymas actively resists the apostolic message and seeks to redirect a public official away from faith.
And said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
Paul's severe rebuke names deceit, opposition, and ongoing distortion in this specific Spirit-directed confrontation.
Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them.
Paul warns elders that distortion can arise inside leadership and can serve the desire to gather personal followers.
“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
Jesus rebukes the surrounding generation, then calls for the suffering son and restores him to his father.
And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”
Jesus' accusers use the verb in a political charge that Luke's narrative does not endorse as truthful.
“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.”
Matthew also directs the rebuke toward the generation while Jesus receives and heals the afflicted boy.
So that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
Paul calls the congregation to a visible, blameless witness amid distortion rather than to contemptuous withdrawal from neighbors.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. To twist or distort, especially morally or doctrinally; describing those who corrupt truth or teaching.
To twist or distort, especially morally or doctrinally; describing those who corrupt truth or teaching.
to distort, twist; metaphorically, to distort, pervert: Luk.23:2, Act.13:8, 10; διεστραμμένος, perverse: Mat.17:17, Luk.9:41, Act.20:30, Php.2:15.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I pervert, corrupt, oppose
Read verseI pervert, corrupt, oppose
Read verseI pervert, corrupt, oppose
Read verseI pervert, corrupt, oppose
Read verseI pervert, corrupt, oppose
Read verseI pervert, corrupt, oppose
Read verseI pervert, corrupt, oppose
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
διαστρέφω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Diastréphō warns that truth and allegiance can be bent toward another end, but it also shows how easily the charge itself can be misused. In Acts 13, Elymas attempts to turn the proconsul from faith and perverts the Lord's straight ways through concrete opposition and deceit. In Acts 20, Paul locates a future danger within the elders' own circle: teaching may be distorted to collect disciples around a leader.
That warning supports transparent accountability, not suspicion of every disagreement. Matthew and Luke place Jesus' generational rebuke beside His welcome and restoration of an afflicted child, so the adjective must never become a label for disability, mental illness, trauma, or a family seeking help. Luke 23 records hostile accusers applying the verb to Jesus, which proves that a charge of subversion can be false.
Philippians calls God's children to shine through blameless conduct amid a crooked generation rather than through contempt or coercion. Faithful teaching tests claims against the gospel and passage, examines who benefits from a distortion, protects the accused from unsupported labels, and restores people where possible. It does not turn this verb into a sexual slur or a license for spiritual abuse.
Acts.20.30
Diastréphō combines a turning verb with the prefix dia and can describe active diversion or distortion as well as a settled, twisted condition in participial forms. The seven occurrences include active attempts, accusations, warnings, and adjectival descriptions.
Philippians 2 echoes the Song of Moses and its language about a crooked generation, while the Lord's straight ways in Acts recall the biblical contrast between straight and twisted paths. These echoes concern allegiance and conduct, not physical difference.