ἐπιστρέφω

G1994 means to turn, return, turn back, or cause someone to turn. Many uses describe ordinary movement: a person turns around, returns to a house or town, turns toward someone, or looks back. Other passages use the same directional language for restoration, repentance, conversion, or bringing another person back from error. The verb does not mean conversion in every occurrence, and it does not by itself divide repentance into a bodily turn opposed to an inward change of mind.

The subject, destination, object, and surrounding command determine whether the movement is physical, relational, moral, or theological. Direction must be read from context.

The thirty-six forms include ordinary returns and bodily turns, transitive acts of turning someone, and theological turns toward God or away from error. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Revelation preserve ordinary movement uses. Luke 1 describes John's ministry turning people and relationships. Luke 22 speaks of Peter turning back after denial. Acts repeatedly describes people turning to the Lord or God, while Galatians warns about turning back to weak principles.

James describes bringing a wanderer back, and Peter uses return language for coming back to the Shepherd and for a dog returning to vomit. Context supplies the moral direction.