StrongerBible

metamorphoō

μεταμορφόω

GreekG3339“transfigured, transformed, ...”

Appears 4 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 17:2Mrk 9:2Rom 12:22Co 3:18
Compound of
metaμετάwith/after477G3326
morphoōμορφόωto form1G3445
Word studyResearch-grademeh-tah-mor-FOH-ohverb

What metamorphoō means

to be transformed: to be changed by God from one form into another that truly expresses a deeper reality

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

This verb, "metamorphoō," means to be changed into a new form: not a disguise on the surface, but a real change that lets a deeper reality show. It is the word English borrows for "metamorphosis." It appears only four times in the New Testament, and its force shifts sharply depending on who is being changed.

Twice it describes Jesus on the mountain, when he was "transfigured" in front of three of his disciples (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:2). The change was sudden and visible: his face and clothing blazed with light. Scholars agree this did not turn Jesus into something he was not. It let his own hidden glory shine out, a real change in how he appeared that revealed what was already true of him, and it gave the disciples a preview of the glory he would have after the resurrection.

The other two times, Paul uses it of ordinary Christians, and the change is inward, slow, and ongoing: believers "are being transformed" into the image of Christ, "from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18), as their minds are made new (Romans 12:2). Both times the wording makes God, through his Spirit, the one who does the changing. What the disciples saw in a flash on the mountain, Paul says is happening quietly in every believer and will be complete only at the resurrection.

In everyday Greek this was a common word for shape-changing, the word behind old myths of gods turning into animals or people. The New Testament writers did not avoid that background; they took the word over and filled it with a new meaning. It is worth setting beside another Greek verb for changing only the outward look (μετασχηματίζω), which Paul can use for a mere disguise: this word, by contrast, names a change that reaches all the way to the form itself.

Nuances

1athe transfiguration of Jesus: a sudden, visible change in which his hidden glory shone out to onlookers
Mat 17:2Mrk 9:2
1bthe inward transformation of a believer: an ongoing change worked by God's Spirit into the likeness of Christ
Rom 12:22Co 3:18
2Co 3:18

How far the transformation in this verse reaches: a real sharing in God's own life and glory (often called theosis or christosis), or a genuine moral renewal into Christ's likeness that stops short of sharing God's being.

  • majorityA real but progressive moral transformation into Christ's likeness, worked by the Spirit and consummated at the resurrection, not a sharing in God's own nature.; D. J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT, 2nd ed. 2018); T. R. Schreiner, Romans (BECNT, 2nd ed. 2018), 646-647; J. D. G. Dunn, Romans 9-16 (WBC 38B, 1988); C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC, 1975-1979)
  • minorityA genuine participation in God's life and glory, stronger than moral improvement, though the creature remains distinct from the Creator (theosis or christosis).; M. J. Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God (Eerdmans, 2009); M. D. Litwa, We Are Being Transformed (BZNW 187, De Gruyter, 2012); B. C. Blackwell, Christosis (WUNT 2/314, Mohr Siebeck, 2011); Athanasius, De Incarnatione 54; Cyril of Alexandria; Gregory Palamas, Triads

What scholars say about metamorphoō

The reference works agree the verb means "to be transformed" while grouping its four occurrences into two contextual senses. BDAG (3rd ed., 639) lists "to change in a manner visible to others, be transfigured" (Matthew, Mark) and "to change inwardly in fundamental character or condition" (Romans, 2 Corinthians). Louw-Nida split the two across separate domains (58.16 and 13.53). Behm's TDNT article (4:742-759) reads the noun μορφή as the visible expression of what is really there, treats the Gospel usage as a real change of appearance disclosing eschatological glory, and the Pauline usage as a Spirit-mediated transformation into Christ's image, inaugurated now and consummated at the end. A striking fact underlies all of this: μεταμορφόω never appears in the Septuagint or the Apocrypha, so the New Testament writers reach for a word with heavy Hellenistic resonance (Ovid; Apuleius; Plutarch, Moralia 52D; the magical papyri; and Philo, who at Legatio ad Gaium 95 uses it pejoratively of Caligula) and no scriptural precedent; the consensus is that Paul and Mark reappropriated the pagan vocabulary rather than avoiding it (Behm; A. Yarbro Collins, Mark, Hermeneia, 416-417; C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon). The once-standard Lightfoot distinction between μορφή (essential form) and σχῆμα (outward appearance), which had been used to make μεταμορφόω a deeper change than any σχηματ- verb, has been largely rejected by later philology (M. Silva, NIDNTTE; cf. G. Fee), since Paul pairs the two roots for a single event at Philippians 3:21; what survives is a contextual and rhetorical distinction, not a fixed lexical rule. The heaviest modern debate is over 2 Corinthians 3:18: whether the transformation is progressive moral sanctification (Moo, Schreiner, Dunn, Cranfield) or a genuine participation in divine life, variously called theosis or christosis (Gorman; Litwa; Blackwell; and the Eastern patristic reading of Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria, and Gregory Palamas). A related question at that verse, whether the participle κατοπτριζόμενοι means "beholding" or "reflecting," bears on how the transformation is thought to happen but concerns that neighboring word rather than this verb.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. μεταμορφόωlexicon
  • Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT Based on Semantic Domains, 58.16 and 13.53lexicon
  • J. Behm, "μορφή, μεταμορφόω," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), 4:742-759lexicon
  • M. Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of NT Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE), s.v. μορφήlexicon
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, 2:471-477lexicon
  • Moulton-Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. μεταμορφόωlexicon
  • W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew (ICC), 2:685-708commentary
  • A. Yarbro Collins, Mark (Hermeneia, 2007), 416-417commentary
  • M. J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC, 2005), 316commentary
  • M. E. Thrall, 2 Corinthians (ICC, 1994)commentary
  • J. B. Lightfoot, "The Synonyms μορφή and σχῆμα," in Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians (1868), 127-133commentary
  • M. J. Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God (Eerdmans, 2009)monograph
  • M. D. Litwa, We Are Being Transformed (BZNW 187, De Gruyter, 2012)monograph

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of μεταμορφόω

aorist passive indicative 3s

μετεμορφώθη

Mat 17:2, Mrk 9:2

present passive imperative 2p

μεταμορφοῦσθε

Rom 12:2

present passive indicative 1p

μεταμορφούμεθα

2Co 3:18