ἀποκατάστασις
apokatástasis
G605 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Restoration to a former or original state; in Hellenistic and Koine Greek, especially the reestablishment of a previous condition, order, or arrangement. In medical contexts, the term referred to the physical restoration of health or bodily parts. In other uses, signifies the full reparation or returning of something to its intended or initial state. In Acts 3:21, denotes the anticipated restoration of all things, signaling the renewal and rectification of creation or established order.
Semantic Range
restoration, reestablishment, returning to a previous state, restitution (of order/things/persons), healing (in medical contexts), cosmic renewal, social or religious restoration
Root / Etymology
From ἀποκαθίστημι (apokathistēmi, 'to restore, to return to a former state'), itself built from ἀπό ('from, away') + καθίστημι ('to set, put in place, establish'). The term results from the addition of the abstract noun-forming suffix -σις (-sis), denoting the action or process.
Historical & Contextual Notes
Earliest occurrences are found in Hippocratic medical works, where ἀποκατάστασις describes the restoration of health or the resetting of a joint. In philosophical writings (e.g., Stoic sources), refers variously to the periodic restoration of the cosmos to its original state. By the late Second Temple and NT era, in Jewish and Christian Greek, it had broadened to signify cosmic or eschatological renewal (as in Acts 3:21). The term is rendered as 'restitution' or 'restoration' in English translations, but such renderings can obscure the concept's broader range—including complete physical healing, social-political reconstitution, or cosmic renewal. The word is rare in the NT; its sense in LXX is parallel (e.g., 2 Maccabees 13:8, 'restoration to their former condition'). Distinct from general words for 'renewal' or 'reparation' (e.g., ἀνακαίνισις, ἐπανορθώσις), as ἀποκατάστασις always stresses return to a prior state rather than the creation of something new.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from ἀποκαθίστημι; reconstitution:--restitution.
Root Family
ἀποκατάστασις (apokatastasis) — restoration, reestablishment, returning to a former state, restitution, renewal
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G605-01 |
ἀποκαταστάσεως | apokatastaseos | N GEN F SG |
restoration | of restoration | restoration | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G605-01 |
Acts 3:21 | ἀποκαταστάσεως | apokatastaseos | N GEN F SG |
restoration | of restoration | restoration |