ὑποστρέφω G5290
To return, go back — physical travel to a previous location; rarely, to turn back from a course
Almost exclusively a travel verb in Luke-Acts, describing people going back to where they came from. Mary returns to her home after visiting Elizabeth (Luke 1:56), the shepherds return glorifying God (Luke 2:20), and Paul's missionary journeys are punctuated by returns to Antioch and Jerusalem. The multilingual evidence is strikingly uniform — Spanish 'regresar/volver', French 'retourner', German 'zurückkehren' — because 34 of 35 uses denote straightforward physical return. The lone exception in 2 Peter 2:21 shifts to a figurative moral sense: turning back from the holy commandment.
2. turn back from a course — To turn back from a course or way of life — a figurative reversal rather than geographic return. Attested only in 2 Pet 2:21, where it would have been better not to have known the way of righteousness than to turn back (ὑποστρέψαι) from the holy commandment. Spanish 'volverse atrás' and English 'turn back' both foreground the reversal rather than arrival, distinguishing this from ordinary return. 1×
AR["يَرجِعوا"]·ben["ফিরে-যাওয়া"]·DE["zurueckkehren"]·EN["to-turn-back"]·FR["retourner"]·heb["לָשׁוּב"]·HI["लौट-जाना"]·ID["berbalik"]·IT["upostrepsai"]·jav["wangsul"]·KO["돌아서는-것이"]·PT["voltar-atrás"]·RU["отвернуться"]·ES["volverse-atrás"]·SW["kugeuka"]·TR["geri-dönmek"]·urd["پھرنا"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. return to a place — To return physically to a prior location — going back to a city, home, or region after a journey or errand. This accounts for nearly all NT occurrences and dominates Luke-Acts (Luke 1:56; 2:20, 43, 45; 4:1; Acts 8:28; 13:13). Translations across all languages use dedicated return-verbs (spa 'regresar/volver', fra 'retourner', deu 'zurückkehren'), showing no semantic variation within this sense. 34×
AR["رَجَعا","رَجَعوا","رَجَعَ","رَجَعَا","رَجَعَتْ","رَجَعُوا","رَجَعْنَ","لَمّا-رَجَعوا"]·ben["তারা-ফিরে-গেলেন","ফিরছিল","ফিরল","ফিরিয়া-আসিল","ফিরিয়া-আসিলেন","ফিরে-এলেন","ফিরে-এসে","ফিরে-গিয়ে","ফিরে-গেলেন","ὑποστρέψασαι-ফিরে-গিয়ে"]·DE["kehrt-zurück"]·EN["having-returned","returned","they-returned"]·FR["retourner"]·heb["הַשָּׁבִים","חָזְרָה","חָזְרוּ","שָׁב","שָׁבוּ"]·HI["लौट-गई","लौट-गए","लौट-गया","लौटकर","लौटा","लौटे","वे-लौटे"]·ID["Kembali","kembali","mereka-kembali","setelah-kembali"]·IT["ritornare","tornare"]·jav["wangsul","wangsul,"]·KO["그들-이","돌아가서","돌아갔다","돌아와서","돌아왔다"]·PT["tendo-voltado","voltando","voltaram","voltavam","voltou"]·RU["вернувшись","вернулись","возвратившись","возвратилась","возвратились","возвратился","возвращались","они-вернулись"]·ES["habiendo-regresado","habiendo-vuelto","regresaban","regresaron","regresó","volviendo","volvieron","volvió"]·SW["akarudi","alirudi","wakarudi","wakirudi","waliporudi","walirudi"]·TR["döndü","döndü.","döndüler","dönerek","dönerek,","dönüp"]·urd["لوٹ-آئے","لوٹ-کر","لوٹ-گئی","لوٹ-گئے","لوٹ-گیا","لوٹا","لوٹے","لَوٹا","لَوٹے","واپس-آ-کر","واپس-ہوا","وہ-لوٹ-گئے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ὑποστρέφω, turn round about or back, ἵππους Refs 8th c.BC+; ὁ κισσὸς.. Βακχίαν ὑποστρέφων ἅμιλλαν bringing back the Bacchic struggle, i. e. the swift and eager dance, Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 roll up, Refs 4th c.BC+ __3 passive, revolve beneath, τινι Refs 4th c.BC+ __II intransitive, turn about, especially of persons flying or retreating, Refs 8th c.BC+:—passive, αὖτις ὑποστρεφθείς Refs 8th c.BC+;…