DMS_GL_my_tw/bible/kt/turn/01.md

# turn, turn away, return

## Definition

To "turn" or "turn away" means to physically change direction or to cause something else to change direction.

* The term "return to" means to go back to where one was before. Figuratively it can be used to mean "start doing again."
* To return something means to give it back.
* To "turn toward" someone means to "face" that person directly, usually in order to speak to him.
* To "turn back" means to "go away" from someone or something.
* When the text says that someone "turned and left" or "turned his back to leave," it means he turned around and went in a different direction away from the people he was with.
* In a figurative sense, to "turn away from" means to stop doing something, and to "turn back to" means to start doing something again.
* These idioms are frequently used to describe how God's people "turned away from" worshiping him and "turned to" worshiping idols, or when they stopped worshiping idols and started worshiping God again.
* When God "turns away" from his people, it means that he stops protecting or helping them (especially when they rebel against him).
* To "turn into" can also mean to "become" or to "cause to become." For example when Moses' rod "turned into" a snake it meant that it had become a snake.


## Translation Suggestions



* Depending on the context, "turn" can be translated as "change direction" or "go" or "move"
* When enemies "turn back," it means they "retreat."
* Used figuratively, when Israel "turned to" false gods, it meant that they had "started to worship" them. When they "turned away" from idols, it meant they had "stopped worshiping" them.
* In the context of when God "turned away from" his people, this phrase could be translated as "stopped protecting" or "stopped helping."
* The phrase "turn the hearts of the fathers to their children" could be translated as, "cause fathers to care for their children again."
* The expression, "turn my honor into shame" could be translated as, "cause my honor to become shame" or "dishonor me so that I am shamed" or "shame me