noun · feminine

Greekἀναστροφή (anastrofē)

Biblang

anastrofas

Strong’sG391

behavior, manner of life

stem anastrof-13 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books4 of 10 forms occur

What it means

A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.

AI Summary

ἀναστροφή refers to a person's manner of life, behavior, or conduct ¹²³⁴ — the general pattern of how someone lives and acts, rather than any single deed. This is the sense in which the word is actually used in the New Testament and in similar late Greek writings ¹³, and Strong's also notes the older English rendering "conversation" for this same idea ².

Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.

The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:

Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full

** ἀνα-στροφή, -ῆς, ἡ,

(< ἀναστρέφομαι), [in LXX: To 4:14, II Mac 5:8 6:23*;]

1. a turning down or back, a wheeling about (Soph., Thuc., al.).

2. In late writers (Polyb., al.; v.s. ἀναστρέφω, and cf. Hort on Ja 3:13; MM, VGT, s.v.), manner of life, behaviour, conduct: Ga 1:13, Eph 4:22, I Ti 4:12, He 13:7, Ja 3:13, I Pe 1:15, 18 2:12 3:1, 2, 16, II Pe 2:7 3:11.†

G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.

Strong’s G391 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from

Saidan-as-trof-ay'

behavior

Fromfrom G390;

King Jamesconversation.

James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.

Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in

ἀνα-στροφή, ἡ,
turning upside down, upsetting, overthrow, Refs 5th c.BC+; μοῖραν εἰς ἀ. δίδωσι, ={ἀναστρέφει}, Refs; disorder, confusion, Refs 3rd c.BC+
2 turning back, return, Refs 5th c.BC+; πολλὰς ἀ. ποιούμενος, of a hunter, making many casts backward, Refs 5th c.BC+; wheeling round, of a horse, Refs; of soldiers in battle, whether to flee or rally, Refstime to rally, Refs; especially of the reversal of a wheeling movement, Refs 1st c.BC+; of a ship, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐξ ἀ. turning back, Refs 2nd c.BC+; κατ᾽ ἀναστροφήν conversely, Refs 2nd c.AD+
3 in Grammars, throwing back of the accent, as in Prepositions after their case, Refs 2nd c.AD+
4 Rhet., ={ἐπαναστροφή}, repetition of words which close one sentence at the beginning of another, Refs 2nd c.AD+
4.b inversion of the natural order, Refs 1st c.AD+
5 in Mathematics texts, conversion of a ratio, ἀ. λόγουRefs 3rd c.BC+
II dwelling in a place, Refs 1st c.AD+
II.2 abode, haunt, δαιμόνων ἀναστροφήRefs 4th c.BC+
II.3 mode of life, behaviour, NT+2nd c.BC+; ἐξημερωμένης -φῆς civilized life, Refs 1st c.BC+
II.4 delay, respite, time for doing a thing, Refs 2nd c.BC+
II.5 occupation, concern, περί τι τὰν ἀ. ἔχεινRefs 4th c.BC+
II.6 return, way back, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.7 recourse, ἀ. λαμβάνειν πρός τιRefs 1st c.AD+

H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.

Translated as

Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.

conduct7×way of life4×lives2×

Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.

Biblang forms

Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.

Job in the sentence case	one singular	more than one plural
subject nominative	anastrofas	anastrofais
object accusative	anastrofan5×ἀναστροφὴν	anastrofain
direct address vocative	anastrofar	anastrofair
of, belonging to genitive	anastrofau5×ἀναστροφῆς	anastrofaiu
to, for dative	anastrofa2×ἀναστροφῇ	anastrofai1×ἀναστροφαῖς

Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.

Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them

anastrofstem+agender+snru—its job in the sentence case+—ione · more than one number

anastrofa is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.

same in every form varies — every value shown

Where it appears

Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.

13 occurrences, every one of them listed

anastrofan“conduct”objectaccusative singular5×

Galatians 1:13Akouava gar tan ēman anastrofan pote en to Ioudaismo, hoti kata …… you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted …

Ephesians 4:22apotithera vin kata tan proteran anastrofan ton palaion anthrōpon ton ftherorōnton kata …to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being …

1 Peter 2:12tan anastrofan vu en tei ethnei echarōntois kalan, …Conduct yourselves with such honor among the …

1 Peter 3:2“lives”epopteuarantois tan en fobo hagnan anastrofan vu.when they see your pure and reverent …

1 Peter 3:16“conduct”… epēreazarōntois vu tan agathan en Christo anastrofan.… shame by your good behavior in Christ.

anastrofau“conduct”of, belonging togenitive singular5×

Hebrews 13:7… theou, hoiu anatheōrarōntois tan ekbasian tau anastrofau mimovōr tan pistian.… you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

James 3:13… en vi? deikatar ek tau kalau anastrofau teim ergeim autou en prauta sofiau.… him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility …

1 Peter 1:18… chrusie, lutriva ek tau mataiau vu anastrofau patroparadotau,… you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

1 Peter 3:1“conduct”… to logo dia tau taiu gunaikaiu anastrofau aneu logou kerdainiliWives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives

2 Peter 2:7… hupo tau toiu athesmoiu en aselgeia anastrofau rueta… righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless

anastrofa“conduct”to, fordative singular2×

1 Timothy 4:12… genosōr toiu pistoiu en logo, en anastrofa, en agapa, en pistia, en hagneia.… for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

1 Peter 1:15“conduct”… hagion kai autois hagiois en panta anastrofa genivar,… you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

anastrofai“lives”to, fordative plural1×

2 Peter 3:11“lives”… potapoin datō huparcharō vin en hagiai anastrofai kai eusebeiai,… of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness