Μεταμέλεια.
Μεταμέλεια.
§ 6. Μεταμέλεσθαι and μεταμελεῑν mean “to be concerned and anxious after something has been done,” so that in the mind a displeasure arises through which a person wishes that a thing he has done had not been done. The word “repentance” [poenitentia] corresponds to this to the extent that it means grief conceived in the mind because of a wickedness committed or a good omitted. Tertullian (De poenit., at the very beginning of p. 51) writes: “This type of people” (the heathen), “which even we ourselves once were, know by nature that repentance is nominally a sort of suffering of the mind which comes from a displeasure concerning a prior way of thinking.”
** Bellarmine (De poenit., bk. 1, ch. 7, col. 1185B) says, “The word μεταμέλεια occurs almost nowhere in the Scriptures when the conversion of a sinful person is being discussed.” However, it does occur in Matt. 21:29. **
Furthermore, μεταμέλεια and repentance apply not only concerning the things which we can change and correct but also apply to the things which necessarily oppress us and which do not allow change. Μεταμέλησε τοῡ γήρως: “He grieved [poenituit] over his old age.” Therefore, accurately speaking, μετάνοια seems to mean a change of mind, and μεταμέλεια, a change of will; μετανοεῑν is “to return to a better mind,” and μεταμέλεσθαι is “to go on in sorrow over those things that were pleasing earlier.”
** In addition: (1) Μεταμέλεσθαι is also used with regard to a fault, but μετανοεῑν is always used in a good sense. (2) Μεταμέλεσθαι is more suited to grief and sorrows, but μετανοεῑν, to a change of life and intent. (3) Μεταμέλεια in Latin is called poenitentia, but μετάνοια is called resipiscentia or transmentatio [“a changing of the mind”]. This distinction of words is urged by: Beza (Annot. on Matthew 3), Musculus (Loci, f. 255), Zanchi (Volum. posth. in 4. praec. loc., 6, p. 745), and Bucanus (Instit., locus 30, q. 1, p. 312). But observe: (a) There must be a distinction between the etymological and the biblical meaning. According to the former, the aforementioned words seem to differ in such a way that μετάνοια indicates a change of mind while μεταμέλεια indicates concern; according to the latter sense the words agree, in that both words are used for true and salutary repentance. (b) The word μετάνοια is used in two ways: broadly, for complete repentance (Matt. 3:2, 8, 11; 9:13; Luke 15:10; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 19:4; 2 Pet. 3:9; Rev. 2:5); and narrowly, for contrition alone (Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21). **