ἱλαστήριος

From the study of Romans 3:25

Range of meaning

Derived from the verb ἱλάσκομαι (to make favourable, to atone). The noun can mean (1) the gold lid of the ark of the covenant, Hebrew kappōret, the 'mercy seat', where God met Israel and where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement; (2) more broadly, a place or object of atonement (in Ezekiel 43 it is used for a ledge of the altar); (3) in ordinary Greek, a gift or monument offered to win a god's favour or turn away divine anger; (4) in Jewish writing near Paul's time, a death that atones (4 Maccabees 17:22, of the martyrs).

Against the English

KJV/ESV/NASB 'propitiation' stresses turning away God's wrath. RSV 'expiation' stresses removing or wiping out sin. NIV/NRSV/BSB/WEB 'sacrifice of atonement' / 'atoning sacrifice' is a general term. YLT and NET 'mercy seat' keep the specific temple object. Each brings out one side of a word whose biblical use holds several together.

How it drifted

'Propitiation' is an older English word few people now use. When explained, it is often explained from pagan religion, as humans soothing an angry god with a gift. In Paul's sentence the direction is reversed: God himself provides the hilastērion. 'Expiation', made popular in the mid-20th century, can lose the link with God's wrath that Paul has been building since 1:18.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament (LXX): over twenty times for the kappōret (Exod 25:17–22; Lev 16:2, 13–15), first as ἱλαστήριον ἐπίθεμα 'atoning cover' and then simply τὸ ἱλαστήριον. Hebrews 9:5 uses it plainly for the mercy seat. Philo (Life of Moses 2.95–97; On the Cherubim 25; On Flight 100) uses it for the mercy seat and makes it a symbol of God's merciful power. 4 Maccabees 17:22: through the martyrs' blood and their atoning death (ἱλαστηρίου θανάτου), God preserved Israel. Non-Jewish Greek: Dio Chrysostom (Oration 11.121) cites an inscription calling a dedicated offering to Athena a hilastērion; Josephus (Antiquities 16.182) says Herod put up a 'propitiatory' monument after a sacrilege at David's tomb.

From the study of Hebrews 9:5

Range of meaning

An adjective that became a noun, built on the verb hilaskomai ('to make propitious, to appease, to atone/expiate'). As a noun it means (1) a thing that propitiates or atones, such as a votive offering to a god, or (2) the place where atonement is made. In Jewish Greek its main use is as the standard name for the kapporet, the gold lid of the ark.

Against the English

KJV, ESV, NASB, BSB, WEB and YLT say 'mercy seat'; NIV says 'atonement cover'; NLT expands it to the ark's cover as 'the place of atonement'. 'Mercy seat' is a 16th-century coinage. It points the right way (this is where God's favour was restored) but loses the idea of atonement through blood and suggests a chair.

How it drifted

Luther rendered kapporet as Gnadenstuhl ('throne/seat of grace'), and Tyndale (1530) followed him with 'mercyseat'. The phrase entered English Bible vocabulary through him. Neither the Hebrew nor the Greek word contains 'seat'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament (LXX), Exodus 25:17 calls the lid a hilastērion epithema ('atoning cover'). After that it is simply to hilastērion (Exod 25:18–22; Lev 16:2, 13–15; Num 7:89). Ezekiel 43:14, 17, 20 uses the same word for a ledge of the altar where blood was applied. 4 Maccabees 17:22 speaks of the martyrs' death as a hilastērion through which God saved Israel. A Kos inscription and Dio Chrysostom (Oration 11.121) use it for an offering dedicated to a god. Philo calls the ark's lid the hilastērion and treats it as a symbol of God's merciful power (Moses 2.95–97). The only other New Testament use is Romans 3:25.