καταλλαγή

From the study of 2 Corinthians 5:18

Range of meaning

The noun of the same root: exchange (of money) in older and commercial Greek; reconciliation, the restoring of peace between hostile parties, in diplomatic, family and religious settings.

Against the English

"Reconciliation" fits well. Older English "atonement" (KJV, Romans 5:11) originally meant "at-one-ment", which is the same idea, but "atonement" has since shifted toward sacrifice and payment. In 2 Corinthians 5 the KJV translates it "reconciliation".

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Maccabees 5:20 speaks of the temple being restored "in the reconciliation of the great Lord". Paul uses the noun in Romans 5:11 and 11:15 ("the reconciliation of the world").

From the study of Romans 11:15

Range of meaning

Reconciliation: changing a relationship of hostility into one of peace or friendship. Older uses include exchange (of money) and settling a quarrel between parties, as in diplomacy, marriage or other personal disputes.

Against the English

English 'reconciliation' can suggest a mutual compromise or a gradual mending of feelings. In Paul, God starts it and achieves it. It is a change in where people stand with him, not only a change in how they feel.

Used elsewhere in the period

In 2 Maccabees (1:5; 5:20; 7:33; 8:29) Jews pray that God will be 'reconciled' to them, so the offended party is the one who needs to be won over. Paul reverses this: God reconciles people, even 'the world', to himself (Rom 5:10–11; 2 Cor 5:18–20). Stanley Porter's study of the word group traces it through diplomatic and personal disputes.

From the study of Romans 5:11

Range of meaning

Reconciliation: the change from hostility to peace between estranged parties. It is built on the root allass- ("change, exchange"). In ordinary Greek it was used for making peace between warring states, between a husband and wife (compare 1 Cor 7:11), between rivals. An older, related sense is "exchange" (of money).

Against the English

Modern versions say "reconciliation". KJV says "atonement". In 1611 that meant the same thing ("at-one-ment"), but it now means something else to most readers (see drift).

How it drifted

William Tyndale (1526) chose "atonement", meaning "making at one". The KJV kept it here. It is the only place the KJV New Testament uses the word, while it translates the same Greek word family as "reconcile/reconciliation" elsewhere (Rom 11:15; 2 Cor 5:18–19). Later, "atonement" shifted to mean the sacrificial covering or payment for sin, the sense of the Hebrew kippur.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical and Hellenistic writers use it for diplomatic peace settlements and the restoring of friendship. In Jewish Greek, 2 Maccabees (1:5; 5:20; 7:33; 8:29) speaks of God being "reconciled" to his people after his anger, with humans as the ones who seek it. Paul alone in the New Testament uses this word family for God and humanity (Rom 5:10–11; 11:15; 2 Cor 5:18–20; compare Col 1:20–22 and Eph 2:16 with a compound form).