This is a word study that I did for Greek I during my sophomore year at Calvary Bible College during the Fall semester 2011. Dr. Nelson had us do this just before our finals and I found the studies to be very enlightening. May you be blessed by it.
Hilasmos
BDAG defines the word hilasmos as an “appeasement necessitated by sin, or expiation. In these cases we have the plural probably referring to the individual actions to be expiated(which in this case would most likely be the sins of the unbelievers). This is seen in the Greek “eis i emoi” which means “for my expiation.
This word can also refer to an instrument for appeasing, or sacrifice to atone, a sin offering. It was used in this sense in the 1st-2nd century by Plutarchus at least.
MecReynolds finds the word “hilasmos” in 1 John 2:2 and 4:10. The first passage refers to Christ being the atoning sacrifice as well as in 4:10.
Liddell, Scott, and Jones define hilasmos as a means of appeasing, atonement, or a sin offering like one seen in Leviticus predominately as well as a good deal of the Old Testament.
Hatch Redpath sees the word in the following passages: Leviticus 4:8, 24, 33; 5:9l 25:9; Numbers 5:8; Ezekiel 44:27. The Leviticus passages speak of the sin offerings. This carries with it obviously the idea of atonement. The Numbers passage speaks of the idea of restitution for atonement. The Psalm passage speaks of forgiveness. The Ezekiel passage speaks of a sin offering also.
TWOT lists hilasmos as a word that often refers to the trespass offerings in Leviticus and Numbers. The Hebrew word for this is ‘asham, which refers to a guilt over a trespass but a guilt of sin that must be atoned for in a specific manner. Asham, a derivative of the word refers to the offering for the sin. Abimilech referred to it in Genesis 26:10. The word is used 22 times in Leviticus. I find this very interesting since the way that sin was atoned for was always the death of something else. I believe in the doctrine of unlimited atonement because of what I see in the Bible in 2 Peter 2:1 and Acts 17:30,31. These passages speak of the fact that Christ died for souls that will go to destruction, while the Acts passage has God Himself commanding all men everywhere to repent.
Moulton and Milligan state that is a reference to the words soterion or charisterion, which refer to votive offerings.
Louw/Nida states that hilasmos is the means by which sins are forgiven, the means of forgiveness expiation. Christ Himself is the means by which sins are forgiven(1 John 2:2). Hilasmos and hilasterion denote forgiveness rather than true propitiation. Propitiation is essentially a process by which does a facor to a person in order to make him or her favorably disposed, but in the NT God is never the object of propitiation since He is already on the side of the people.
Kittel lists hilasmos as coming from hilaskamai which is the action by which God is propitiated and sin expiated. A cultic expression from both Greek and Hebrew refers to how sin is made ineffective., It can also refer to God’s purging of sin as God’s work in man.
Conclusion
Propitiation clearly means that it is an appeasement of God’s wrath. Now the question must be asked, why did Christ say on the cross “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Now, what exactly was this forgiveness? How are we to forgive each other “just as Christ also has forgiven us?” Propitiation most assuredly appeased God’s wrath. 2 Peter 2:1 proves to be a tricky problem for proponents of limited atonement. We have someone who goes to destruction being bought by Christ, and we have the elect being bought by Christ. What then is the difference in the forgiveness? Both are bought, but only the elect partake in the benefit of it. This would reinforce the belief that repentance must take place with faith for there to be salvation. The forgiveness granted to the non-elect was merely a staying of God’s wrath for a later date. I believe this word, hilasmos, clearly defends the teaching of unlimited atonement when compared with other passages in the Bible such as Acts 17:30, 31; John 3:16; Romans 3:23; 2 Peter 2:1. When left to stand alone, 1 John 2:2 can(though under argument) be seen as a defense for the limited atonement position, but when compared with the Bible holistically, I believe that the universal death of Christ is portrayed by the word hilasmos.
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