# G2434 - hilasmos **Strong's:** [G2434](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2434/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** hil-as-mos' **Part of speech:** masculine noun **Root:** from *hilaskomai* (G2433), "to be propitiated / become favorable / show mercy" **NT occurrences:** 2 (both in 1 John, 2:2 and 4:10) **LXX equivalent:** renders Hebrew *kippur* / *kippurim* ([Leviticus 25:9](/codex/leviticus-25-9/); [Numbers 5:8](/codex/numbers-5-8/)), the Day of Atonement vocabulary; also used for forgiveness / propitiation contexts. ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG / TDNT) 1. **An appeasing, propitiating**, the act of turning away wrath 2. **The means of appeasing / a propitiation**, the offering / sacrifice that effects propitiation 3. **Expiation**, the removal / cleansing of sin (the related sense, contested) The KJV: "propitiation" (both occurrences). NIV / NRSV use "atoning sacrifice" to capture both senses. NASB95: "propitiation." ## The propitiation / expiation debate The translation of *hilasmos* / *hilastērion* / *hilaskomai* has been one of the most contested issues in 20th-century NT theology: - **Propitiation**, the act of *appeasing wrath*. The wrath is *real*, *personal*, *divine*; the sacrifice turns it away. Object of action: *God Himself* (His wrath is propitiated). - **Expiation**, the act of *cleansing / removing sin*. There is no divine wrath to appease; the sacrifice merely removes the moral stain. Object of action: *sin* (it is expiated). The dispute: - **C. H. Dodd** (*The Bible and the Greeks*, 1935), argued that *hilaskomai* in Hellenistic Jewish Greek (esp. LXX) does *not* carry the pagan-Greek "appease an angry god" sense. The biblical concept, Dodd argued, is *expiation*, God Himself provides the means of dealing with sin. Dodd's reading was influential in the RSV translation tradition. - **Leon Morris** (*The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross*, 1955; *The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance*, 1983), comprehensively refuted Dodd, demonstrating that: 1. The propitiation / wrath-appeasement sense is preserved in LXX usage despite Dodd's claims 2. The OT sacrificial system itself presupposes divine wrath ([Numbers 16:46-48](/codex/numbers-16-46-48/); [Psalm 78:38](/codex/psalms-78-38/)) 3. NT *hilasmos* / *hilastērion* contexts ([Romans 3:25](/codex/romans-3-25/); [Hebrews 2:17](/codex/hebrews-2-17/); [1 John 2:2](/codex/1-john-2-2/); 4:10) align with the broader NT theology of divine wrath against sin 4. Removing propitiation makes the cross unintelligible, *what* is being accomplished if there is no wrath to deal with? - **Modern Reformed consensus** (D. A. Carson, John Stott, Wayne Grudem, J. I. Packer "What Did the Cross Achieve?" 1973), sides with Morris. *Both* propitiation *and* expiation are present, but propitiation is primary; expiation is consequent. Christ's sacrifice propitiates the Father's wrath *and thereby* expiates the sinner's guilt. The contested issue is not whether expiation occurs but whether the wrath-appeasement aspect is preserved. The Reformed position: yes, decisively. ## *Hilasmos* in Johannine theology Both NT occurrences are in 1 John: > He Himself is the propitiation (*hilasmos*) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. ([1 John 2:2](/codex/1-john-2-2/), NASB95) > In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (*hilasmos*) for our sins. ([1 John 4:10](/codex/1-john-4-10/), NASB95) The two passages establish: 1. **Christ Himself is the propitiation**, not just *brings* propitiation; *is* it. The personal-substitutionary force is direct. 2. **Propitiation has universal scope** ([1 John 2:2](/codex/1-john-2-2/)), "for the whole world" (*peri holou tou kosmou*). The Calvinist / Arminian dispute over the extent of the atonement engages this verse extensively. 3. **Propitiation is grounded in the Father's love** ([1 John 4:10](/codex/1-john-4-10/)), the Father is not the object of the Son's persuasion *against* the Father's wrath; rather the Father *Himself sends* the Son to be the propitiation. This refutes the simplistic caricature of "angry Father / loving Son", the Father's love *initiates* the propitiation; the Son *executes* it; the Spirit *applies* it. ## *Hilasmos* and the Trinitarian shape of atonement The Trinitarian structure of the atonement is exhibited in the *hilasmos* texts: - **The Father** *sends* the Son out of love ([1 John 4:9-10](/codex/1-john-4-9-10/); [John 3:16](/codex/john-3-16/)) - **The Son** *is* the propitiation, freely offering Himself ([Hebrews 9:14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/), [26](/codex/hebrews-9-26/); 10:10) - **The Spirit** *applies* the propitiation to believers ([Hebrews 9:14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/), "the eternal Spirit"; [Romans 8:11](/codex/romans-8-11/); [Titus 3:5](/codex/titus-3-5/)) The cross is therefore not God's wrath *vs* God's love but God's wrath *and* God's love working *together* through the Trinitarian persons, the Father's love providing what the Father's righteous-wrath demands. ## Patristic / scholarly note The patristic tradition uniformly affirmed *propitiation* / wrath-appeasement, though it was not always foregrounded in their atonement theology (which often emphasized recapitulation, ransom-from-Satan, or theosis). Athanasius (*De Incarnatione* 7-9), [Cyril of Alexandria](/codex/cyril-of-alexandria/), Augustine all engage *hilasmos* in atonement contexts. The Reformation reset: Luther (*Bondage of the Will*; *Galatians* commentary); Calvin (*Institutes* II.16-17, extensive treatment of propitiation and atonement), both develop substitutionary-atonement / propitiation as central. The Reformed confessions (Heidelberg Catechism Q.37-44; Westminster Confession 8.5) canonicalize the doctrine. The 20th-century controversy: Dodd (*The Bible and the Greeks*, 1935, the demythologization-friendly position); Vincent Taylor (*Jesus and His Sacrifice*, 1937, sympathetic to Dodd); Leon Morris (*The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross*, 1955; *The Atonement*, 1983, the decisive Reformed counter); J. I. Packer ("What Did the Cross Achieve?", 1973, the popular-level Reformed defense); D. A. Carson (*The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God*, 2000) on integrating wrath and love. Modern conservative scholarship: Stephen Travis (*Christ and the Judgement of God*, 1986); Thomas Schreiner (*The King in His Beauty*, 2013; *New Testament Theology*, 2008); Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey, Andrew Sach (*Pierced for Our Transgressions*, 2007), defending penal substitutionary atonement comprehensively. ## Relation to *hilastērion* and *lytron* The *hilasmos* family of words connects to: - **[G2435 - hilasterion](/codex/g2435-hilasterion/)**, the *means / place* of propitiation; the *kapporet* (mercy seat) of the OT atonement system; applied to Christ in [Romans 3:25](/codex/romans-3-25/). - **[G3083 - lytron](/codex/g3083-lytron/)**, the *ransom* / *price paid* for release; the substitutionary-payment dimension; applied to Christ in [Mark 10:45](/codex/mark-10-45/) and [1 Timothy 2:6](/codex/1-timothy-2-6/). - **[G0629 - apolytrosis](/codex/g0629-apolytrosis/)**, the *act of redemption* / *deliverance achieved by ransom*; the result of the lytron-payment. The four words combine to form the NT atonement vocabulary cluster: Christ as *lytron* (price), as *hilastērion* (means / place of propitiation), accomplishing *hilasmos* (the propitiation itself), resulting in *apolytrōsis* (redemption / deliverance). ## Notable verses ### *Hilasmos*-family in NT - **[1 John 2:2](/codex/1-john-2-2/); 4:10**, *hilasmos*, Christ as propitiation - **[Romans 3:25](/codex/romans-3-25/)**, *hilastērion*, Christ as the place / means of propitiation - **[Hebrews 2:17](/codex/hebrews-2-17/)**, *hilaskesthai* (verb), Christ as merciful high priest making propitiation - **[Luke 18:13](/codex/luke-18-13/)**, *hilasthēti moi*, "be merciful / propitious to me, the sinner" (the publican's prayer) ### OT background - **[Leviticus 16](/codex/leviticus-16/)**, Day of Atonement; the *kapporet* / mercy seat - **[Leviticus 17:11](/codex/leviticus-17-11/)**, "the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement" - **[Numbers 5:8](/codex/numbers-5-8/)**, *hilasmou* in LXX, propitiation ## See also - [G2435 - hilasterion](/codex/g2435-hilasterion/), the means / place of propitiation - [G3083 - lytron](/codex/g3083-lytron/), ransom / payment - [G0629 - apolytrosis](/codex/g0629-apolytrosis/), redemption / deliverance - [Romans 5.8](/codex/romans-5-8/), propitiation in atonement narrative - [1 John 4:10](/codex/1-john-4-10/), propitiation grounded in the Father's love ## Notes _Lexical workspace for hilasmos._