Investigation: Etymology of "Expiation" and "Propitiation"

Yom Kippur in the Synagogue (1878)

Maurycy Gottlieb

(Image from Wikipedia)

Etymology doesn't usually get us very far in understanding theological concepts since words pick up a lot of baggage through the centuries along their way to us, but I promised my Bible study class that I'd look up "expiation" and "propitiation" to check their roots.

According to the Online Etymological Dictionary:

expiation: 1482, from L. expiatus, pp. of expiare "make amends," from ex- "completely" + piare "propitiate, appease," from pius "faithful, loyal, devout."

Interesting. The root piare is defined as "propitiate." Anyway, let's check this dictionary for "propitiation":

propitiation: 1388, from L.L. propitiationem (nom. propitiatio) "an atonement," from L. propitiare "render favorable," from propitius "favorable, gracious, kind," from pro- "forward" + petere "go to" (see petition). Earliest recorded form of the word is propitiatorium, "the mercy seat, place of atonement" (c.1200), transl. Gk. hilasterion. The verb propitiate is attested from 1645, from L. propitiatus, pp. of propitiare. Propitious "favorable" is from 1447.

Both "expiation" and "propitiation" have been used to translate the Greek term hilasterion, which translates the Hebrew kapporeth, as can be seen in Exodus 25:18, courtesy of the Blue Letter Bible:

καὶ ποιήσεις δύο χερουβιμ χρυσᾶ τορευτὰ καὶ ἐπιθήσεις αὐτὰ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν κλιτῶν τοῦ ἱλαστηρίου

וְעָשִׂיתָ שְׁנַיִם כְּרֻבִים זָהָב מִקְשָׁה תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם מִשְּׁנֵי קְצֹות הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת׃

As we see, the terms hilasteriou (ἱλαστηρίου, the genitive of hilasterion) and kapporeth (כַּפֹּֽרֶת) occur in the Greek translation and the Hebrew original of Exodus 25:18. In this verse, however, the Greek and Hebrew terms refer not to an abstraction rendered by either "expiation" or "propitiation," but to a part of the Ark of the Covenant. My sentimental choice, the King James Bible, translates this verse from the Hebrew as:

And thou shalt make two cherubims [of] gold, [of] beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. (KJV)

But the New International Version has this:

And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. (NIV)

The Hebrew term kapporeth is identified in the Blue Letter Bible's "Lexicon Results" as "the slab of gold on top of the ark of the covenant which measured 2.5 by 1.5 cubits; on it and part of it were the two golden cherubim facing each other whose outstretched wings came together above and constituted the throne of God." In its function, this is "the golden plate of propitiation on which the High Priest sprinkled the seat 7 times on the Day of Atonement symbolically reconciling Jehovah and His chosen people."

The root of kapporeth is kaphar, which is defined in the Blue Letter Bible's "Lexicon Results" as:

to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch

a) (Qal) to coat or cover with pitch

b) (Piel)

1) to cover over, pacify, propitiate

2) to cover over, atone for sin, make atonement for

3) to cover over, atone for sin and persons by legal rites

c) (Pual)

1) to be covered over

2) to make atonement for

d) (Hithpael) to be covered

There is, however, a lot of disagreement over the definition of this root kaphar and whether it really means "to cover" or "to wipe away" (cf. pdf), but I won't go into that since I know too little and lack the time to investigate properly. I would look briefly at hilasterion in Exodus 25:18, but the Blue Letter Bible hasn't yet finished developing its pages on the Septuagint, i.e., the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.

This exercise in etymological investigation hasn't gotten me very far, but I didn't expect it to do so.

Sir Thomas More's "attonemente"

Sir Thomas More

Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger (1527)

(Image from Wikipedia)

Concerning yesterday's confusing citation on "atonement" from the Oxford English Dictionary, perhaps a few clarifying words are in order. Let's look at the OED's full citation:

1. The condition of being at one with others; unity of feeling, harmony, concord, agreement.

1513 MORE Rich. III Wks. 41 Having more regarde to their olde variaunce then their newe attonement. 1554 PHILPOT Exam. & Writ. (1842) 330 What atonement..is there betwixt light and darkness. 1610 HEALEY St. Aug. City of God 763 Beasts should live at more attonement and peace betweene them-selves. 1611 SPEED Hist. Gt. Brit. VI. xxv. (1632) 129 After three great and dangerous Battles came to an attonement. 1623 COCKERAM, Atonement, quietnesse.

2. The action of setting at one, or condition of being set at one, after discord or strife: a. Restoration of friendly relations between persons who have been at variance; reconciliation. Obs.

1513 MORE Edw. V Wks. 40 Of which..none of vs hath any thing the lesse nede, for the late made attonemente. 1577 HOLINSHED Chron. II. 98 At length an attonment was concluded betwixt him and the king. 1594 SHAKES. Rich. III, I. iii. 36, I Madam, he desires to make attonement Betweene the Duke of Glouster, and your Brothers. 1632 MASSINGER Maid of Hon. V. ii, As a perfect sign of your atonement with me, You wish me joy. 1685 MORDEN Geog. Rect. 201 The atonement made by Hannibal..between Bruneus and his Brother.

We find Sir Thomas More cited twice: "1513 MORE Rich. III Wks. 41" and "1513 MORE Edw. V Wks." About these, I noted yesterday:

The first listed is from his work The History of King Richard the Third, and the second is said to be from "Edw. V," but I find it also in More's work on King Richard III. Google Books gives both instances on page nine of this history.

By "this history," I meant The History of King Richard the Third, and my poorly expressed point was that both instances of "atonement" (attonement and attonemente) are from More's History of King Richard the Third, so why did the OED cite "Edw. V"? Lacking time, I did not investigate the mystery.

This latter work would seem to be More's "Historie of the pitiful life and unfortunate death of Edward the fifth and the then Duke of York his brother," which the Catholic Encyclopedia informs us was "printed incomplete in the 'English Works' (1557) and reissued with a completion from Hall's Chronicle by Wm. Sheares (London, 1641)" (Gilbert Huddleston, "St. Thomas More," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912).

Since the Catholic Encyclopedia tells us that this was printed incomplete in 1557, then either the OED misinforms us about 1513 or means to refer us to the date that More composed the work -- or the OED altogether incorrectly 'informs' us about the word "attonemente" appearing in this Historie of the pitiful life and unfortunate death of Edward the fifth and the then Duke of York his brother.

Or something else entirely. The book title abbreviated by the OED as "Edw. V," but given more fully by the Catholic Encyclopedia, would seem to have included a section on Richard III:

History of the pitiful Life and unfortunate Death of King E. V. and the Duke of York his Brother; with the troublesome and tyrannical Government of the Usurpation of Richard III., and his miserable end

This still fuller citation occurs in Robert Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica: A General Index of British and Foreign Literature (1818, 1824).

Anyway, since this history included a section on Richard III, then I'm guessing that this longer history by Sir Thomas More -- History of the pitiful Life and unfortunate Death of King E. V. and the Duke of York his Brother; with the troublesome and tyrannical Government of the Usurpation of Richard III., and his miserable end -- includes material borrowed from More's earlier History of King Richard the Third, thereby explaining why the OED cites both texts, for the statement "Of which..none of vs hath any thing the lesse nede, for the late made attonemente" will have appeared in both texts.

But why would the OED give 1513 as the date for "Edw. V"?

More on "Atonement": Before Tyndale

Blue Letter Bible

A Great Online Resource

(Image from Blue Letter Bible)

I said that I was finished with atonement, but I guess that I was wrong, for I have found a few interesting online passages that are worth reading . . . if one has an interest in this sort of thing.

As for the first passage, I was directed to it by a man in my Bible study class last Sunday. The passage is from an article on "Atonement," by William Owen Carver, and was published in the 1913 edition of the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, which is in the public domain and therefore can appear in its entirety online without royalties. The online copy that I used is found at the Blue Letter Bible website, and here is a sample passage from Carver's words on atonement:

It is obvious that the English word "atonement" does not correspond etymologically with any Hebrew or Greek word which it translates. Furthermore, the Greek words in both Septuagint and New Testament do not correspond exactly to the Hebrew words; especially is it true that the root idea of the most frequently employed Hebrew word, "cover," is not found in any of the Greek words employed. These remarks apply to both verbs and substantives The English word is derived from the phrase "at one," and signifies, etymologically, harmony of relationship or unity of life, etc. It is a rare instance of an AS [Anglo-Saxon] theological term; and, like all purely English terms employed in theology, takes its meaning, not from its origin, but from theological content of the thinking of the Continental and Latin-speaking Schoolmen who employed such English terms as seemed most nearly to convey to the hearers and readers their ideas. Not only was no effort made to convey the original Hebrew and Greek meanings by means of English words, but no effort was made toward uniformity in translating of Hebrew and Greek words by their English equivalents.

Carver's tone suggests dissatisfaction with the term "atonement," and he seems to be blaming the Medieval Scholastics with his reference to "the Continental and Latin-speaking Schoolmen." I wish that he had said a bit more on this point. Who were these "Schoolment"? Did Carver consider William Tyndale a "scholastic"? Oddly, Carver avoids any mention of Tyndale in his article. I wonder why. Does Carver think that the word "atonement" occurs in theological vocabulary prior to Tyndale . . . in Scholastic writings when the writers bothered to render the Latin expression in English?

I've been refering to the term "atonement" as Tyndale's coinage, but that may be mistaken, for I recall that I'd earlier found the following etymology in the Online Etymological Dictionary:

atone (v.) 1555, from adv. phrase atonen (c.1300) "in accord," lit. "at one," a contraction of at and one. It retains the older pronunciation of one. The phrase perhaps is modeled on L. adunare "unite," from ad- "to, at" + unum "one." Atonement is 1513; theological sense dates from 1526.

This dictionary gives a secular origin dating to 1513, for it specifies that the "theological sense dates from 1526," and that would be Tyndale's New Testament use of the term. Since this online dictionary does not cite the 1513 source, I was forced to go offline and check my Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which says:

1513 MORE Rich. III Wks. 41 Having more regarde to their olde variaunce then their newe attonement.

1513 MORE Edw. V Wks. 40 Of which . . none of vs hath any thing the lesse nede, for the late made attonemente

For those without an offline OED, here's an online copy of the entry on "Atonement," which I found after checking my offline hard copy. Both of these 1513 citations come from Sir Thomas More. The first listed is from his work The History of King Richard the Third, and the second is said to be from "Edw. V," but I find it also in More's work on King Richard III. Google Books gives both instances on page nine of this history.

Well, that's a mystery, but I'm running out of time this morning and must head for Ewha Womans University to give some tests. Meanwhile, enjoy this bit by Philologus on "At-one-ment."

And don't neglect to investigate the rich and rewarding Blue Letter Bible website, an excellent resource about which I would like to say more if I had extra time.

William Tyndale and Atonement: A Brief Note

Tyndale Bible

Leaf from 1526 Printing
John Chapter 1
(Image from British Library Online Gallery)

Short of turning the past three blog entries into a huge research project, I think that I've gone about as far as I can go in my investigation of Tyndale's reason for choosing to coin the word "at--one-ment."

Since Tyndale first translated the New Testament from the Greek, using Erasmus's critical text (roughly, the Textus Receptus), publishing it in 1525-1526, and only four years later published the Pentateuch, then I infer that his primary intention in coining "atonement" -- which he used 3 times (and once the word "atone") -- was to express the practical effect of Christ's sacrifice, namely, to make sinners "at one" with God.

In translating the Pentateuch -- commonly known as the Mosaic books, the first five books of the Bible -- Tyndale perhaps chose to continue using variants on the term "atonement" (63 times by my rough count) to express the practical effect of animal sacrifice in the Old Testament, namely, also to make sinners "at one" with God.

Presumably, Tyndale would have considered the practial effect of animal sacrifice to be temporary, for the sacrifice had to be repeated, whereas he would have considered the practical effect of Christ's sacrifice to be permanent, for the sacrifice was made one time.

Interestingly, although Tyndale uses the term "reconcile" in the New Testament four times (excluding one non-soteriological instance), he never uses this term in the Old Testament . . . but that's another blog entry.

William Tyndale's "Atonement"

Tyndale Bible

Leaf from 1552 Printing

Matthew Chapter 6

(Image from Gospel Hall)

Let me continue the topic of my past two days' entries on William Tyndale and his use of "atonement." He also uses his "at-one-ment" coinage in 2 Corinthians 5:18, but in this instance, he spells it "atonement":

Neverthelesse all thinges are of god which hath reconciled vs vnto him sylfe by Iesus Christ and hath geven vnto vs the office to preach the atonement.

Tyndale uses the same Greek word as we have previously seen, as the verse in the Blue Letter Bible's excerpt from the Textus Receptus shows:

τὰ δὲ πάντα ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ καταλλάξαντος ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ δόντος ἡμῖν τὴν διακονίαν τῆς καταλλαγῆς

As before, the word for "atonement" is "katallagēs" (καταλλαγῆς). Interestingly, Tyndale uses his coinage again in the very next verse, 2 Corinthians 5:19, but spells it "atonmet":

For god was in Christ and made agrement bitwene the worlde and hym sylfe and imputed not their synnes vnto them: and hath comitted to vs the preachynge of ye atonmet.

ὡς ὅτι θεὸς ἦν ἐν Χριστῷ κόσμον καταλλάσσων ἑαυτῷ μὴ λογιζόμενος αὐτοῖς τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν καὶ θέμενος ἐν ἡμῖν τὸν λόγον τῆς καταλλαγῆς

The Greek behind "atonmet" is exactly the same as in verse 18, and in the very next verse, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Tyndale uses the form "ye be atone":

Now then are we messengers in the roume of Christ: even as though God did beseche you thorow vs: So praye we you in Christes stede that ye be atone with God:

ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ οὖν πρεσβεύομεν ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ παρακαλοῦντος δι᾽ ἡμῶν δεόμεθα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ καταλλάγητε τῷ θεῷ

The Greek here is the verb form katallagēte (καταλλάγητε). Although the King James Version (KJV) borrowed Tyndale's coined word "atonement" (and "atone") for the Greek word katallagēn in Romans 5:8, as we have previously seen, in these three verses, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, the KJV prefers "reconciliation" (and "reconciled"):

18 And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Tyndale could easily have used variants on "reconciliation" (and "reconciled"), for the careful reader will have noticed that he uses "hath reconciled" (καταλλάξαντος) in verse 18, precisely as does the later KJV. That he does not do so but chooses his own coinage based on the expression "at one" means that he wants to make a point about the results of God's reconciliation (further on such results, see also verse 19, "made agrement bitwene," for καταλλάσσων).

I suppose that I will need to clarify all of this sometime, but not today. Instead, I'll post a couple of excerpts from Robert Demaus's William Tyndale: A Biography, found online, which shows Tyndale's use of "atonement":

232 Tindale at Marburg

Christ, when He had fulfilled His course, anointed His Apostles and disciples with the Spirit, and sent them forth, without all manner disguising [i.e., as he explains it, neither shaven nor shorn, nor anointed with oil], like other men, to preach the atonement and peace which Christ had made between God and man.

. . .

Extracts from the Exposition 403

Matthew 5:14-16

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candle- stick, and so giveth it light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and praise your Father that is in heaven

Christ goeth forth and describeth the office of an apostle and true preacher by another likeness; as he called them before the salt of the earth, even so here the light of the world: signifying thereby that all the doctrine, all the wisdom, and high knowledge of the world, whether it were philosophy of natural conclusions, of manners and virtue, or of laws of righteousness, whether it were of the Holy Scripture and of God Himself, was yet but a darkness, until the doctrine of His apostles came; that is to say, until the knowledge of Christ came, how that He is the sacrifice for our sins, our satisfaction, our peace, atonement and redemption, our life thereto, and resurrection. Whatsoever holiness, wisdom, virtue, perfectness, or righteousness, is in the world among men, howsoever perfect and holy they appear; yet is all damnable darkness, except the right knowledge of Christ's blood be there first, to justify the heart, before all other holiness.

That's enough for now.