ἱλαστήριον (3:25): the Day of Atonement and other background
Says "God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith" (3:25): ὃν προέθετο ὁ θεὸς ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion). Heb 9:5 uses it for "the mercy seat." On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled blood "on the east side of the mercy seat" and before it (Lev 16:14–15).
The Greek Pentateuch uses ἱλαστήριον for the ark's cover, כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet, "mercy seat"): ἱλαστήριον ἐπίθεμα χρυσίου καθαροῦ, "a mercy seat, a cover of pure gold" (Exod 25:17; LXX 25:16); Lev 16:2 has εἰς πρόσωπον τοῦ ἱλαστηρίου, "before the mercy seat." The Mishnah says the high priest, with no ark, set the fire-pan of incense on a stone (m. Yoma 5:2). Josephus uses ἱλαστήριον of Herod's monument (Ant. 16.182), and 4 Maccabees (non-canonical) says Providence saved Israel through martyrs' blood and τοῦ ἱλαστηρίου θανάτου αὐτῶν, "their propitiatory death" (4 Macc 17:22, Alexandrinus; Sinaiticus reads a noun, "the propitiation of their death").
Implies Read with God's wrath (1:18; 2:5) and righteousness (3:25–26), ἱλαστήριον means propitiation: wrath turned away by the sacrifice God provides, which also removes sin.
The main alternative is Dodd's: expiation only, sin removed without reference to wrath, since, he argued, LXX ἐξιλάσκεσθαι (exilaskesthai) usually has sin or defilement as object.
Uncertain A mercy-seat allusion is probable, not established: LXX ἱλαστήριον names the kapporet (also Heb 9:5), and "in His blood" fits the Day of Atonement. The alternative is a general "means of propitiation": the word lacks the article, and the mercy-seat reading makes Christ both place and victim.
Claims
- SaysRom 3:25 says God presented Christ as a ἱλαστήριον in his blood through faith; Heb 9:5 uses the word for the mercy seat; Lev 16:14–15 has the high priest sprinkle blood on and before the mercy seat on the Day of Atonement.
- ImpliesRom 3:25–26, read with 1:18 and 2:5, implies that ἱλαστήριον means propitiation, God's wrath turned away by the sacrifice he provides, which also removes sin; Dodd's expiation-only reading is the main alternative.
- UncertainWhether Rom 3:25 alludes to the mercy seat (kapporet): probable, not established, since LXX ἱλαστήριον names the kapporet (also Heb 9:5) and 'in His blood' fits the Day of Atonement; the alternative is a general 'means of propitiation', since the word lacks the article and the mercy-seat reading makes Christ both place and victim.
Citations
- SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Rom 3:25
- BSB public domain Rom 1:18; 2:5; 3:25–26; Heb 9:5; Lev 16:14–15; Exod 25:17
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Exod 25:17; Lev 16:2: כַּפֹּרֶת (lexical form, no cantillation; Exod 25:17 has כַפֹּרֶת without dagesh after the verb; Lev 16:2 הַכַּפֹּרֶת)
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Exod 25:16 (MT/ENG 25:17), LXX checked against Swete scan, vol. 1 (1901), p. 153; Lev 16:2, LXX checked against Swete scan, vol. 1, p. 222; 4 Macc 17:22 (text of A, adjective: τοῦ ἱλαστηρίου θανάτου αὐτῶν; apparatus "θανατου] pr του ℵ"), LXX checked against Swete scan, vol. 3 (1912), p. 760. English for the Exod 25:16, Lev 16:2, and 4 Macc 17:22 (A) Greek: team rendering of Swete
- Mishnah (Vilna 1913, Sefaria) public domain m. Yoma 5:2 (paraphrased from the Hebrew)
- Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 16.182 (Whiston 16.7.1); Greek ἱλαστήριον (μνῆμα) checked in Niese's text (Perseus)
- APOT public domain vol. 2: 4 Macc 17:22 (trans. Townshend, matching the noun reading of ℵ), p. 683 (checked on the page image)
- 🔒︎ Dodd, Romans (MNTC) Copyrighted on 3:25 (by reference)
- 🔒︎ Dodd, 'Ἱλάσκεσθαι' (JTS 1931) Copyrighted JTS 32 (1931) 352–360, on ἐξιλάσκεσθαι in the LXX (by reference; not opened)
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-10-30
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