From: Ben Crick (ben.crick@argonet.co.uk)
Date: Thu Feb 17 2000 - 13:52:10 EST
On Wed 16 Feb 2000 (18:44:31), cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu wrote:
> [snip] And I
> may be altogether wrong, but somehow I think the queasiness or difficulty
> we feel about how to turn hILASTHRION into English may not have something
> to do with the utter strangeness of this conception of pleasing a deity.
I was always taught that the difference between an expiation and a
propitiation was as follows:
When a party is offended by some unacceptable behaviour on the part of an
offender, a "propitiation" satisfies the wrath of the offended party and
removes the enmity. OTOH, when the offender makes restitution in some
way, the *offence* or the crime is "expiated".
So the referent of a Propitiation is the offended party; while the
referent of an Expiation is the offence itself.
hILASTHRION is of course the standard LXX word for KaPPoReT: rendered in
the biblia sacra vulgata as /propitiatorium/ (but not systematically). E.g.
Exodus 25:17, Leviticus 16:14. Root K-P-R signifies a "covering" of some
sort. Noah's Ark was "covered" with pitch. The "mercy seat" of the Ark of
the Covenant was the lid or "cover" of the repository of the Tablets of the
Law, etc. It also means a bribe: a gift which makes the offended party drop
the case against the offender (1 Samuel 12:3).
In the Piel (double P) it means a complete covering or "expiation" for sins,
and a complete sweetener or "propitiation" to the offended party.
Just some thoughts.
ERRWSQE
Ben
-- Revd Ben Crick, BA CF <ben.crick@argonet.co.uk> 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK) http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm--- B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
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