Original Word: ἱλασμός
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: hilasmos
Pronunciation: hē-läs-mos'
Phonetic Spelling: (hil-as-mos')
KJV: propitiation
NASB: propitiation
Word Origin: [(not given)]

1. atonement
2. (concretely) an expiator

propitiation, sin offering

Atonement, i.e. (concretely) an expiator -- propitiation.

2434 hilasmós – properly, propitiation; an offering to appease (satisfy) an angry, offended party. 2434 (hilasmós) is only used twice (1 Jn 2:2, 4:10) – both times of Christ's atoning blood that appeases God's wrath, on all confessed sin. By the sacrifice of Himself, Jesus Christ provided the ultimate 2434 /hilasmós ("propitiation").

Word Origin
from hilaskomai
Definition
propitiation
NASB Translation
propitiation (2).

STRONGS NT 2434: ἱλασμός

ἱλασμός, ἱλασμοῦ, ὁ (ἱλάσκομαι);

1. an appeasing, propitiating, Vulg.propitiatio (Plutarch, de sera num. vind. c. 17; plural joined with καθαρμοι, Plutarch, Sol. 12; with the genitive of the object τῶν θεῶν, the Orphica Arg. 39; Plutarch, Fab. 18; θεῶν μῆνιν ἱλασμοῦ καί χαριστηριων δεομένην, vit. Camill. 7 at the end; ποιεῖσθαι ἱλασμόν, of a priest offering an expiatory sacrifice, 2 Macc. 3:33).

2. in Alex. usage the means of appeasing, a propitiation: Philo, alleg. leg. 3: § 61; προσοίσουσιν ἱλασμόν, for חַטָּאת, Ezekiel 44:27; περί τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, of Christ, 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10 (κριός τοῦ ἱλασμοῦ, Numbers 5:8; (cf. ἡμέρα τοῦ ἱλασμοῦ, Leviticus 25:9); also for סְלִיחָה, forgiveness, Psalm 129:4 (); Daniel 9:9, Theod.). (Cf. Trench, § lxxvii.)

Meaning and Background

Strong’s Greek 2434 denotes the divinely-provided means by which God’s righteous wrath against sin is averted and fellowship with Him is restored. It presupposes both the holiness of God, which cannot ignore sin, and His love, which has made a way for sinners to be reconciled without compromising His justice.

Usage in the Septuagint and Second-Temple Context

In the Greek Old Testament the cognate noun is frequently linked to the sin-offering prescribed in Leviticus (for example, Leviticus 25:9 LXX), underscoring two ideas: (1) sin incurs liability before God, and (2) a God-appointed sacrifice removes that liability. Jewish writers between Malachi and Matthew adopted the term to describe the annual Day of Atonement as well as daily Temple offerings, preparing first-century readers to understand the concept as satisfaction of divine justice rather than mere appeasement of a capricious deity.

New Testament Occurrences

The Holy Spirit employs the word only twice, both in the First Epistle of John:
• 1 John 2:2 – “He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
• 1 John 4:10 – “In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

John’s deliberate use in a pastoral epistle rather than a doctrinal treatise signals that atonement is foundational for Christian assurance and fellowship (1 John 1:7; 3:16).

Theological Significance

1. Divine Initiative: God “sent His Son,” revealing that propitiation originates in divine love, not human effort.
2. Substitutionary Focus: The atoning sacrifice is personal—“He Himself”—showing Christ actively bearing the penalty due to sinners (Isaiah 53:6 echoed).
3. Universality: “For the whole world” affirms the sufficiency of Christ’s death for all people, while other Johannine passages maintain the necessity of personal faith (John 3:18).
4. Continuity with the Old Covenant: The sacrifice of Jesus fulfills, not nullifies, the sacrificial types and shadows, providing the once-for-all reality that animal blood could never finally achieve (Hebrews 10:1-14).

Relationship to Other Atonement Terms

• Hilasterion (Romans 3:25) points to the place or medium—figuratively the “mercy seat”—where propitiation occurs.
• Hilaskomai (Hebrews 2:17) describes the act of making propitiation.

Hilasmos, therefore, emphasizes the sacrificial victim itself, integrating the place and the act into the person of Christ.

Pastoral and Ministerial Applications

1. Assurance of Salvation: Believers crippled by guilt can rest in an objective, finished atonement (1 John 1:9–2:2).
2. Motivation for Love: Since God loved at such cost, the redeemed must love “in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18).
3. Evangelistic Appeal: The universal provision grounds the gospel offer to every creature (2 Corinthians 5:20).
4. Worship and Communion: The Lord’s Table proclaims the once-for-all hilasmos while fostering ongoing self-examination and gratitude (1 Corinthians 11:26-28).
5. Advocacy and Intercession: Linked with Christ’s role as Paraklētos (1 John 2:1), propitiation assures ongoing cleansing when believers sin (Hebrews 7:25).

Historical Theological Reflection

Early church fathers such as Athanasius highlighted propitiation to defend the incarnation’s necessity: only God could save, yet only man must pay the debt, thus the God-man achieves hilasmos. Reformers reclaimed the term to emphasize penal substitution over the medieval view of repeated sacrificial oblations. Contemporary orthodox theology continues to affirm hilasmos as essential to the gospel, resisting both moral-influence and governmental theories that minimize substitution and wrath.

Conclusion

Strong’s 2434 encapsulates the heart of the gospel: Jesus Christ, out of the Father’s love, voluntarily became the decisive sacrifice that satisfies divine justice and secures eternal fellowship for all who believe. This truth supplies the bedrock for Christian faith, worship, mission, and hope.

ιλασμοί ιλασμον ιλασμόν ἱλασμὸν ιλασμος ιλασμός ἱλασμός ιλασμού ιλασμόυ hilasmon hilasmòn hilasmos hilasmós ilasmon ilasmosInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts