More on Expiation rather than propitiation in both N.T. and O.T. understanding.
Thayers
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).
; 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.
1 John 2:2- Propitiation- Cambridge
The word for ‘propitiation’ occurs nowhere in N. T. but here and in
1 John 4:10; in both places without the article and followed by ‘for our sins’. It signifies any action which has expiation as its object, whether prayer, compensation, or sacrifice. Thus ‘the ram of the atonement’ (
Numbers 5:8) is ‘the ram of the propitiation’ or ‘expiation’, where the same Greek word as is used here is used in the LXX. Comp.
Ezekiel 44:27;
Numbers 29:11;
Leviticus 25:9. The LXX. of ‘there is forgiveness with Thee’ (
Psalm 130:4) is remarkable: literally rendered it is ‘before Thee is the propitiation’ (ὁ ἱλασμός). So also the Vulgate, apud Te propitiatio est. And this is the idea that we have here: Jesus Christ, as being righteous, is ever present before the Lord as the propitiation. With this we should compare the use of the cognate verb in
Hebrews 2:17 and cognate substantive
Romans 3:25 and
Hebrews 9:5. From these passages it is clear that in N. T. the word is closely connected with that special form
of expiation which takes place by means of an offering or sacrifice, although this idea is not of necessity included in the radical signification of the word itself. See notes in all three places.
Meyer's NT Commentary
1 John 2:2.
καὶ αὐτός = et ipse, idemque ille;
καί is here also the simple copula, and is not to be resolved either into
quia (a Lapide) or
nam.
αὐτός refers back to
Ἰησ.
Χριστὸν δίκαιον, and the epithet
δίκαιον is not to be lost sight of here; Paulus, contrary to the context, refers
αὐτός to God.
ἱλασμός ἐστι] The word
ἱλασμός, which is used besides in the N. T. only in chap.
1 John 4:10, and here also indeed in combination with
περὶ τῶν ἁμ.
ἡμῶν,
may, according to
Ezekiel 44:27 (=
חַטָּאת), mean the sin-offering (Lücke, 3d ed.), but is here to be taken in the sense of
כִּכֻּרִים,
Leviticus 25:9,
Numbers 5:8, and no doubt in this way, that Christ is called the
ἱλασμός, inasmuch as He has expiated by His
αἷμα the guilt of sin. This reference to the sacrificial blood of Christ, it is true, is not demanded by the idea
ἱλασμός in itself,[84] but certainly is demanded by the context, as the apostle can only ascribe to the blood of Christ, in chap.
1 John 1:7, the cleansing power of which he is there speaking, because he knows that reconciliation is based in it. [84] In the Septuagint not only does
ἱλασμός appear as the translation of the Hebrew סְלִיחָה (
Psalm 129:4;
Daniel 9:9), but
ἱλάσκεσθαι is also used = to be merciful, to forgive (
Psalm 65:4;
Psalm 78:38;
Psalm 79:9),—quite without reference to an offering.—The explanation of Paulus, however: “He (i.e. God) is the pure exercise of compassion on account of sinful faults,” is not justifiable, because, in the first place, God is not the subject, and secondly, the
ἱλασμός of Christ is not the forgiveness itself, but is that which procures forgiveness.
Better Translations of 1 John 2:2
New American Bible
He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
NET Bible
and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.
New Revised Standard Version
and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
New International Version
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Berean Standard Bible
He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
International Standard Version
It is he who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world's.
