[2.] The action ascribed unto him is expressed in these words,
ina Eig +d ikcdonsodas vas cmuprias, Which want not their Hi eat difficulty, the construction of the verb being inconsistent
with its native and proper signification. ‘IAdéoxojas is pro- perly and usually, in all writers, sacred and others, to “appease,” “ to atone,” “to please,” “to propitiate,” “to reconcile.” But the following word seems not to admit of that sense in this place, ra¢ dmapriag: for how can any one be said to please, or atone, or reconcile sin?’ Where- fore some, laying the emphasis of the expression on the construction, do regulate the sense of the verb by the noun, of the act by the ob- ject; and so will have it signify to expiate, cleanse, and do away sin, to cleanse the sins of the people, to do away the sins of the people. The Vulgar Latin renders the word “ repropitio,” “ ut repropitiaret ;” which, as Anselm tells us (and he hath those that follow him), is composed of “re,” “prope,” and “cieo,’—a barbarous etymology of a barbarous word. “ Propitio” is a Latin word, and used not only by Plautus, but by Suetonius and Pliny, and that to “appease,” “atone,” “please,” or “turnaway anger.” Most translations render it by “expio,” “ad expiandum peccata;” but the signification of that word is also doubtful. It is, deed, sometimes used for “to cleanse,” “make pure,” and “to take away sin;” but never in any good author but with refer-
VER. 17, 18.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. AT5
ence unto atonement, to take it away by sacrifice, by public punish- ment, by men’s devoting themselves to destruction. So Livy, lib.i.cap. Xxvi., speaking of Horatius who killed his sister, “Ita ut caedes mani- festa aliquo tamen piaculo lueretur, imperatum patri, ut fillum expi- aret pecunia publica.” “Expiare” is the same with “luere piaculo,” which is to take away the guilt of a crime by a commutation of pun- ishment. There may, then, be a double sense of these words ;—1st. To make atonement and reconciliation for sin, appeasing the anger and wrath of God against it; 2dly. To remove and take away sin, either by the cleansing and sanctifying of the sinner, or by any means prevailing with him not to continue in sin. Against the first sense, the construction of the word with rag apmaprias, “sins,” is ob- jected; against the latter, the constant sense of the word itself, which is not to be deserted. It is the former sense, therefore, which we do embrace, and shall confirm,
(1st.) The constant use of the word in all good authors of the Greek tongue will admit no other. ‘IAdoxowas is of an active im- portance, and denotes “ propitium facio,” “placo,” as we observed before, “to appease” and “atone.” And this is that whereby the heathen generally expressed their endeavours to turn away the wrath of their gods, to appease them; and then they use it transitively, with an accusative case of the object; as Homer, Iliad. i, 386:—
"Eye pars xerouny Ozdy iAdonecbar— “ To propitiate’’ or “appease God.” And Tliad, i. 443-445 :—
Boiby FY bepnv txaroubay
® “Pekar datp Auvaay Op iAawoausl dvaxnre “Os vbv Apysiowss roadorove xide tpixev-—
“ To offer a hecatomb unto Apollo for the Greeks, and appease. him who hath sent on them so many sorrows,” or “ atone him.’ And when it hath the accusative case of the person joined with it, it can bear no other sense. So Plutarch, “IAaoo Suofars hpwas: and Lucian, ‘IAdcare riv @eév, “to appease God.” Sometimes it is used with a dative case, as Plutarch in Public. ‘Inacswevog ra dda, and then it hath respect unto the sacrifice whereby atonement is made, and anger turned away; and is rendered “ piaculare sacrum facere,” “to offer up a piacular sacrifice.” So that the word constantly hath regard unto the anger and wrath of some person, which is depre- cated, turned away, appeased, by reconciliation made.
(2dly.) The use of the word by the LXX. confirms it unto this sense. Commonly they render the Hebrew 122, by it; which when regarding God always signifies “atonement,” and “to atone.” So the noun, Ps. xlix. 8, “ No man can redeem his brother, DYTON? JAY ND 52,—“ nor can he give to God his ransom,” or the price of his redemption, @&/Auoua. And unto the verb, where it respecteth
476 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. II.
the offence to be atoned for, they usually annex wepé. Exod. xxxii. 30, “ You have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up unto the Lorp, ®230N88i] 1¥2 MEIN va”? ina ebindowmmas wep rho cmapriag iwiiv,—* that I may atone for your sins.” And it isGod who is the object of the act of appeasing or atoning: ‘to make atonement with God for your sin” So Num. xxviii. 22, 30, Neh. x. 33. Once in the Old Testament it is used transitively, and sin placed as the object of it: Dan. ix. 24, HY TBIA, nal rod eEirdoacdas &diniac,— “to atone sin,” or “unrighteousness;” that is, ¢Siadoaucdas roy Oeiy wepl ris &diniag,—“ to make atonement with God for sin.” And so also they express the person with ef for whom the atonement is made: ’REiAdcacbas rep) abrot, adrav, Luxis adrod, Exod. xxx. 15, 16, Lev. i. 4, iv. 20, 26, Num. xv. 25, 26. And still God is re- spected as he who is offended and is to be reconciled; as it is ex- pressed, Lev. x. 17, nai eEirconode wepi adraiv evaver Kupiov,— shall make atonement for them before the Lorp.” And sometimes they add that wherewith the atonement is made, namely, offerings or sacrifices of one sort or another, Lev. viii. 17, And they well give us the sense of the word in another place: Prov. xvi. 14, “The wrath of a king is as messengers of death, dvip 02 opi eEsiAdoeras abrov,’— “a wise man shall appease him;” referring that to the king which the original doth to his wrath, 73752’, “shall turn away,’ that is, by appeasing him. In the use of this word, then, there is always under- stood,—[1sé.] An offence, crime, guilt, or debt, to be taken away; [2dly.] A person offended, to be pacified, atoned, reconciled; [8dly.] A person offending, to be pardoned, accepted; [4thly.] A sacrifice or other means of making the atonement. Sometimes one is ex- pressed, sometimes another, but the use of the word hath respect unto them all. And in vain doth Crellius pretend, ad. Grot. ad cap. vil. p. 360, that iAdoxneodat ra and iAdoxsobou wepf rivog, are the same, and denote the same thing, the former always denoting the person offended, the latter the person offending, or the offence itself. The one is to atone or appease another, the other to make atonement for another; which surely are sufficiently different.