EXPIATION. This word is not used in the KJV or the ASV but the RSV has “expiation” instead of the “propitiation” of the older VSS (see Propitiation). “Expiation” is there preferred because it avoids the idea, alleged to be contained in “propitiation,” that God must be appeased. It is argued that “expiation” correctly interprets the action of the Heb. verb כָּפַר֒, H4105, the root meaning being “to cover” tr. in the LXX by ἱλάσκομαι, G2661, and its cognates. As explained in the article Propitiation, there is no real ground linguistically or theologically for altering “propitiation” to “expiation.” Expiation is a necessary element in the work of propitiation, but it is not an alternative to propitiation. Expiation deals with sin and guilt in such a way that propitiation is effected toward God, and the pardoned sinner is restored to fellowship with God. The action of propitiation, therefore, is directed toward God, while the action of expiation is directed toward man in his state of sin and guilt. Wherever the action of expiation is present, the action of propitiation is always implied.

By expiation the guilty person, or rather the offense which renders him guilty in the sight of God, is covered from the eyes of the holy God who looks upon him in righteous judgment. This is, of course, no fiction, as though God were prevented from seeing what is really there. The sin is dealt with so effectively that it no longer remains as the object of God’s condemnation.

The OT presents this action of covering (כָּפַר֒, H4105) in several ways, usually rendered in Eng. VSS as “make atonement.” Normally it was the priests who “made atonement” by the offering of sacrifice. The range of its application can be seen in the account of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16), when atonement was made for the sins of the people (vv. 30, 33) but also for the holy place, the Tabernacle and the altar (vv. 20, 33), presumably because these also were defiled through the contact of sinful men. The verb is used frequently of the effect of the blood of the sin offering (4:18, 20, 30, 31 et al.) and of the trespass or guilt offering (5:6, 16, 18) and even of the burnt offering (1:4; 14:20; 16:24). The latter has been regarded as purely a worship offering, but it is clear from these passages that all blood sacrifice had an expiatory value. Summing up this use of כָּפַר֒, H4105, BDB (p. 498) says, “Underlying all these offerings there is the conception that the persons offering are covered by that which is regarded as sufficient and satisfactory by Jahweh.”

The Biblical presentation of the process of expiation shows that man has been taught by divine revelation that his sin against the holy God merits death, and that this judgment can be removed only if satisfaction is made to the requirements of God’s justice by the death of another in his place, usually that of an animal. Atonement is made for him, i.e., his sin is expiated by death. This fact appears even in instances where the animal sacrifices are not offered. In Exodus 32:30-32 Moses was willing to give up his own life in place of the people to make atonement for their sin (v. 30), although in fact his intercession proved sufficient. Phineas (Num 25:10-13) “made atonement for the people of Israel” by putting to death the leaders of this guilty action, thus turning aside God’s wrath and stopping the plague which He had inflicted on them. (For a discussion of other non-sacrificial passages where כָּפַר֒, H4105, is used, see Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, pp. 143-150.)

While the OT stresses the substitutionary character of the offerings by which expiation for sin is made, the phrase “make atonement for” combines the ideas of making both expiation and propitiation. Both are essential for restoring the guilty to fellowship with the holy God. In the NT the atoning sacrifice of Christ also includes both factors. Therefore the RSV rendering “expiation” is inadequate to express the full import of the reconciliation effected by Christ’s death and resurrection. “Propitiation” by pointing to the Godward aspect, also inevitably includes the manward expiatory value of His saving work. See Atonement; Propitiation.

Bibliography C. H. Dodd, The Bible and the Greeks (1935), 82-95; L. Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (1955); The Cross in the NT (1965).