G2433 — ἱλάσκομαι (hilaskomai)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2433
Original: ἱλάσκομαι
Transliteration: hilaskomai
Pronunciation: hil-as'-kom-ahee
Part of Speech: Verb (middle voice)
Root: ἵλεως (hileos) — propitious, gracious, merciful
NT Occurrences: 2 (Luke 18:13; Heb 2:17)
First Occurrence: Luke 18:13 — "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner."
Hapax Legomenon: No (2 occurrences)

Lexicon Definition¶

ἱλάσκομαι (hil-as'-kom-ahee); middle voice from the same root as ἵλεως (G2436); to conciliate, i.e., (transitively) to make atonement for, expiate; (intransitively/reflexively) to be propitious, show mercy. The middle voice indicates the subject's personal involvement in the action — either the sinner seeking mercy or the priest performing the atoning work.

LXX usage is far more extensive than the NT: the verb renders H5545 סָלַח (salach) "forgive" 6 times and H3722 כָּפַר (kaphar) "make atonement" 4 times, plus occurrences in Exo 32:14, 2 Ki 5:18, Psa 25:11, 78:38, 79:9, Pro 16:14.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 40 — Reconciliation, Forgiveness
Subdomain: 40.2 — Forgiveness
Other words in subdomain: ἱλασμός (G2434), ἱλαστήριον (G2435), ἄφεσις (G859), ἀφίημι (G863), χαρίζομαι (G5483), ἐπικαλύπτω (G1943)
Domain: 88 — Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior
Subdomain: 88.10 — Mercy, Merciless
Other words in subdomain: ἐλεέω (G1653), ἔλεος (G1656), ἐλεήμων (G1655), ἵλεως (G2436), οἰκτιρμός (G3628), οἰκτίρμων (G3629)

The dual domain placement captures the word's two dimensions: the forgiveness/atonement action (domain 40) and the mercy/compassion disposition (domain 88).

Morphological Forms¶

Reference	Form	Parsing
Luke 18:13	ἱλάσθητί	Aorist Passive Imperative 2nd Singular — "be propitiated!" / "be merciful!"
Heb 2:17	ἱλάσκεσθαι	Present Passive Infinitive — "to make propitiation" / "to expiate"

The Luke form is a deponent passive imperative — the publican addresses God directly, requesting that God "be propitiated" toward him. The Hebrews form is an infinitive of purpose expressing Christ's ongoing priestly function.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
be merciful	1	50%
make reconciliation for	1	50%

The two KJV renderings reflect the word's two semantic faces: the mercy-petition side (Luke) and the priestly-atonement side (Hebrews). Neither rendering alone captures the full range.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Hebrews	1	0.3
Luke	1	0.1

The word appears only twice in the NT despite being the verbal root of the entire hilask- word family (hilasmos, hilasterion, hileos). Its rarity in the NT contrasts with its broad LXX usage, where it renders the core Hebrew forgiveness/atonement verbs salach and kaphar across the Pentateuch, Psalms, and historical books.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Sinner's Plea for Divine Mercy¶

Luke 18:13 — "God be merciful (ἱλάσθητί) to me a sinner."

The publican in Jesus' parable uses hilaskomai as a direct petition to God. The aorist passive imperative (ἱλάσθητί) functions as "be propitiated toward me" — the sinner does not propitiate God but asks God to be propitious. The request is set against the physical posture of contrition: standing far off, eyes downcast, breast-beating. Jesus declares this man "justified" (δεδικαιωμένος) rather than the self-righteous Pharisee.

2. Priestly Atonement for the People's Sins¶

Heb 2:17 — "that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for (ἱλάσκεσθαι) the sins of the people."

The author of Hebrews uses hilaskomai to describe Christ's high-priestly function. The present passive infinitive (ἱλάσκεσθαι) with the accusative τὰς ἁμαρτίας expresses the purpose of the incarnation: Christ became human so he could expiate the people's sins. The verse pairs the word with "merciful" (ἐλεήμων) and "faithful" (πιστός), framing propitiation as both a compassionate and a reliable priestly act.

Common Collocations¶

(With only 2 NT verses, co-occurrences reflect immediate literary context rather than statistical frequency.)

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἁμαρτία (hamartia)	G266	1x	"make propitiation for the sins" — sin as the object of atonement (Heb 2:17)
ἁμαρτωλός (hamartolos)	G268	1x	"be merciful to me a sinner" — the sinner as the one needing propitiation (Luke 18:13)
ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus)	G749	1x	"merciful and faithful high priest... to make propitiation" — priestly agency (Heb 2:17)
ἐλεήμων (eleemon)	G1655	1x	"merciful... high priest" — mercy as the disposition behind propitiation (Heb 2:17)
λαός (laos)	G2992	1x	"the sins of the people" — corporate scope of atonement (Heb 2:17)

Word Family (hilask- root)¶

G2434 ἱλασμός (hilasmos) — noun: the propitiation, the atoning act/provision (2x: 1 John 2:2; 4:10). The -μός suffix makes this the abstract result noun: Christ is the hilasmos.
G2435 ἱλαστήριον (hilasterion) — noun: the propitiatory place/object; mercy seat (2x: Rom 3:25; Heb 9:5). The -τήριον suffix denotes the place or instrument of the action.
G2436 ἵλεως (hileos) — adjective: propitious, gracious, merciful (2x: Matt 16:22; Heb 8:12). The adjectival form describing God's disposition after propitiation.

Hilaskomai is the process verb from which the entire family derives: the act of propitiating (hilaskomai) produces the propitiation-event (hilasmos) at the propitiation-place (hilasterion) resulting in a propitious God (hileos).

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ἐλεέω (eleeo)	G1653	both → "have mercy"	eleeo is general compassion/pity (13x); hilaskomai is specifically cultic — mercy through atonement/expiation
ἀφίημι (aphiemi)	G863	both → forgiveness concepts	aphiemi = "release/send away" guilt (146x); hilaskomai = "propitiate" — addresses the Godward satisfaction, not the manward release
καταλλάσσω (katallasso)	G2644	Heb 2:17 KJV "make reconciliation"	katallasso = restore a broken relationship (6x); hilaskomai = deal with the sin that caused the breach

Synonyms (Louw-Nida 40.2 — Forgiveness)¶

G859 ἄφεσις (aphesis) — forgiveness/remission (17x); the release from guilt that propitiation achieves
G1943 ἐπικαλύπτω (epikalypto) — to cover over (1x: Rom 4:7); quoting Psa 32:1

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms returned by search_relationships.py.

Hebrew Source (LXX Alignment)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	LXX Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
סָלַח (salach)	H5545	6x	15.77	Primary: "to forgive, pardon" — the highest-PMI alignment
כָּפַר (kaphar)	H3722	4x	10.41	"to cover, make atonement" — cultic/sacrificial contexts
מַעַן (maan)	H4616	3x	6.42	"for the sake of" — adverbial, contextual rather than semantic
שֵׁם (shem)	H8034	3x	4.20	"name" — "for thy name's sake... forgive" (Psa 25:11, 79:9)

The LXX translators used hilaskomai to render both salach (forgiveness as divine prerogative) and kaphar (atonement as cultic ritual), unifying two Hebrew concepts under a single Greek verb. This explains the word's dual character in the NT: the publican's plea echoes salach-type forgiveness, while the Hebrews passage echoes kaphar-type priestly atonement.

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 88.10 — Mercy, Merciless)¶

Strong's	Lemma	NT Occurrences	Primary KJV Translation
G415	ἀνελεήμων	1	unmerciful
G1652	ἐλεεινός	2	miserable
G1653	ἐλεέω	13	have mercy
G1655	ἐλεήμων	2	merciful
G1656	ἔλεος	25	mercy
G2436	ἵλεως	2	merciful, Be it far
G3628	οἰκτιρμός	5	mercies
G3629	οἰκτίρμων	2	merciful
G3627	οἰκτίρω	1	I will have compassion