PROPITIATION
(gr. “hilasmos”, from the verb “to be propitious”).
Propitiation denotes, in the Scriptures, that aspect of Christ’s death in which he vindicated the holy and upright character of God, and in virtue of which He can be propitious, or merciful, to the whole world (1 John 2: 2; 4:10).
In He. 2:17 a related word (the verb) is used, “to atone for the sins of the people”, in the King James Version, old revision and 1960, or “to make propitiation” (rev. 77; V. M.; cf. “New Testament Greek-Spanish interlinear» by F. Lacueva, loc. cit.).
In Ro. 3:25 the term should not be “propitiation,” but “mercy seat,” as correctly translated in Heb. 9:5.