Define

• Hebrew: סְלִיחָה (selichah) – the act of pardoning or lifting away guilt and punishment resulting from disobedience to God’s covenant; נָשָׂא עָוֹן (nasa avon) – “to bear/carry away iniquity” so that the consequence (judgment, exile, death) is not enforced.
• Greek: ἄφεσις (aphesis) – release or remission of sins and their penalties (e.g., debt, bondage, curse) caused by transgression; παρίημι (pariēmi) – “to let go/pass over” guilt (Rom 3:25).

Related words

• Atonement
• Atonement
• Sin

Additional Info

• Pattern: Disobedience → guilt (עָוֹן) + consequence (death, exile, curse; Deut 28:15–68) → confession + atonement → forgiveness → restoration.
• Conditional in Torah: Forgiveness tied to repentance and sacrifice (Lev 4:20; 5:10; Num 15:28; 2 Chr 7:14).
• Unconditional in promise: God forgives for His name’s sake even when Israel cannot atone (Isa 43:25; Ezek 36:22–32).
• Scope:
  • Individual (Ps 32:1–5; 51:1–4; 130:4).
  • National (Lev 26:40–42; 1 Kgs 8:46–50; Dan 9:19).
  • Eschatological (Jer 31:34; 33:8; 50:20 – “iniquity not found”).
• Means:
  • Day of Atonement (Lev 16:30; 23:28).
  • God’s mercy (Exod 34:6–7; Num 14:18–20).
  • Future new covenant (Jer 31:31–34; fulfilled in Christ, Heb 8:12; 10:17).

Connections

• Scapegoat: Lev 16:21–22 – sins confessed, transferred, carried away into wilderness; consequence removed.
• Exodus: Exod 34:6–9 – Moses pleads God’s forgiveness after golden calf; basis for covenant renewal.
• Exile and return: 1 Kgs 8:46–53 (Solomon’s prayer); Ps 106:45–46 – God remembers covenant, forgives, restores from captivity.
• New covenant: Jer 31:34 – “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more”; quoted in Heb 8:12; 10:17.
• Christ’s blood: Matt 26:28 – “poured out for many for the forgiveness (ἄφεσις) of sins”; Col 1:14; Eph 1:7 – redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of trespasses.