Our modern Bibles are so close to the original text that it is almost miraculous. God has seen to it through the ages that what He wanted conveyed is in fact what is being conveyed to us in His Word. Very rarely, though, there was an original word that might have lost a little bit in the translation to our less detailed English language. One of those words was the Greek word, hilasterion, which we find in its full form twice in the Bible.

The first time it is translated as “propitiation” or “sacrifice of atonement” in our modern versions. This is used to describe Jesus Himself in Romans 3:25, “God presented Him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement.” In this verse we see Jesus as the sacrificial substitute for our sins. The other time hilasterion is used it is translated as what is commonly known as the mercy seat, which was the top covering of the Ark of the Covenant. This is seen in Hebrews 9:5, “Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.” This can be seen as the covering by mercy, again describing Jesus.

The reason I bring this word up, however, has to do with another word in our modern Bibles. First we need to know that our modern word “hilarious” comes from the root word, hilaron, from which hilasterion is derived. The point I am getting to is that the word “cheerful” found in 2 Corinthians 9:7 was originally hilaron. The verse reads in our Bibles. “God loves a cheerful giver.”

God was definitely talking about our monetary giving in that chapter, but I wonder, was God really telling us to be a cheerful or hilarious giver, or was He telling us He wanted us to be a more Christ like and more sacrificial giver? It may seem like a very minor point, but is it? I think it may be worth pondering.