In the English translation of Ephesians 1:7 Paul appears to define
redemption as the forgiveness of sins.
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according the riches of his grace."
(see also Col. 1:14). The Greek word translated here and in Col.
1:14 as "forgiveness" is "aphesis."
This noun occurs 17 times in the Greek New Testament (GNT) and
is translated in the King James Version (KJV)
"remission" 9 times (Matt. 26:28; Mark 1:4; Luke 1:77;
3:3; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 10:43; Heb. 9:22; 10:18),
"forgiveness" 6 times (Mark 3:29; Acts 5:31; 13:38;
26:18; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14),
"deliverance" once (Luke 4:18), and
"liberty" once (Luke 4:18).
This Greek noun "aphesis" comes from the Greek
verb "aphiemi," whose root meaning is "to
send away" (see Matt. 13:36; "Then Jesus sent the multitude
away, and went into the house." See also Mark 4:36). This
Greek verb "aphiemi" occurs 142 times in GNT
and is translated
"leave" or "left" 52 times (Matt. 4:11, 20,
22; 5:24; 8:15; 18:12; 22:22, 25; 23:23, 38; 24:2, 40, 41; 26:44;
Mark 1:20, 31; 8:13; 10:28, 29; 12:12, 19, 20, 21, 22; 13:2, 34;
Luke 4:39; 10:30; 11:42; 13:35; 17:34, 35, 36; 18:28, 29; 19:44;
21:6; John 4:3, 28, 52; 8:29; 10:12; 14:18, 27; 16:28, 32; Acts
14:17; Rom. 1:27; I Cor. 7:13; Heb. 2:8; 6:1; Rev. 2:4),
"forgive" 47 times (Matt. 6:12, 12, 14, 14, 15, 15;
9:2, 5, 6, 12:31, 32, 32; 18:21, 27, 32, 32, 35; Mark 2:5, 7,
9, 10; 3:28; 4:12; 11:25, 25, 26, 26; Luke 5:20, 21, 23, 24; 7:47,
47, 48, 49; 11:4, 4; 12:10, 10; 17:3, 4; 23:24; Acts 8:22; Rom.
4:7; James 5:15; I John 1:9; 2:12),
"suffer" 14 times (Matt. 3:15, 15; 19:14; 23:13; Mark
1:34; 5:19, 37; 7:12; 10:14; 11:16; Luke 8:51; 12:39; 18:16; Rev.
11:9),
"forsake" 6 times (Matt. 19:27, 29; 26:56; Mark 1:18;
14:50; Luke 5:11),
"let" 8 times (Matt. 7:4; 8:22; 13:30; Mark 7:27; Luke
6:42; 9:60; John 11:44; 18:8),
"let alone" 6 times (Matt. 15:14; Mark 14:6; 15:36;
Luke 13:8; John 11:48; 12:7),
"let be" once (Matt. 27:49),
"let go" once (Mark 11:6),
"let have" once (Matt. 5:40),
"omit" once (Matt. 23:23),
"cry" once (Mark 15:37),
"lay aside" once (Mark 7:8),
"yield up" once (Matt. 27:50),
"remit" twice (John 20:23),
"put away" twice (I Cor. 7:11, 12), and
"send away" twice (Matt. 13:36; Mark 4:36).
[1]
This is the word Jesus uses in the disciple's prayer [This prayer is mistakenly called the Lord's prayer; it was given to the disciples when one of them asked Jesus to teach them to pray. (Luke 11:1)] as recorded in Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4. "And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debts." (Matt. 6:12; see also Luke 11:4) He also uses this word in his teaching on forgiveness (Matt. 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26) and on the blasphemes against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12;31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). Jesus also uses this word in the healing of the paralytic (Matt. 9:2-6; Mark 2:5-10; Luke 5:20-24).
This verb "aphiemi" occurs 79 times in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament called the Septuagint (LXX) to translate 16 Hebrew words. There are 49 occurences in the Septuagint that do not translate any Hebrew word.
There are two other Greek verbs in the GNT that are translated
in the English KJV as "to forgive": "apoluo"
and "charizomai." The first verb "apoluo"
occurs 69 times in the GNT and is translated only twice "forgive"
and in the same verse (Luke 6:37). This Greek verb is a compound
word composed of the Greek verb "luo" [to loose]
and Greek preposition "apo" [away, from]; thus
its root meaning is "to loose away". In the English
KJV it is also translated
"release" 17 times (Matt. 27:15, 17, 21, 26; Mark 15:6,
9, 11, 15; Luke 23:16, 17, 18, 20, 25; John 18:39, 39; 19:10, 12),
"put away" 14 times (Matt. 1:19; 5:31, 32; 19:3, 7,
8, 9, 9; Mark 10:2, 4, 11, 12; Luke 16:18, 18),
"send away" 13 times (Matt. 14:15, 22, 23; 15:23, 32,
39; Mark 6:36, 45; 8:3, 9; Luke 8:38; 9:12; Acts 13:3),
"let go" 13 times (Luke 14:4; 22:68; 23:22; John 19:12;
Acts 3:13; 4:21; 4:23; 5:40; 15:33; 16:35, 36; 17:9; 28:18),
"loose" twice (Matt. 18:27; Luke 13:12),
"let depart" twice (Luke 2:29; Acts 23:22),
"dismiss" twice (Acts 15:30; 19:41),
"depart" once (Acts 28:25),
"divorce" once (Matt. 5:32), and
"set at liberty" twice (Acts 26:32; Heb. 13:23).
The other Greek verb "charizomai" occurs 23 times
in the GNT and is translated 9 times "forgive" (Luke
7:43; II Cor. 2:7; 2:10 [3 times]; 12:13; Eph. 4:32; Col. 2:13;
3:13) and 2 times "forgiving" (Eph. 4:32; 3:13). The
root meaning of this verb is "to be gracious to" and
comes from the Greek noun "charis" [grace].
It is also translated in the English KJV
"frankly forgave" once (Luke 7:42),
"give" 6 times (Luke 7:21; Acts 27:24; Gal. 3:18; Phil
1:29; 2:9; Phm. 22),
"freely given" twice (Rom. 8:32; I Cor. 2: 12),
"deliver" twice (Acts 25:11, 16), and
"grant" once (Acts 3:14).
In the Old Testament of the English KJV the verb "to forgive"
translates the Hebrew words "salach" 19 times,
"nasa" 12 times, and "kaphar"
twice. The Hebrew verb "salach", which means
"to send away, let go", occurs 46 times in the Hebrew
Old Testament and is translated in the Old Testament of English KJV
"forgive" 19 times (Num. 30: 5, 8, 12; I Kings 8:30,
34, 36, 39, 50; II Chron. 6:21, 25, 27, 30, 39; 7:14; Psa. 103:3;
Jer. 31:34; 36:3; Dan. 9:19; Amos 7:2),
"be forgiven" 13 times (Lev. 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10,
13, 16, 18; 6:7; 19:22; Num. 15:25, 26, 28),
"pardon" 13 times (Exod. 34:9; Num. 14:19, 20; II Kings
5:18, 18; 24:4; Psa. 25:11; Isa. 55:7; Jer. 5:1, 7; 33:8; 50:20;
Lam. 3:42), and
"spare" once (Deut. 29:20).
The Hebrew verb "nasa", which means "to
lift up or away", occurs 652 times in the Hebrew Old Testament
and is translated in the Old Testament of the English KJV
"forgive" 16 times (Gen. 50:17 (twice); Ex. 10:17; 32:32;
Num. 14:19; Josh. 24:19; I Sam. 25:28; Psa. 25:18; 32:5; 85:2;
99:8; Isa. 2:9),
"forgiving" twice (Ex. 34:7; Num. 14:18),
"forgiven" twice (Psa. 32:1; Isa. 33:24),
"pardon" 4 times (Ex. 23:21; I Sam. 15:25; Job 7:21; Micah 7:18)
and by 68 other different English verbs.
The Hebrew verb "kaphar", which means "to
cover", occurs 101 times in the Hebrew Old Testament and
is translated in the Old Testament of the English KJV
"forgive" twice (Psa. 78:38; Jer. 18:23),
"be forgiven" once (Deut. 21:8),
"pardon" once (II Chron. 30:18),
"make atonement" 71 times (Ex. 29:36, 37; 30:10, 10,
15, 16; 32:30; Lev. 1:4; 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 16, 18;
6:7; 7:7; 8:34; 9:7, 7; 10:17; 12:7, 8; 14:18, 19, 20, 21, 29,
31, 53; 15:15, 30; 16:6, 10, 11, 16, 17, 17, 18, 24, 27,30, 32,
33, 33, 34; 17:11, 11; 19:22; 23:28; Num. 5:8; 6:11; 8:12, 19,
21; 15:25, 28, 28; 16:46, 47; 25:13; 28:22, 30; 29:5; 31:50; II
Sam. 21:3; I Chron. 6:49; II Chron. 29:24; Neh. 10:33),
"be made atonement" twice (Num. 5:8; Ex. 29:33),
"reconcile" 3 times (Lev. 6:30; 16:20; Eze. 45:20),
"make reconciliation" 4 times (Lev. 8:15; Eze. 45:15, 17;
Dan. 9:24),
"be merciful" twice (Deut. 21:8; 32:43),
"appease" once (Gen. 32:30),
"pacify" once (Prov. 21:14),
"be pacified" once (Eze. 16:63),
"purge" twice (Eze, 43: 20, 26),
"purge away" twice (Psa. 65:3; 79:9),
"be purged" 5 times (Prov. 16:6; Isa. 6:7; 22:14; 27:9;
I Sam. 3:14),
"put off" once (Isa. 47:11),
"be cleansed" once (Num. 35:33), and
"pitch" once (Gen. 6:14).
The English verb "to forgive" is defined in The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as:
"1. To excuse for a fault or offense; to pardon. 2. To renounce
anger or resentment against. 3. To absolve from payment of.
-intr. To accord forgiveness. [Middle English foryeven,
forgiven, Old English forgiefan (translation of Medieval
Latin perdonare, to pardon)....
Synonyms: forgive, excuse, condone.
These verbs mean to pass over an offense and free the offender
from the consequeness of it. To forgive is to grant pardon
without harboring resentment. To excuse is to pass over
a mistake or fault, usually a minor one, without demanding punishment
or redress. To condone is to overlook an offense, usually
serious, and thereby give tacit pardon."
[2]
The English noun "forgiveness" is defined in The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as:
"The act of forgiving; a pardon."
[3]
[1] Robert Young, Index-Lexicon to the New Testament, p. 60
in appendix to
Robert Young, Young's Analytical Concordance
(Grand Rapids, Mich: Associated Publishing and Authors, no date).
[2] William Morris, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of
the English Language
(New York: American Hertiage Publishing Co., 1969), p. 515-516.