was a usurpation, but to God, whose eternal and necessary morality also required a satisfaction for sin.”11 The redemption price in this case consists of a propitiatory payment of the highest value—the very blood of the Son of God. The term “propitiation” (ilastairion, ἱλαστήριον) in verse 25 refers to the place of expiation on the mercy seat in the holy of holies in the Jewish temple, which, “according to Exodus 25:22 and Leviticus 16:2 . . . is the central seat of God’s saving presence on earth and
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