UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to reconcile, to make things right with one another, reconciliation

Semantic entry: 40.1

Semantic domains: Reconciliation, Forgiveness

Subdomains: Reconciliation

Definition: to reestablish proper friendly interpersonal relations after these have been disrupted or broken (the componential features of this series of meanings involve (1) disruption of friendly relations because of (2) presumed or real provocation (3) overt behavior designed to remove hostility, and (4) restoration of original friendly relations){N:001}

Notes: Because of the variety and complexity of the components involved in reconciliation, it is often necessary to use an entire phrase in order to communicate satisfactorily the meanings of the terms in this subdomain. In some languages, however, reconciliation is often spoken of in idiomatic terms, for example, ‘to cause to become friends again,’ ‘to cause to snap fingers again’ (a symbol of friendly interpersonal relations in many parts of Africa), ‘to cause to be one again,’ or ‘to take away the separation.’ A particularly crucial element in terms for reconciliation is the assigning of responsibility for original guilt in causing the estrangement. Some terms, for example, imply that the individual who initiates reconciliation is by doing so admitting his guilt in causing the estrangement. This, of course, provides a completely untenable meaning for reconciliation in speaking of God reconciling people to himself through Christ.|In a number of languages the contextual basis for an expression for reconciliation is often found in terms relating to the reconciliation of husbands and wives. Such expressions fit in well with many contexts in the Scriptures, especially in speaking of reconciliation of people to God, since God is frequently referred to as the husband and the believers as the wife.