PROPITIATORY (Hebr. happōreth, Septuagint 1237-1238). — A gold plate covering the upper part of the Ark of the Covenant (v.). Of indeterminate thickness, it measured two and a half cubits (= ca. 1.31 m) in length and one and a half cubits (= 0.78 m) in width (Ex. 25:17; cf. 26:34; 30:6; 31:7; 37:6).
At the two ends were placed two cherubim of beaten gold, perhaps kneeling, facing each other, and at the corners on the front side their gaze was lowered toward its central part (ibid. 25:18 ff.; 37:7 ff.), where the majesty of Yahweh was conceived as present (Num. 7:89).
Much has been discussed about the meaning and function of the propitiatory, often conceived as a simple lid for the Ark. It seems, however, that the name *happōreth* derives from the object used in the expiatory rite performed upon it on the Day of Atonement (*kipper* "to expiate," "to purify"); hence the Septuagint translated it substantially correctly with 1237-1238 (instrument, means of expiation or propitiation), which the ancient Latin versions rendered as *propitiatorium*. The Septuagint, which in Ex. 25:17 emphasizes the adjectival force of 1237-1238 (τὸ ἱλαστήριον), then habitually uses it as a neuter noun (ibid. 25:18-22; 31:7; 35:12; 38:5-8; Lev. 16:2, 13 ff.; Num. 7:89, etc.).
On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled the propitiatory first with the blood of a bull, then with that of a goat (Lev. 16:11-15). The importance attached to the propitiatory is also suggested by the expression *beth hakkappōreth* ("house of the propitiatory": 1 Chron. 28:11), to denote the Holy of Holies. Even the Epistle to the Hebrews (v.), describing the Tabernacle (Heb. 9:1-5), directs all attention toward the propitiatory, overshadowed by the cherubim (9:5).
The meaning of the rites performed on the propitiatory, as if it were the point of contact between sinful humanity and God, explains why St. Paul (Rom. 3:25) expresses the mediatory and expiatory function of Christ with 1237-1238. The Vulgate, with *propitiatorium*, obscured the probable allusion to the propitiatory of the Mosaic tabernacle.