On the specific structure involved in the actual acts of forgiveness and pardon, as depicted in ancient times up to modern times and from the Bible, and Westminster Confession of Faith.
In any time of the year and even through-out the history of mankind over the past six thousand years, the word foregiveness, has been the usual name for how to fore give a person a debt that another person owed you, either it was a debt of money, or a debt of harm the other person had done directly to you or to a member of your family. And in the traditional use of the word Foregive, from olden times as the word has been translated from the Ancient Greek, and Latin and Hebrew and German languages it was spelled as to Fore give; which placed it in the form of an announcement by the person being offended or hurt, or harmed either physically or financially or in marital circumstances, or against you or your estate in any way, that you are letting go of your right to have the person prosecuted by law or by family or by the town elders or by the clergy, or by the local and high courts of the land. And in our times the word has been shortened by the removal of the letter “e” at the end of the word Forte; by which we now usually read the word as thus “forgive, and forgiveness.” The meaning also has changed in its application from the olden days to our century to mean the following as the dictionary definition from the on-line dictionary says this about the word forgiveness:
To excuse for a fault or an offense; waive away your rights to restitution for harms done to mean pardon.
To renounce anger or resentment against the offender voluntarily.
To absolve from payment of (a debt, for example) voluntarily. v.intr. To accord forgiveness.
for·giva·ble adj. for·giva·bly adv. for·giver n. Synonyms: forgive, pardon, excuse, condone: These verbs mean to refrain from imposing punishment on an offender or demanding satisfaction for an offense. The first three can be used as conventional ways of offering apology.”
Where in previous and ancient times, including the times of Noah and Abraham, and since, of the Bible, the words “to foregive and or foregiveness” meant to allow the person the opportunity to escape the death penalty, or imprisonment, or a whip lashing, or from being exiled from out of the society in which every one lived; without giving up ones right to justice if it is required by the offended or harmed man or woman or parents of the child, or owners of the business, or cattle or land.
Today it means “shee'l be right mate,” “no worries, pal,” “its awlrite matey,” and so on. Which basically means that the person has given up their right to restitution's for harms and offences done against another person. Which leaves the person (you and I) open to other such attacks against us.
The action is one of having held and convened a judicial trial of the facts and of the supposed guilty party (person or others involved in such a criminal act against us), in a matter of moments with in the confines of ones home (or office - or place of work and so on) and to reach a decision about the person's guilt and as to the type of punishment we would require that person to under go, in reciprocation and repentance and restitution for the amount of damages we have actually under gone by their criminal actions. For example if a neighbour goes around telling every one who will listen to him or her or them, that we are liars, and thieves, and murders, and the police come around to investigate such allegations against us, then there are harms done to our name, and to our personal integrity, and character and the condition of our actual estate in the town, or village or city or neighbourhood we live in, and it can even effect our business in the area as well - A little mud thrown at us sticks for a while until it dries and then it falls off, and while it is stuck there it covers us with its stain. And we have to go along way in having to wash it off of us completely. But the harm done is that of a lie made by a very inconsiderate neighbour. And it is an act of some one bearing a false witness against us. Which is a criminal offense; which is punishable by the Law. At such times the amount of personal damage in terms of equity for a complete restitution in terms of damages incurred can be quite a lot, and can end up in the person being imprisoned.
As children our parents were taught by their parents all the way back to the days of Noah and Abraham and Moses and since, that we are allowed to foregive our brother or sister, or friend or relative for the pushing of them, or for the lie they told about us, or tripped us, or took our toys from us by force and so on, because such things were probably of a minor offence and not done with any sort of malice intended. Then as they grew older from the age of ten years and upward, they were taught how to discern what was a deliberate action of fault against us, and what was just a bit of playful misconduct by our family member or friend or stranger. And it was left up to their parents to rightly judge the situation as to whether a harm done was of a serious one, where by the offender had actually wanted to cause serious harm to their children or to others who were also witnesses. Then it was their parents who decided the nature of the situation and to whether or not the legal authorities were to be called in to arrest the offender and to have them charged with an actual crime and for a judicial judgement by the Law on the matter. And if their parents were not available then the grandparents were called in to sit in on the matter, as to whether or not the legal authorities were needed to be called or not (depending on the type of harm done to one of their children or grandchildren). And so on.
