The word se•li•cha is both requesting forgiveness, and the actual act of forgiving. This word appears only twice in the Old Testament:
‘But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared.’
‘To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him;’
As a verb and imperative, it appear 50 more times.
Being a major canon of Christianity, se•li•cha receives a good representation in the New Testament, though the word translates in many similar ways such as ‘remission,’ and ‘reconciliation.’ There are all in all, the word is mentioned 58 times in the New Testament, most of which are in various verb forms.
‘…in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace’
When said in plural the word is se•li•chot is a reference to a collection of biblical verses, prayers and poetic writings focused on requesting forgiveness, mourning over the destruction of the Temple and a prayer for redemption, read during the Ten Days of Repentance (the ten days between Rosh Hashans, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement).
In today’s modern Hebrew the word se•li•cha received a more mundane and casual use and it mostly means ‘excuse me’ ‘I beg your pardon’ etc. When I used this phrase once I remember receiving the reply: ‘you don’t need to beg, just ask!’
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