To Forgive Is to Wipe Out

To pardon means simply to remit or wipe out the penalty and let the offender go free, but to forgive means much more than this. It means to give “for”; that is, to give some definite positive good in return for the evil received. Is this “a hard saying”? One often hears this phrase: “I can forgive, but I cannot forget.” That is not God’s way of forgiving. “I will not remember your sins” (Is. 43:25) is what He says. Why? Because He keeps right on giving “for,” giving us good for our evil. ~ Cady, H. Emilie. Complete Works of H. Emilie Cady (Annotated). Unity Books. Kindle Edition.

To give for.
It never occurred to me
that forgive is a compound word!
In the context of the etymology
it’s probable the for means completely.
And the quoted passage rings true.
that the giving is a right offered
to replace a wrong. In the Isaiah passage
God says, “I, even I, am he who blots out
 your transgressions, for my own sake,
 and remembers your sins no more.”
God keeps right on giving “for,”
giving us good for our evil.

isaiah-by-Michelangelo