Transgress ... expiate ... forgive

Three verbs have been swimming around in my head … to transgress … to expiate … to forgive.

The above three verbs have some historical connection to religion and spirituality … as well the scope(the intention in different contexts) of the verbs seem to embrace areas beyond religion and spirituality … for example … to transgress a moral norm.

Is there a “chicken and egg” relationship among these verbs … IOW is it always necessary that rules/laws/norms and so on be established before a transgression may occur?

Are there laws of nature in which the notion of transgression may occur?

When did the notion communicated by the verb transgression enter human consciousness?

Yes and no. I think most human morals begin as intuitions, and don’t become formally expressed as rules until somebody experiences having that moral transgressed. We see something awful; we feel the need to codify our reaction to it.