The Use of the Hebrew Verb Kaphar

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 5
A few remarks on the way the sacred writers make use of the verb כִּפֵּר may not be without interest.
We meet with the verb followed by; in Lev. 6:3030And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire. (Leviticus 6:30) (23); 16: 17, which tell of the place; in Lev. 7:77As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it. (Leviticus 7:7); 1 Sam. 3:1414And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. (1 Samuel 3:14); 2 Sam. 21:33Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? (2 Samuel 21:3); Num. 5:88But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him. (Numbers 5:8), which speak of the means by which atonement could be effected. Where the one by whom it is made is the prominent thought, we meet with the verb in connection with בְּעַר to tell us on whose behalf he is acting-e.g., Lev. 9:7; 16: 6, 11, 17, 247And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the Lord commanded. (Leviticus 9:7); Ex. 32:3030And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. (Exodus 32:30); Ezek. 45:1717And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. (Ezekiel 45:17); and in 2 Chron. 30:1818For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one (2 Chronicles 30:18), where Hezekiah looks to the Lord to effect it.
But when the guilt, and the dealing with it, is the uppermost thought, we have used, pointing out on whom or on what the sin rested, which was to be covered, whether (1), the sinner's; (2), the place of standing; or (3), the victim to which the sin was transferred-e.g. (1), Lev. 4:20,26,31,35;12: 7; 14: 18-20; 19: 2220And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. (Leviticus 4:20)
26And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. (Leviticus 4:26)
31And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. (Leviticus 4:31)
35And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him. (Leviticus 4:35); Num. 15:25,2825And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance: (Numbers 15:25)
28And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. (Numbers 15:28); (2), Ex. 30:1010And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord. (Exodus 30:10); Lev. 16: 16; (3), Lev. 16:1010But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:10). Keeping in mind what is said to be the primary meaning of the verb, we can understand then its use in the different places referred to; and the force of Heb. 10:44For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4), Rom. 3:2525Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25), is felt. The sins of God's people in old days were covered by the blood, and so God passed by them.