כַּפָּרָה

“Atonement” in Hebrew is Kapparah (כַּפָּרָה), pronounced “ka-pa-RAH.” Kapparah comes from the root כ-פ-ר (kaf-pe-resh), meaning 'to cover, to atone.' Some scholars connect it to 'kofer' (ransom) and to the pitch that covered Noah's ark (Genesis 6:14). The kapporet (mercy seat) atop the Ark of the Covenant shares this root — it was the place where atonement was made.

Kapparah (כַּפָּרָה) means “Atonement, covering, expiation” in Biblical Hebrew. The root k-p-r appears over 150 times in the Hebrew Bible. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the annual observance (Leviticus 16). The kapporet (mercy seat) in Exodus 25:17 is where God's presence dwelt and where blood was sprinkled. Leviticus 17:11 establishes that blood makes atonement for the soul.

Kapparah is pronounced “ka-pa-RAH.” The word comes from the Hebrew root כ-פ-ר.

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the holiest day in the Jewish year, described in Leviticus 16. It's a day of fasting, prayer, and repentance when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies to make kapparah for all Israel's sins. Two goats were used: one sacrificed as a sin offering, and the other — the 'scapegoat' (azazel) — sent into the wilderness bearing the people's sins. Christians see both goats as pointing to Jesus, who both paid the penalty and carried sin away forever.

The kapporet was the golden lid atop the Ark of the Covenant, flanked by two cherubim (Exodus 25:17-22). It was the most sacred spot on earth — where God's presence visibly dwelt between the cherubim. Once a year on Yom Kippur, the High Priest sprinkled sacrificial blood on the kapporet. The same Hebrew root for 'mercy seat' and 'atonement' (k-p-r) reveals that God's throne of judgment becomes a throne of mercy through the covering of blood.

Hebrews 9-10 teaches that the entire Yom Kippur ritual was a shadow of Christ's work. Just as the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year with animal blood, Jesus entered heaven itself with His own blood, making atonement once for all (Hebrews 9:11-12). The repetition of Old Testament sacrifices showed they were incomplete; Jesus' single sacrifice accomplished permanent kapparah.