H3722 — כָּפַר (kaphar)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3722
Original: כָּפַר
Transliteration: kaphar
Pronunciation: kaw-far'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Occurrences: 102 in OT
First Occurrence: Gen 6:14 — "rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel — appease, make (an atonement), cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile(-liation).

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Piel	92	make atonement, expiate, purge
Pual	7	be atoned for, be purged (passive)
Qal	1	cover (with pitch)
Nithpael	1	be atoned for (reflexive-passive)
Hithpael	1	be atoned for (reflexive)

The Piel dominates overwhelmingly (90%), establishing the ritual/cultic sense as primary. Qal preserves the original physical meaning "to cover." Pual provides the divine passive ("sin is purged"). Nithpael (Deut 21:8) and Hithpael (1 Sam 3:14) each occur once.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
make atonement (various forms)	~73	72%
purge / be purged	8	8%
reconcile / reconciliation	7	7%
forgive / merciful / pardon	5	5%
appease / pacify	3	3%
cleanse	2	2%
pitch (cover)	1	1%
disannul	1	1%
put off	1	1%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	67	7.8
Numbers	19	1.5
Exodus	10	0.8
Isaiah	8	0.6
Ezekiel	6	0.5
Deuteronomy	4	0.4
Psalms	3	0.1
1 Samuel	2	0.2
2 Chronicles	2	0.2
Genesis	2	0.1
Proverbs	2	0.2
Daniel	1	0.3
Nehemiah	1	0.2
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Heavily concentrated in Leviticus (66% of all occurrences), with Numbers second. Together, the Pentateuchal ritual legislation accounts for 83%. Prophetic usage (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel) shifts toward divine forgiveness and eschatological purging. Absent from wisdom literature except Proverbs, and absent from the historical books except for cultic contexts (1–2 Chronicles).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Ritual Atonement Through Sacrifice (Piel — ~65 occurrences)¶

Lev 1:4 — "he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him"
Lev 4:20 — "the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them"
Lev 16:16 — "he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel"
Lev 17:11 — "I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul"

2. Purging / Removal of Sin (Pual — 7 occurrences)¶

Isa 6:7 — "thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged"
Isa 22:14 — "Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die"
Isa 27:9 — "by this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged"
Prov 16:6 — "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged"

3. Appeasement / Pacification¶

Gen 32:20 — "I will appease him with the present that goeth before me" (Jacob toward Esau)
Prov 16:14 — "The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it"
Ezek 16:63 — "when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done"

4. Divine Forgiveness / Mercy¶

Ps 78:38 — "But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not"
Ps 79:9 — "Help us, O God of our salvation... and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake"
Deut 32:43 — "he will... be merciful unto his land, and to his people"

5. Intercessory / National Atonement¶

Exod 32:30 — "Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin" (Moses)
Num 25:13 — "he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel" (Phinehas)
Dan 9:24 — "Seventy weeks are determined... to make reconciliation for iniquity"

6. Physical Covering (Qal — 1 occurrence)¶

Gen 6:14 — "shalt pitch it within and without with pitch" (covering the ark with bitumen)

7. Annulment / Cancellation¶

Isa 28:18 — "your covenant with death shall be disannulled"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חַטָּאָה (chattaah)	H2403	38x	sin offering as the means of atonement
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	27x	"the priest shall make atonement"
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach)	H4196	17x	atonement performed at the altar
עֹלָה (olah)	H5930	17x	burnt offering paired with atonement
קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh)	H6944	16x	atonement for the holy place/sanctuary
דָּם (dam)	H1818	12x	"it is the blood that maketh atonement"
סָלַח (salach)	H5545	12x	atonement → forgiveness sequence
טָהֵר (taher)	H2891	12x	atonement → cleansing sequence
עָוֺן (avon)	H5771	10x	atonement for iniquity
אַהֲרוֹן (Aharon)	H175	9x	Aaron as the one who makes atonement
מִנְחָה (minchah)	H4503	9x	grain offering alongside atonement

The collocations reveal a tightly structured ritual pattern: the priest (kohen) makes atonement at the altar (mizbeach) using a sin offering (chattaah) or burnt offering (olah), involving blood (dam), for sin (chata) or iniquity (avon), resulting in forgiveness (salach) and cleansing (taher) of the holy place (qodesh).

Word Family / Cognates¶

H3724 כֹּפֶר (kopher) — masculine noun: cover, ransom, bribe, satisfaction price (17x)
H3725 כִּפֻּר (kippur) — masculine noun (only plural כִּפֻּרִים kippurim): expiation, atonement (8x); as in Yom Kippurim "Day of Atonement"
H3727 כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporeth) — feminine noun: mercy seat, atonement cover on the Ark (27x)

Synonyms¶

H4229 מָחָה (machah) — search_relationships.py returns machah as a near-neighbor in the wipe-away / remove field, fitting texts where guilt is blotted out.
H3249 סוּר (sur) — the same tool links kaphar with removal/turning-away vocabulary, especially where wrath or guilt is averted.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H3722.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
סָלַח (salach)	H5545	"forgive"	salach = pardon/release from offense (God as exclusive subject); kaphar = the act/means of expiation that leads to forgiveness
טָהֵר (taher)	H2891	"purge/cleanse"	taher = make ritually clean (state); kaphar = the atoning act that effects the cleansing
נָשָׂא (nasa)	H5375	"forgive"	nasa = lift away / bear guilt; kaphar = cover / expiate guilt through means
כָּסָה (kasah)	H3680	—	kasah = cover (general); kaphar = cover specifically in a ritual/expiatory sense

LXX Overlap¶

Both kaphar and salach map to G2433 ἱλάσκομαι (hilaskomai) "propitiate" in the LXX (salach 6x, kaphar 4x), showing the LXX translators saw overlap in their atoning/forgiving functions.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002003001005] Cover — search_relationships.py places kaphar in the core covering field, with neighbors such as H270 אחז, H331 אטם, H332 אטר, H642 אֲפֻדָּה, H925 בָּהִיר, and H1716 דגר.
[002001001012] Clean — the tool also groups kaphar with purification vocabulary such as H1252/H1253 בֹּר, H1305 ברר, H1740 דוח, H2212 זקק, and H2219 זרה.
[002003003015] Innocent — a related field of cleared/blameless status, with neighbors such as H935 בוא, H1252/H1253 בֹּר, H1305 ברר, and H1460 גֵּו.
[002002003004] Non-Happen — a cancellation/averting field including H3711 כפה, H3782 כשׁל, H4513 מנע, H5186 נטה, and H5737 עדר.
[002002003002] Non-Endure — another removal/end field, with neighbors such as H4131 מוט, H6996 קָטֹן, H7114 קצר, H7116 קָצֵר, and H7138 קָרֹוב.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Count	PMI	Notes
ἱλάσκομαι (hilaskomai) G2433	4	6.47	Highest PMI — closest semantic match: "propitiate, make atonement"
ἀφίημι (aphiemi) G863	14	5.55	"forgive, release" — when kaphar implies pardoning
καθαρίζω (katharizo) G2511	14	5.18	"cleanse, purify" — when kaphar implies purging

The LXX does not use a single Greek equivalent for kaphar, reflecting the word's semantic breadth. The highest PMI goes to hilaskomai (propitiation), but the most frequent direct translations are aphiemi (forgive) and katharizo (cleanse). Contextual co-occurring words in the LXX verses include περί (peri, "concerning"), ἁμαρτία (hamartia, "sin"), ἱερεύς (hiereus, "priest"), and θυσιαστήριον (thysiastērion, "altar").