H3727 — כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporeth)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3727
Original: כַּפֹּרֶת
Transliteration: kapporeth
Pronunciation: kap-po-reth
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: כָּפַר (kaphar, H3722) — to cover, atone, expiate; kapporeth = "the covering/lid"
Occurrences: 22 unique verses (27 tokens) in OT
First Occurrence: Exo 25:17 — "And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H3722 (kaphar); a lid — used exclusively of the gold cover of the sacred Ark of the Covenant. KJV gloss: mercy seat (always).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
the mercy seat	18	81.8%
of the mercy seat	3	13.6%
a mercy seat	1	4.5%
the mercy seatward	1	4.5%

KJV renders kapporeth exclusively as "mercy seat" — there is no translation variation.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Exodus	16	1.3
Leviticus	4	0.5
Numbers	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1

Heavily concentrated in Exodus (construction instructions + Bezaleel's implementation). Leviticus 16 is the Day of Atonement ritual. Numbers 7:89 is the oracle site. 1 Chronicles 28:11 is David's temple blueprint. The word is absent from the Prophets and Psalms.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Object: Dimensions and Material¶

Exo 25:17 — "And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof."
Exo 37:6 — "And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof."

2. Flanked by Cherubim¶

Exo 25:18–19 — "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold... in the two ends of the mercy seat... one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof."
Exo 37:7–9 — Bezaleel makes two beaten-gold cherubim on the two ends, wings spread covering the mercy seat, faces toward each other, looking down upon it.

3. Lid Placed Above the Ark of Testimony¶

Exo 25:21 — "And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee."
Exo 26:34 — "And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place."
Exo 40:20 — "And he... put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark."

4. Site of Divine Encounter and Oracle¶

Exo 25:22 — "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony."
Num 7:89 — "And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle... then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims."

5. Day of Atonement: Blood Ritual¶

Lev 16:2 — "Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not."
Lev 16:14 — "And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times."
Lev 16:15 — "Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering... and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat."

6. Sacred Inventory and Temple Pattern¶

Exo 31:7 — "The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon..."
Exo 35:12 — "The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering."
1 Chr 28:11 — "Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern... of the inner parlour of the mercy seat."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָרוֹן (aron)	H727	10x (45%)	"the mercy seat upon the ark"
עֵדוּת (eduth)	H5715	9x (41%)	"ark of the testimony" context
כְּרוּב (kerub)	H3742	8x (36%)	cherubim on the two ends of the mercy seat
פָּנִים (panim)	H6440	7x (32%)	"faces toward each other" / sprinkling before it
שְׁנַיִם (shnayim)	H8147	6x (27%)	"two" cherubim on the two ends
זָהָב (zahab)	H2091	4x (18%)	"of pure gold"
פֹּרֶכֶת (poreketh)	H6532	4x (18%)	veil before the mercy seat (Lev 16)

Word Family / Cognates (כפר root)¶

H3722 כָּפַר (kaphar) — root verb: to cover, atone, expiate, make propitiation
H3724 כֹּפֶר (kopher) — ransom, pitch, bribe; something paid to cover/redeem
H3725 כִּפֻּר (kippur) — atonement; plural כִּפֻּרִים (kippurim) = Yom Kippurim, Day of Atonement

Synonyms¶

No synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H3727.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H3727.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Relation	Key Difference
כָּפַר (kaphar)	H3722	Root verb	The act of covering/atoning; kapporeth is the physical object (the "cover") at which atonement occurs
כִּפֻּר (kippur)	H3725	Cognate noun	The atonement ceremony/event; kapporeth is the ritual object/location where atonement happens

KJV translates kapporeth exclusively as "mercy seat," so there is no KJV translation overlap with other Hebrew words.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002003001005] Cover — search_relationships.py places kapporeth squarely in the cover/lid field, with neighbors such as H270 אחז, H331 אטם, H332 אטר, H642 אֲפֻדָּה, H925 בָּהִיר, and H1716 דגר.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Frequency	Notes
ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion)	G2435	16x (primary, PMI 9.75)	"propitiation cover / expiation place"
χερουβίμ (cheroubim)	G5502	6x	LXX sometimes translates the mercy seat + cherubim as a unit

NT bridge (G2435): The LXX choice of hilastērion (from hilaskomai, "to propitiate") carries the kapporeth concept directly into the NT: - Heb 9:5 — "the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat (hilastērion)" — direct reference to the physical object - Rom 3:25 — God set Christ forth as a "propitiation (hilastērion) through faith in his blood" — Christ as the antitype of the kapporeth

The LXX renders kapporeth as hilastērion rather than a word for "lid" or "cover," interpreting the object through its atonement function rather than its physical description.