כפר
to atone
‘to atone’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Piel verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
Stem
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem.
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself).
Form
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms 20 distinct
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 32 times (31%)
- Verb, Piel, Infinitive Construct 32 times (31%)
- Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 11 times (11%)
- Verb, Piel, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 5 times (5%)
- Verb, Pual, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 4 times (4%)
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 3 times (3%)
- Verb, Piel, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Singular 2 times (2%)
- Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (2%)
+12 more forms (12 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 103 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H3722 appears — 94 distinct verses across 16 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis 2 verses
- Genesis 6:14 וְ/כָֽפַרְתָּ֥ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Make an ark of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ark, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.
- Genesis 32:20 אֲכַפְּרָ֣ה Piel coh 1cs You shall say, 'Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.'" For, he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me."
Exodus 7 verses
- Exodus 29:33 כֻּפַּ֣ר Pual pf 3ms They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy.
- Exodus 29:36 בְּ/כַפֶּרְ/ךָ֖ prep + Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 2ms Every day shall you offer the bull of sin-offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it.
- Exodus 29:37 תְּכַפֵּר֙ Piel impf 2ms Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
- Exodus 30:10 וְ/כִפֶּ֤ר יְכַפֵּ֤ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms Piel impf 3ms Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh."
- Exodus 30:15 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.
- Exodus 30:16 הַ/כִּפֻּרִ֗ים לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר ptcl def.art + n c mp prep + Piel inf.cs You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls."
- Exodus 32:30 אֲכַפְּרָ֖ה Piel coh 1cs It happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin."
Leviticus 44 verses
- Leviticus 1:4 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
- Leviticus 4:20 וְ/כִפֶּ֧ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:26 וְ/כִפֶּ֨ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:31 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:35 וְ/כִפֶּ֨ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:6 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms and he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.
- Leviticus 5:10 וְ/כִפֶּ֨ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms He shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:13 וְ/כִפֶּר֩ conj + Piel wpf 3ms The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in any of these things, and he will be forgiven; and the rest shall be the priest's, as the meal offering.'"
- Leviticus 5:16 יְכַפֵּ֥ר Piel impf 3ms He shall make restitution for that which he has done wrong in the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 5:18 וְ/כִפֶּר֩ conj + Piel wpf 3ms He shall bring a ram without blemish from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn't know it, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 6:7 וְ/כִפֶּ֨ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty."
- Leviticus 6:30 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be eaten: it shall be burned with fire.
- Leviticus 7:7 יְכַפֶּר Piel impf 3ms "'As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it.
- Leviticus 8:15 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it.
- Leviticus 8:34 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs What has been done this day, so Yahweh has commanded to do, to make atonement for you.
- Leviticus 9:7 וְ/כַפֵּ֥ר וְ/כַפֵּ֣ר conj + Piel impv 2ms conj + Piel impv 2ms Moses said to Aaron, "Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as Yahweh commanded."
- Leviticus 10:17 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs "Why haven't you eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, seeing it is most holy, and he has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh?
- Leviticus 12:7 וְ/כִפֶּ֣ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms and he shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. "'This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female.
- Leviticus 12:8 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.'"
- Leviticus 14:18 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 14:19 וְ/כִפֶּ֕ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms "The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness: and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering;
- Leviticus 14:20 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
- Leviticus 14:21 לְ/כַפֵּ֣ר prep + Piel inf.cs "If he is poor, and can't afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil;
- Leviticus 14:29 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 14:31 וְ/כִפֶּ֧ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms even such as he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh."
- Leviticus 14:53 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean."
- Leviticus 15:15 וְ/כִפֶּ֨ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms and the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh for his discharge.
- Leviticus 15:30 וְ/כִפֶּ֨ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before Yahweh for the uncleanness of her discharge.
- Leviticus 16:6 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms "Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.
- Leviticus 16:10 לְ/כַפֵּ֣ר prep + Piel inf.cs But the goat, on which the lot fell for the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for the scapegoat into the wilderness.
- Leviticus 16:11 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms "Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.
- Leviticus 16:16 וְ/כִפֶּ֣ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms and he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness.
- Leviticus 16:17 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר וְ/כִפֶּ֤ר prep + Piel inf.cs conj + Piel wpf 3ms There shall be no one in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
- Leviticus 16:18 וְ/כִפֶּ֣ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms "He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull's blood, and some of the goat's blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about.
- Leviticus 16:20 מִ/כַּפֵּ֣ר prep + Piel inf.cs "When he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat.
- Leviticus 16:24 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
- Leviticus 16:27 לְ/כַפֵּ֣ר prep + Piel inf.cs The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried forth outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire.
- Leviticus 16:30 יְכַפֵּ֥ר Piel impf 3ms for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 16:32 וְ/כִפֶּ֨ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father's place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments.
- Leviticus 16:33 וְ/כִפֶּר֙ יְכַפֵּ֑ר יְכַפֵּֽר conj + Piel wpf 3ms Piel impf 3ms Piel impf 3ms Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
- Leviticus 16:34 לְ/כַפֵּ֞ר prep + Piel inf.cs "This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins." It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- Leviticus 17:11 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר יְכַפֵּֽר prep + Piel inf.cs Piel impf 3ms For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.
- Leviticus 19:22 וְ/כִפֶּר֩ conj + Piel wpf 3ms The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed: and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
- Leviticus 23:28 לְ/כַפֵּ֣ר prep + Piel inf.cs You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God.
Numbers 15 verses
- Numbers 5:8 יְכַפֶּר Piel impf 3ms But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to Yahweh shall be the priest's; besides the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him.
- Numbers 6:11 וְ/כִפֶּ֣ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day.
- Numbers 8:12 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites.
- Numbers 8:19 וּ/לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר conj + prep + Piel inf.cs I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary."
- Numbers 8:21 וַ/יְכַפֵּ֧ר conj + Piel wimpf 3ms The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
- Numbers 15:25 וְ/כִפֶּ֣ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin-offering before Yahweh, for their error:
- Numbers 15:28 וְ/כִפֶּ֣ר לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms prep + Piel inf.cs The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly, before Yahweh, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
- Numbers 16:46 וְ/כַפֵּ֣ר conj + Piel impv 2ms Moses said to Aaron, Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from Yahweh; the plague is begun.
- Numbers 16:47 וַ/יְכַפֵּ֖ר conj + Piel wimpf 3ms Aaron took as Moses spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
- Numbers 25:13 וַ/יְכַפֵּ֖ר conj + Piel wimpf 3ms and it shall be to him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.
- Numbers 28:22 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs and one male goat for a sin-offering, to make atonement for you.
- Numbers 28:30 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs one male goat, to make atonement for you.
- Numbers 29:5 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs and one male goat for a sin-offering, to make atonement for you;
- Numbers 31:50 לְ/כַפֵּ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs We have brought Yahweh's offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.
- Numbers 35:33 יְכֻפַּ֗ר Pual impf 3ms So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood, it pollutes the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him who shed it.
Deuteronomy 2 verses
- Deuteronomy 21:8 כַּפֵּר֩ וְ/נִכַּפֵּ֥ר Piel impv 2ms conj + Nithpael wpf 3ms Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don't allow innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of your people Israel. The blood shall be forgiven them.
- Deuteronomy 32:43 וְ/כִפֶּ֥ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms Rejoice, you nations, [with] his people: For he will avenge the blood of his servants, Will render vengeance to his adversaries, Will make expiation for his land, for his people.
1 Samuel 1 verse
2 Samuel 1 verse
1 Chronicles 1 verse
2 Chronicles 2 verses
- 2 Chronicles 29:24 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs and the priests killed them, and they made a sin-offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded [that] the burnt offering and the sin-offering [should be made] for all Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 30:18 יְכַפֵּ֥ר Piel impf 3ms For 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 is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good Yahweh pardon everyone
Nehemiah 1 verse
Psalms 3 verses
- Psalms 65:3 תְכַפְּרֵֽ/ם Piel impf 2ms + sfx pers 3mp Sins overwhelmed me, But you atoned for our transgressions.
- Psalms 78:38 יְכַפֵּ֥ר Piel impf 3ms But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, And didn't stir up all his wrath.
- Psalms 79:9 וְ/כַפֵּ֥ר conj + Piel impv 2ms Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.
Proverbs 2 verses
Isaiah 5 verses
- Isaiah 6:7 תְּכֻפָּֽר Pual impf 3fs He touched my mouth with it, and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven."
- Isaiah 22:14 יְ֠כֻפַּר Pual impf 3ms Yahweh of Hosts revealed himself in my ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.
- Isaiah 27:9 יְכֻפַּ֣ר Pual impf 3ms Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in sunder, [so that] the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.
- Isaiah 28:18 וְ/כֻפַּ֤ר conj + Pual wpf 3ms Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
- Isaiah 47:11 כַּפְּרָ֑/הּ Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 3fs Therefore shall evil come on you; you shall not know the dawning of it: and mischief shall fall on you; you shall not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly, which you don't know.
Jeremiah 1 verse
Ezekiel 6 verses
- Ezekiel 16:63 בְּ/כַפְּרִ/י prep + Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 1cs that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 43:20 וְ/כִפַּרְתָּֽ/הוּ conj + Piel wpf 2ms + sfx pers 3ms You shall take of the blood of it, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border round about: thus shall you cleanse it and make atonement for it.
- Ezekiel 43:26 יְכַפְּרוּ֙ Piel impf 3mp Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it.
- Ezekiel 45:15 לְ/כַפֵּ֣ר prep + Piel inf.cs and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel; -for a meal-offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 45:17 לְ/כַפֵּ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs It shall be the prince's part to give the burnt offerings, and the meal-offerings, and the drink-offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the meal-offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.
- Ezekiel 45:20 וְ/כִפַּרְתֶּ֖ם conj + Piel wpf 2mp So you shall do on the seventh [day] of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple: so shall you make atonement for the house.
Daniel 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, כפר (kâphar) means “to atone.” The King James Version usually renders it “make an atonement,” while modern versions prefer “make atonement” (Berean Standard Bible) — see the renderings breakdown. Spanning 94 verses in 16 books, it ranks among the moderately common words of the Hebrew Bible. Its uses concentrate in Leviticus (47% of all occurrences). Catalogued under 3 senses, its meaning is not single-sense. Dig into 94-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3722 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 94
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 94 distinct verses.
- 16 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #415
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 415 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 94 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 94 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 70 verses · 74%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 14 verses · 15%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 10 verses · 11%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 5 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Make an atonement 29×, Shall make an atonement 20×, He shall make an atonement 4×
- American Standard Version†: Make atonement 26×, Shall make atonement 19×, He shall make atonement 4×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Make atonement 34×, Will make atonement 14×, Shall make atonement 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Make atonement 23×, And 22×, Shall make atonement 19×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3722 across 102† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 37 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3722 across 102† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 42 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3722 across 100† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 30 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3722 across 132† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 24 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 0 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
כפר I (of foll.
כפר II (√ of following).
כפר III denom. (from ii. כֹּפֶר)
כפר IV (√ of foll., = dig? cf. Sab. כפר, vb. dig, n. cave, DHM Anzeiger d. Wiener Ak., phil.-hist. Cl., Dec. 17, 1884, quoted by EutNab 27
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. (of foll.; orig. meaning dub., but perhaps cover, cf. Arabic كَفَرَ cover, hide; > RS who thinks of Aramaic כְּפַר, ܟܦܰܪ Pa. wash away, rub off, whence כֹּפֶר, כִּפֶּר of washing away, obliteration of sin: on orig. meaning cf. now DrHastDB Propitiation; also Assyrian kuppuru, purify (and deriv. takpirtu) ZimKAT 3, 601. MorgensternSin in Bab. Rel. (MVG, 1905, 3) 44, 122. NH כִּפֶּר, Aramaic כַּפֵּר and deriv.; Arabic كَفَّارَةٌ an expiation (see RSOTJC 1. 438; 2. 381 Kn on Lv 4:20 RiBegr. der Sühne WeComp 335 f. SmAT Rel. Gesch. 321 NowArch. ii, 192 Dr Dt 425 SchmollerSt. Kr. 1891, 205 ff. LagBN 230 ff.)).
II. (√ of following).
I. vb.denom. (from ii. כֹּפֶר)—Pf. 2 ms. וְכָֽפַרְתָּ֫ בַּכֹּפֶר Gn 6:14 and thou shalt pitch it with pitch (P).
III. (√ of following).
IV. (√ of foll., = dig? cf. Sab. כפר, vb. dig, n. cave, DHM Anzeiger d. Wiener Ak., phil.-hist. Cl., Dec. 17, 1884, quoted by EutNab 27; Nö ib. comp. also Ethiopic ከፈር basket, measure; Nab. כפר cave, sepulchre, synon. of קברא Nö in EutNab ib.)
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
בְּקִיעִין
- B’kiin, (K’far) P’kiin, modern Fukin, a place in Southern Palestine between Lydda and Jabneh, residence of R. Joshua. Y. Ḥag. I, beg. 75ᵈ. Snh. 32ᵇ; a. fr.
כּוֹפֶר
- (b. h.) cyprus flower (v. Löw Pfl. p. 212). Shebi. VII, 6 והכו׳ Ms. M. (ed. והכפ׳); Nidd. 8ᵃ.—Chald. כְּפוֹרָא.
כָּפַר
- 1. to bend, arch over, cover; v. כְּפוֹר, כּוֹפֶר &c.
- 2. [to pass over with one’s palm &c., to wipe out, rub (cmp. חפף),] to deny, withhold the truth by claiming ignorance; to ignore (mostly with ב of the object). B. Mets. 4ᵃ הכּוֹפֵר במלוה he who denied having received a loan (and was refuted before being sworn, v. הֶיסֵּת). Ib. על מה שכ׳ וכ׳ he is sworn on what he denied. Shebu. IV, 1 עד שיִכְפְּרוּ בהן בב"ד until they declare their ignorance (of the testimony) before court. Ib. 4 כָּפְרוּ שניהן וכ׳ if both witnesses pleaded ignorance at the same time. Ib. כָּפְרָה הראשונה if the first set of witnesses pleaded ignorance. Ib. VI, 3 והודה … וכ׳ בקרקעות and defendant admits the debt concerning vessels, but denies it as to landed estate. Sabb. 116ᵃ מכירין וכוֹפְרִין they know (true religion) and yet are disbelievers. Cant. R. to I, 14 (play on הכפר, ib.) שכ׳ באו"ה He disowned the gentiles (did not assist them), opp. הודה; a. v. fr.—כ׳ בעיקר to deny the principle of religion (unity of God &c.). B. Bath. 16ᵇ; a. fr.—Snh. 39ᵃ א"ל כּוֹפֵר ed. (Ms. M. קיסר) an infidel said &c.
- (v. כַּפָּרָה) to say of a person, ‘May his death be an atonement for his sins!’ euphem. for to be angry at. Pes. 69ᵃ אל תַּכְפִּירֵנִי בשעת הדין ed. (Ms. M. a. Ar. תְּכַפְּרֵנִי) do not make me an atonement (saying תהא מיתתו כפרה) at the time of judgment (differ. in comm.); Ab. Zar. 46ᵇ (some eds. תכפריני).
- [to wipe out,] to forgive, atone; to procure forgiveness. Yoma 5ᵃ כאילו לא כ׳ וכפר as if he (the priest) had not procured atonement (in the proper manner), although he has procured atonement (for the person concerned); Neg. XIV, 10 כ׳ ומעלין עליו כאילו לא כ׳ he has brought atonement, but it is accounted to the officiating priest as if he had not done so. Ber. 55ᵃ … כל זמן מזבח מְכַפֵּר על וכ׳ as long as the Temple existed, the altar was the means of atonement for Israel, but now each man’s table must be the means of atonement (ref. to Ez. XLI, 22). Tanḥ. Vayishl. 6 כשם … מְכַפֶּרֶת וכ׳ as the altar brings atonement, so does she (the chaste wife) atone for her household. Kidd. 57ᵃ, a. e. מכשיר ומכפר, v. כָּשֵׁר I; a. v. fr.—[Ab. Zar. 46ᵇ, v. supra]. e.g. Ezekiel 41:22
- to be expiated; to be forgiven. R. Hash. 18ᵃ; Yeb. 105ᵃ (ref. to I Sam. III, 14) בזבח … מִתְכַּפֵּר וכ׳ through sacrifice … it will not be expiated, but it may be so by the study of the Law. Shebu. 12ᵃ אשם … שנִתְכַּפְּרוּ בעליו an animal dedicated for a guilt-offering … whose owner has otherwise obtained atonement; (Tem. III, 3 שכִּפְּרוּ וכ׳ whose owner has procured atonement &c.). Yoma 50ᵇ, a. e. המִתְכַּפֵּר he for whose atonement the animal is dedicated. Ib. 51ᵇ שאין הצבור מִתְכַּפְּרִין בו as the community is not to obtain forgiveness through it (the bullock); a. fr.—Y. Macc. II, 31ᵈ bot. יעשה … ויִתְכַּפֶּר לו let him repent and he shall be forgiven; Pesik. Shub. p. 158ᵇ; Yalk. Ez. 358; Yalk. Ps. 702. Tanḥ. T’rum. 8 נתכ׳ להם they were forgiven; a. fr. e.g. 1 Samuel 3:14
כְּפַר
- , to deny, renounce. Targ. Jer. II, 27. Targ. Y. Lev. V, 21, sq.; a. fr.—B. Kam. 107ᵃ בכוליה בעי דנִכְפְּרֵיה ed. (Ms. M. דנכפר ליה, v. Rabb. D. S. a. l.) he would have liked to deny the whole of his indebtedness, והאי דלא כָפְרֵיה and the reason why he did not do so. Ib. 105ᵇ ממונא קא כ׳ ליה through his denial he withholds from him value. M. Kat. 18ᵇ כַּפְרַת בה Ms. M. thou growest a disbeliever through it (when thy prayer is not answered; ed. כ׳ בה׳ thou renouncest the Lord); a. fr.
- 1. to wipe out, efface. Targ. Prov. XXX, 20.—B. Bath. 167ᵃ כ׳ ליה וכ׳ Ms. M. (ed. מחקיה) he erased the horizontal lines of the Beth (v. כַּכָּא). Ḥull. 8ᵇ למִיכַפְּרֵיה with which to wipe the knife off. Yeb. 115ᵇ מיכַפַּר הוה כַפֵּר he would have obliterated the mark. Gitt. 56ᵃ ואתי לכַפּוּרֵי וכ׳ and wants to wipe his hands off on this man (me), i.e. desires to put the responsibility on me; a. e.
- 2. to forgive, atone, procure forgiveness. Targ. Lev. XVI, 17; a. fr.—Zeb. 6ᵃ מקיבעא לא מְכַפְּרָא וכ׳ as a specially appointed offering it has no atoning effect, by implication it has; a. fr.
- 1. to be wiped out, obliterated. Targ. II Esth. III, 8.
- 2. to be forgiven, to be expiated. Ib. Targ. Deut. XXI, 8; a. fr.—Yoma 50ᵇ בקביעותא מִתְכַּפְּרֵי וכ׳ (Ms. M. 2 מִיכַּ׳) do they (the high priest’s kindred and fellow priests) obtain forgiveness by special appointment (so as to be considered fellow owners of the sacrifice) or by implication? Kerith. 24ᵃ מִיכַּפַּרְנָא באידך חבריה my atonement shall be effected through the other animal; a. e.
כֹּפֶר
- , v. כּוֹפֶר
כָּפָר
- כפר to be round, [circle,] village, country town. Meg. I, 3 פחות מכאן הרי זה כ׳ if a place has less (than ten persons of leisure), it is considered a country place, opp. עיר גדולה. Ḥag. 13ᵇ v. יְחֶזְקְאֵל. Eduy. II, 3; a. fr.—Pl. כְּפָרִים. Meg. I, 1, sq.; a. fr. [In compounds:… כְּפַר pr. n. pl., v. respective determinants.]
נִבּוּר
- (K’far) Nibbur Ḥayil, v. next w.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 48 distinct written forms H3722 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3722, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
- כפור kᵉphôwr H3713 bowl
- כפיר kᵉphîyr H3715 young lion
- כפר kâphâr H3723 village
- כפר kôpher H3724 ransom
- כפר kippur H3725 atonement
- כפרת kappôreth H3727 mercy seat
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 89 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 94 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 6:14
- Exodus 29:33
- Leviticus 1:4
- Numbers 5:8
- Deuteronomy 21:8
- 1 Samuel 3:14
- 2 Samuel 21:3
- 1 Chronicles 6:49
- 2 Chronicles 29:24
- Psalms 65:3
- Proverbs 16:6
- Isaiah 6:7
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
