Great Words of the Bible—No. 8: Atonement—Kaphar (b)

THE atonement is the heart of the plan of salvation, and the word itself is always translated from the Hebrew word kaphar in the Old Testament, where the services of the tab­ernacle are described as an ob­ject lesson revealing the man­ner in which our Saviour works for our salvation. This makes an understanding of the connotation of this word of great im­portance. In the previous article it was said that the English word had changed its meaning from at-one-ment to atone­ment, and that it was the latter meaning that aided in the abandonment of the Bible doctrine of the investigative judg­ment. Neither of these meanings correctly expresses the Hebrew original, as a brief consideration of the use of the word will show.

Kaphar Means "to Cover"

Kaphar is the Kal, or simple form of the verb, and kipper is the Piel, or intensive form. Although "to cover" seems to have been the root meaning, none of the trans­lations in the King James Version have any clear relationship to the idea of cover­ing, as is shown by this table. (Several other intensive forms have been included in the table along with the Piel kipper.)

Kaphar

Pitch ---------------------------------- 1 time

Kipper

Make an atonement -------------------70 times

Purge ---------------------------------- 4 times

Reconcile ----------------------------- 7 times

Forgive --------------------------------3 times

Pacify ----------------------------------2 times

Be merciful ----------------------------2 times

Appease ------------------------------- 1 time

Cleanse -------------------------------- 1 time

Disannul --------------------------------1 time

Pardon --------------------------------- 1 time

Put off ---------------------------------- 1 time

The explanation given for this diversity of translations and applications is that the Piel form of many Hebrew verbs is quite different in meaning from the Kal. But a close inspection of the Kal and Piel forms of the Hebrew paradigms at the back of a grammar will show that the only difference between them (except in the case of the participle, and the participle of kaphar in the Piel does not occur in the Old Testa­ment) is in the series of dots and other signs above, below, and in the middle of letters, which is known as pointing. Be­cause pointing is little more than one thou­sand years old, this explanation breaks down. It was between the years a.d. 600 and 900 that the Masoretes inserted the pointing, which now shows quite clearly the vowels and the "doubling" of the p which makes kaphar into kipper.

For two thousand years the Hebrew Bible was without any vowels, except for the use of certain consonants, as (Please see PDF for exact symbols) i might serve for u and o, ' for i and e, and * for a. The Dead Sea scrolls and much modern Hebrew printing are without vowels, yet all can be read without much difficulty. But the difference between the Kal and Piel forms then can be gathered only from the context. Context was no doubt a major consideration that gave the Masoretes guid­ance in pointing kaphar as kipper in all but one of its occurrences. It means also that any Piel Hebrew verb can only differ from its Kal form to the extent revealed by the context. That is, kipper can mean atone, purge, reconcile, et cetera, to the extent that these words represent to cover in the manner indicated by the context.

Supporting Evidence

1. When kipper is used without a prepo­sition in reference to the services of the tabernacle the object is never sin—as expi­ate, atone, or wipe away would require; but rather the tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the people (see Lev. 16:20, 33).

2. The preposition 'al is used with kip­per 61 times. It is from 'alah, "to go up," and seems to indicate in this usage "upon," "over," "above." Since 'al is frequently used with kasah, the common word for covering, it adds support to the argument that kipper still means "to cover." Again, the indirect object following kipper 'al in Exodus and Leviticus is never sin, but the sinner and the sanctuary.

3. The phrase kipper 'alaiu, "cover him over," is followed in some cases by min, "from," and chattah, "sin." Thus the sin­ner is said to be covered over to the sight of God from his sin, which is transferred into the tabernacle (see Lev. 4:26; 5:6, 10). In other passages individuals are said to be covered, with the result that they are cleansed from leprosy and other diseases

(see Lev. 12:7; 14:19; 15:15). Clearly the action is here upon the person, and it re­sults in his being separated from his sin or uncleanness.

4. The whole symbolism of the taber­nacle pictures the sin as being lifted from the individual and taken into the taber­nacle, there to remain until the sanctuary itself was "covered by the blood" and the sin brought out and sent into oblivion upon the scapegoat.

5. The correct translation of kipper in Leviticus 16:10 makes it impossible to claim that belief in the antitypical fulfill­ment of the tabernacle services makes Sa­tan a savior in any way. Instead of "to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilder­ness," the Hebrew reads simply "to cover him over [i.e., with sin] to send him to Azazel desertwards [send him away]." After the whole camp had been cleansed by the final work of the annual round of ceremonies, the scapegoat was made the vehicle by which the eradication of sin from the memory of the universe was sym­bolized.

Covered by Christ

The tabernacle service for the individual typified the covering of the sinner by the merits of Christ at the same time that the confessed sin was removed from the sinner and transferred by the blood or flesh to the sanctuary.

This is in harmony with the New Testa­ment and the writings of Ellen G. White:

"Ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Col. 3: 9, 10).

"As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27).

But they had repented, they had accepted the righteousness of Christ. They were therefore stand­ing before God clothed with the garments of Christ's righteousness. . . . Every sin of which they had been guilty was forgiven, and they stood be­fore God as chosen and true, as innocent, as per­fect, as though they had never sinned.—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 40.

God, looking upon these repentant ones, sees them as His beloved Son—innocent and undefiled because they have put on Christ. But only those who have become like Christ will see Him as He is and go home with Him (see 1 John 3:2). The sin­ner, therefore, must not only have been covered, he must have been changed. If he does not endure to the end, if he does not press on in the way of righteousness, all his righteousnesses are forgotten and he dies in his transgressions, which were not canceled but removed (see Rev. 3:5; Matt. 10:32; Heb. 10:38, 39; Eze. 18:24).

The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement. —Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 357.

But while God can be just, and yet justify the sinner through the merits of Christ, no man can cover his soul with the garments of Christ's right­eousness while practicing known sins, or neglecting known duties. God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place; and in order for man to retain justification, there must be continual obedience, through active, living faith that works by love and purifies the soul.—Se­lected Messages, vol. 1, p. 366.

A good dictionary will show that the root meaning of such words as forgive, pardon, and remit is to separate or put away. Lexicons, or Young's Analytical Concordance, give the root meanings of the Hebrew and Greek words for forgive as "to lift away," "to send away," "to put away." As the modern meanings are differ­ent, these words are often ambiguous. Sometimes they mean to put away sin, sometimes to be gracious to the sinner. The meaning must be carefully checked by clearer passages. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." What is the outcome? Not merely remis­sion of guilt or penalty, which is only a step in the process of salvation, but a cleansing "from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Why the Word "Atonement"

The word so frequently translated "make an atonement for" in the context of Exodus and Leviticus really means "to cover the sinner in religious symbolism," with the result that his sin is separated from him and laid up in the sanctuary to await the outcome of the process of mak­ing him "like Christ." The blood of the sacrifice represented the death of the sin­less Christ, which made it possible for God to forgive or put away the sins, leaving the repentant one clean from all unrighteous­ness. Tyndale and those who followed him failed to see this symbolism clearly enough to translate kipper as "cover." Instead, they chose or made up a word that ex­pressed the result of the process—at-one-ment with God.

This would have been harmless enough were it not for the pressure of the many who want to believe that an imperfect man can enter the eternal universe if only his sins have been confessed and canceled. This idea began so far back that in Moses' day the Egyptians believed that the Book of the Dead could help a bad man lie his way through the judgment (see The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 154). When paganism came into the church this belief resulted in such practices as confession and absolution, extreme unction, infant baptism, penance, and indulgences. Harnack, in his Outlines of the History of Dogma, page 428, says that one who be­lieves this is thinking Catholicly even if he is a Lutheran. Only a constant aware­ness of this pressure can prevent it from exerting a subtle influence upon the read­ing of the inspired writings.

What is known as the atonement con­sists of the covering of the sinner by the robe of the righteousness of Christ. When he makes a full and final surrender, this righteousness becomes his own. Thus all who remain in Jesus will become wholly new creatures, reborn in His image, and freed forever from the penalty, the power, and the presence of sin (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).