Atonement

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Atonement

Atonement in the larger sense deals with a common factor which is sin.
The definition is a making at on which points to a process of bringing those who are enstranged into a unity(Douglas, 107). It is a theological term which derives from the Anglo-Saxon. The word atonement appears eighty seven times in the Old Testament in the RSV Bible(Nelson, 55). According to Strongs Exhaustive
Concordance, which is using the King James Version, appears seventy seven times in the Old Testament and only once in the New Testament. In Leviticus, atonement appears fifty one times, more than any other book of the bible. In Numbers it appears seventeen times and in Exodus eleven times. The reason why it is used so much in Leviticus is that during that time period priest were intercessor's between the people and God. In the New Revised Standard Concordance, atonement appears eighty seven times. Out of those eighty seven times, eighty one appear with the word make or made. This would constitute that an atonement in these uses would cause the person who prepares the atonement to work at making an atonement. We find that in the New Testament we don't have to work to receive a pardon from our sins. The whole bible leads up to the cross and everything after the cross points back to the cross. Christ was the ultimate and final atonement for us.
In the Old Testament their atonement to God was to always be unblemished for the sake of perfection (Morris, 147). They believed that the perfect atonement would set them free from all their sins and thus make them clean in
God's eyes. The Hebrew word for atone is. It is used frequently for the process of sacrifice. It was thought that a man must make and atonement to God that was adequate to give to Him to pay for his sin. In
Ezekiel 16:63 atonement is translated to mean "forgive".
Words in the Old Testament are translated from the kpr word group in
Hebrew. The Hebrew word for atonement is Kaphar. This is the main usage of the word but there are other words that are associated with atonement. or Kaphar means to cover. The figurative word which is used quite often is to expiate or condone. Other words associated with Kaphar are to be merciful, pardon, to pitch, purge(away), and to make reconcile. Or Kaphar is used for a village that...

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Bibliography

George V. Wigram. The Englishmans Hebrew Concordance. Grand Rapids MI, Baker
Book House, 1980

John R. Kohlenberger III. NRSV Concordance Unabridged. Grand Rapids MI,
Zondervan Publishing House. 1991

Gerhard Kittel. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Vol. I and Vol X.

Grand Rapids, MI/London WM. Eerdmanus Publishing Co. 1964

J.D. Douglas. New Bible Dictionary. Intervarsity Fellowship. 1982

James Strong. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Nashville, TN. Thomas Nelson
Publishers. 1984

R. Laird Harris, Gleason L Archer Jr., Bruce K. Walter. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago, IL. 1980

Samuel Pri Deaux Tregelles. Hebrew and English Lexicon. Grand Rapids, MI WM B.
Eerdman's Pub. 1949

Colin Brown. The New International Dictionary of the New Testament Theology.
Grand Rapids MI. Zondervan Publishing House. 1978

J.B. Smith. Greek-English Concordance. Scottsdale, Penn. Herald Press. 1955

Al Novak. Hebrew Honey. New York. Vantage Press. 1965

C.C. Morris. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary Pt. 1. Intervarsity Press. 1980

John W. Ellison. Nelson's Complete Concordance of the RSV Bible. Nashville, TN.
. Thomas Nelson Publishing. 1984

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