Definition

to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel

Etymology

a primitive root;

Where the KJV renders it

• appease
• make (an atonement
• cleanse
• disannul
• forgive
• be merciful
• pacify
• pardon
• purge (away)
• put off
• (make) reconcile(-liation)

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.