2
Ne 2:10 An explanation of the word, “atonement”
Russell
M. Nelson
“In
the English language, the components are at-one-meant, suggesting that a
person is at one with another. Other languages employ words that connote either
expiration or reconciliation. Expiation means ‘to atone for.’ Reconciliation comes
from Latin roots re, meaning ‘again’; con, meaning ‘with’; and sella,
meaning ‘seat.’ Reconciliation, therefore, literally means ‘to sit again
with.’…In Hebrew, the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that
means ‘to cover’ or ‘to forgive.’ Closely related is the Aramaic and Arabic
word kafat, meaning ‘a close embrace’—no doubt related to the Egyptian
ritual embrace….While the words atone or atonement, in any of
their forms, appear only once in the King James translation of the New
Testament, they appear 35 times in the Book of Mormon. As another testament of
Jesus Christ, it sheds precious light on His Atonement.” (Ensign, Nov.
1996, pp.34-5 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon
compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 85)