K-P-R Explained

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K-P-R is a Semitic root, in Arabic and Hebrew rendered as K-F-R (ar|ك-ف-ر; he|כ-פ-ר).The basic meaning of the root is "to cover", but it is used in the sense "to conceal" and hence "to deny", and its notability derives from its use for religious heresy or apostasy (as it were describing the "concealment" of religious truth) in both Islam and Judaism.

Etymology

Georges Bohas and Mihai Dat, in a study of triconsonantal Semitic roots, noted a connection of X-p-r, p-r-X and p-X-r roots (where X is another consonant) with meanings like "break off", "part," "cut", "shut off", "remove", "break up", "hide", "expel", suggesting a Proto-Semitic biconsontal root pr meaning "cut, divide."^[1] It is first attested in the Akkadian verb kaparu ("wipe, smear"), with D-stem kupparu.^[2]

Amharic

• Qofere (am|ቆፈረ) dug

Arabic

Concepts

• Kufr (ar|كُفر), Kefirah (he|כְּפִירָה) - negation of the faith; disbelief
• Kāfir (ar|كافِر), pl. (Arabic: كُفّار) and (Arabic: كافِرين), Kofer (he|כופר), pl. Kofrim (he|כופרים) - "coverer" - unbeliever; "a person who hides or covers the truth"
• Takfīr (ar|تكفير) - excommunication
• Mukaffir (ar|مُكَفِّر) - the act which precipitates takfīr
• Kafare (Arabic) - sentence for a crime, for example lashes for adultery, used in religious issues
• Kafr (ar|كفر) - village
• Kaffarah (ar|كفارة); Kofer (he|כופר) - compensation for damages in Quranic, Talmudic and Mishnaic tort law.

Sunni Hadith

Arabic: كافر () will appear on the front of the face of dajjāl (ar|دجال).

Hebrew

• Kofer-nefesh (he|כפר נפש)."The price of a life", "a ransom", compared to Teutonic Weregild.
• The poll tax of a half shekel to be paid by every male above twenty years at the census, as described in Exodus 30:11-16.
• The spelling "Hebrew: rtl=yes|כופר" (with the stress on the e, which stands for Hebrew: rtl=yes|צירה which is a long vowel) can mean an unbeliever, similar to the Arabic kafir, see Apostasy in Judaism, Heresy in Orthodox Judaism
• The main meaning of the root Hebrew: rtl=yes|כפר is "atone". For example, in Hebrew: rtl=yes|יום כפור (Yom Kippur), the Day of Atonement.
• Kfar (he|כפר) - village
• Kaparah (he|כפרה) - atonement for a transgression, or compensation through monetary or spiritual means. See Kaparot (he|כפרות)
• Yom Kippur (he|יוֹם כִּפּוּר) - the day of atonement

See also

Arabic root k-f-r on Wiktionary

Notes and References

1. Web site: Recent developments in Semitic and Afroasiatic linguistics. 10 March 2014 . Lutz . Edzard . 9 . 23 March 2024.
2. Web site: The Meaning of כפר . 2019-12-20 . 2019-12-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191220223517/https://www.torahresource.com/pdf-articles/the-meaning-of-kafar-some-thoughts.pdf . dead . Tim . Hegg.