Kofer
Encyclopedia
Kofer is a Hebrew word, with several meanings:
- Kofer-nefesh ."The price of a life", "a ransomRansomRansom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
", compared to Teutonic WeregildWeregildWeregild was a value placed on every human being and every piece of property in the Salic Code...
. - The poll taxPoll taxA poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
of a half shekelShekelShekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
to be paid by every male above twenty years at the census, as described in . - The spelling "כופר" (with the stress on the e, which stands for צירה which is a long vowel) can mean an unbeliever, similar to the Arabic kafirKafirKafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
. - The main meaning of the root כפר is "atone". For example, in יום כפור (Yom KippurYom KippurYom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
), the Day of Atonement.