Kofer
/ˈkoʊ.fər/noun
A heretic or person who denies God, especially in Jewish theological usage.
Did you know?Kofer comes from the Hebrew root כפר, whose broader family also produced terms connected with atonement and Yom Kippur, creating a striking linguistic tension between denial and reconciliation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Semitic
*k-p-r
“A root associated with covering, concealing, or removing; later Hebrew developed distinct theological senses from it.”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
כָּפַר (kāpar)
“To cover, purge, ransom, or make atonement; a related Hebrew root also developed the sense of denying or rejecting.”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
כּוֹפֵר (kōfēr)
“A person who denies or rejects, particularly one rejecting religious belief; the same form can also refer to a ransom in another lexical sense.”
Rabbinic Hebrew
Mishnaic Hebrew
כּוֹפֵר (kōfēr)
“A heretic or denier of fundamental Jewish beliefs.”
Modern English
English
kofer
“A Jewish theological loanword meaning heretic or denier of God.”
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