[This post is something I have shared before, but I discovered more on the topic that I want to share in the final quote at the end of the post. My personal testimony of the Book of Mormon doesn’t hang on academic evidence. Still, I smile to see that Joseph Smith’s translation of these concepts in the Book of Mormon align with Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic meanings for atonement.]
A few years ago, we were taught by a visiting leader in a stake conference that every major writer in the Book of Mormon used the imagery of a hug to teach the Atonement of Christ, with words such as clasped or encircled. He challenged us to search for these passages. As I have studied, I have found other words, including clothed to convey the effects of the Savior’s Atonement. Here are some examples:
- Nephi, in a time of grief, pleads with the Lord to “encircle [him] in the robe of righteousness.” (2 Nephi 4:33)
- Lehi tells his family just before his death that he is “encircled about eternally in the arms of [God’s] love.” (2 Nephi 1:15)
- Jacob teaches that the “righteous…are clothed with purity, even with the robe of righteousness.” (2 Nephi 9:14)
- Alma quotes Ammon, about those who repent, “They are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love.” Ammon also says that the repentant are “snatched from their awful, sinful, and polluted state.” (Alma 26:15, 17)
- Alma, quoting Amulek, “[God’s mercy] Encircles them in the arms of safety.” (Alma 34:16)
- Mormon writes that if the people had repented, they would have been “clasped in the arms of Jesus.” (Mormon 5:11)
I don’t think it trivializes the Atonement of Christ to liken it to an embrace, being snatched from ruin, clothed with righteousness, or being held during a difficult time. The more I think about it, the more I want to share it.
Rich meaning is found in study of the word atonement in the Semitic languages of Old Testament times. In Hebrew the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that means “to cover over” or “to forgive.” Closely related is the Aramaic and Arabic word kafat meaning “a close embrace.”
Russell M Nelson, Daily Joy: A Devotional for Each Day of the Year, p. 178