The first occurrence
Make an ark of gopher wood; rooms you shall make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch. Gen 6:14
The primitive root
Strong’s H3722 כפר kaphar, a primitive root meaning, “to cover over.” The 3-letter root is kaph + pey + resh.
kaph כ, ך = the open palm, thus bend, open, allow, tame
pey פ, ף = the mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
resh ר = the head of man, thus head, first, top,
The story: Covering (kaph) the wound (pey, in the sense that a wound is an opening in the body) of man (resh). The Lexicons say it means to cover over or to make atonement. I cannot help but think of Noah’s two sons, who “covered over” their father’s nakedness and so preserved his honor and dignity. And whenever I think of Noah’s two sons doing that, I cannot help but think of Pro 17:9, “He who covers a transgression seeks love.”
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