ATONEMENT FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT AND AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES

Atonement is a theological term in most world religions. It is a rite performed to atone, that is, act in a formal way of showing remorse for a wrong done, be it against God, deity or human. Each religion has its various forms and ceremonies associated with rituals of atonement. The Hebrew yom Kippur ? ?????? ??’ refers to the Jewish Day of Atonement. It was the day of coverings or propitiations-(Lev.23:27-28). It is rendered in the LXX as ημερα Єεξίλλσμον τη ημερα του ίλσμου- Day of Atonement to make atonement for you (Lev.25:9). It is fully discussed in Leviticus 16.It was the day the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the nation Israel. It is significant to note that the annual Day of Atonement is the only fast day prescribed in the Torah as set forth in Leviticus 16. The methodology adopted for this study is historical and textual hermeneutics. It is a textual exegesis of the literary materials on the subject. The study provided a comparative perspective of the Old Testament ritual ceremony and the African Traditional cultural phenomenon, with the objective of evaluation of the fundamental unquantifiable significance of atonement in religious fabric. Its contribution to academic excellence provides scholarly materials for further studies of Theology in Biblical Studies.