mercy seat

English

Etymology

From mercy + seat, after German Gnadenstuhl, translating Hebrew כַּפֹּרֶת‎ (kappóreth) (= Hellenistic Greek ἱλαστήριον (ἱlastírion) (Septuagint)/Latin propitiatorium (Vulgate)).

Noun

mercy seat (plural mercy seats)

(Christianity) The lid of the Ark of the Covenant, on which God is said to have been enthroned; taken to represent the throne in heaven.
- 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society (2007), page 206,
  The greatest mystery of Religion is expressed by adumbration, and in the noblest part of Jewish Types, we finde the Cherubims shadowing the Mercy-seat.

Translations

lid of the Arc of the Covenant

Finnish: armonistuin

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