An offering of atonement enables two warring parties to be at one, or reconciled. The people of Israel were not the only people in the ancient Near Eastern world who knew they needed atonement before God; the idea of placating a deity was common, yet only the Old Testament places the idea of atonement within the context of a genuine covenantal relationship between God and man. Atonement in the Old Testament is unique in another way. As in many cultures, it is linked with sacrifice. But in the Bible,