sin

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.

The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”

  • Loma: “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”)
  • Navajo (Dinė): “that which is off to the side” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and in the context of the Bible “transgression of God’s commandments” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
  • Kaingang: “break God’s word”
  • Bariai: “bad behavior” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Sandawe: “miss the mark” (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)

In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”

In Warao it is translated as “bad obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions.” (Source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ). See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the Danish Bibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

See also sinner.

righteous, righteousness

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The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “upright(ness)” and “just(ice)”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)

Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:

  • Bambara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Chokwe (ululi), Amganad Ifugao, Chol, Eastern Maninkakan, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Batak Toba, Bilua, Tiv: “be straight”
  • Laka: “follow the straight way” or “to straight-straight” (a reduplicated form for emphasis)
  • Sayula Popoluca: “walk straight”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Kekchí, Muna: “have a straight heart”
  • Kipsigis: “do the truth”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “do according to the truth”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “have truth”
  • Yine: “fulfill what one should do”
  • Indonesian: “be true”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “do just so”
  • Anuak: “do as it should be”
  • Mossi: “have a white stomach” (see also happiness / joy)
  • Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
  • (San Mateo del Mar Huave: “completely good” (the translation does not imply sinless perfection)
  • Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
  • Central Subanen: “wise-good” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “live well”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “goodness before the face of God” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: “the result of heart-straightening” (source: Nida 1947, p. 224)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “entirely good” (when referred to God), “do good” or “not be a debtor as God sees one” (when referred to people)
  • Carib: “level”
  • Tzotzil: “straight-hearted”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “right and straight”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
  • Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “having sin taken away” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 144)
  • Nyamwezi: wa lole: “just” or “someone who follows the law of God” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Venda: “nothing wrong, OK” (Source: J.A. van Roy in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. )
  • Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
  • Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)
  • “did what he should” (Eastern Highland Otomi)
  • “a clear man, good [man]” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004)

See also respectable, righteous, righteous (person), devout, and She is more in the right(eous) than I.

complete verse (Ezekiel 3:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 3:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “And/but when a good person gets up and sins which can cause me to punish him, he shall die if you do not tell (him) that he must not do those things. His own sins will kill that person but/and I will not count/consider even one good thing which that person has done. Then, I shall take it that you are the one who caused him to die.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If a righteous man will-turn-away from a righteous life and I will- just -let him do that, he will-die. If you (sing.) have- not -warned him, he will-die because of his sin, and I will- not -remember his good deeds. But I will-ask- you (sing.) -for-payment of his death.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Similarly, when righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and do evil deeds, I will cause bad things to happen to them. But you must warn them. If you do not warn them, and if they do not stop their sinful behavior, they will die because of their sins; I will not think about the righteous things that they didpreviously, but I will consider that you are responsible for their deaths.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 3:20

The structure of verses 20-21 is similar to that of verses 18-19 (see the comments there). They describe the situation of good people who sin. If Ezekiel does not warn them about their sin and they continue to sin, they will die. God will not take into account their previous good life but will punish them with death. As a result, Ezekiel will be blamed for their deaths, because he did not warn them. On the other hand, if Ezekiel warns them and they listen to his warning, they will stop sinning and God will not punish them. So, because he warned them, Ezekiel will be safe. As with the sinful people in verses 18-19, the Hebrew uses the masculine singular (for example, a righteous man) to describe the good people who are tempted to sin. This generic use of the masculine singular refers to both males and females.

Again, if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered Again may be translated “Similarly” or “Here is another situation” in this context. A righteous man refers to people who are “truly good” (Good News Translation) or do “right” (International Children’s Bible). They are those who respect God and obey the rules of his covenant, but then, for some reason each one commits iniquity (see the comments 3.19), that is, they stop living an upright life. Good News Translation says “starts doing evil,” Contemporary English Version has “start sinning,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “does wrong.”

And I lay a stumbling block before him: A stumbling block is something that can cause people to sin, just like a rock or large stone in the middle of a path can cause blind people to fall (see Lev 19.14). It is an “obstacle to trip” (Brownlee). Here God says that, when good people start sinning, he puts an obstacle in front of them. Why? Some scholars say that God places temptations in front of people who are sinning, so that they fall deeper and deeper into sin; finally they become so sinful that God must punish and destroy them (so Zimmerli). Many translations follow this interpretation; for example, International Children’s Bible renders this clause as “If I caused him to sin,” Contemporary English Version says “and I decide to put stumbling blocks in their paths to make them fall,” Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible have “and I set a trap for him,” and Revised English Bible translates “and I cause his downfall.” These renderings strongly suggest that God causes people to sin. This can hardly be true. But other scholars say that God puts opportunities to sin in front of people to test them to see if they will remain faithful to him or not (so Vawter and Hoppe). This is what God did to Abraham and Job. Some translations take this approach; for example, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “I will put him to the test,” and Good News Translation has “and I put him in a dangerous situation.” This is the better understanding.

He shall die: Good people who sin and do not repent will die.

Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin: If Ezekiel does not warn the good people who sin to turn from their sin, and they continue to sin, they will die because of their sins.

And his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered: If they were good people before, that will not make any difference, because God will not take their good deeds into account. For those languages that do not use passives, this clause may be rendered “and no one will remember the good things they have done.” However, it is better to make God the subject here by saying “I [God] will not remember the good he did” (Good News Translation) or “I will forget about the times they were faithful” (Contemporary English Version). In this context remember is better rendered “take into account” (so Revised English Bible). This interpretation puts more stress on God’s role as the judge, either punishing people for their sins, or rewarding them for their good deeds.

But his blood I will require at your hand: As in verse 18 (see the comments there), if Ezekiel does not warn the sinners of the danger, God will hold him responsible for their deaths.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .