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.

complete verse (Hebrews 10:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 10:3:

  • Uma: “But in fact it was not like that at all. From those worship-gifts that they brought every year, they always remembered that they were sinful.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But they still sacrifice every year and this reminds them that they still have sin.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But since every year at that time it was necessary just the same to continue sacrificing, they knew that their sins were not taken away.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But the truth concerning those offerings of theirs is, they reminded them yearly that they had sins.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But this in fact is the truth of it, these sacrifices, (they are) just reminding people of their sins year-by-year.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Thus it is seen that these people who make sacrifices year after year have had come to their hearts that they have sins.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Hebrews 10:3

As it is translates a strong Greek word for “But” (Revised Standard Version). Translator’s New Testament has “In fact the opposite happens.” As it is, however may be rendered as “But it happens that” or “Nevertheless, the truth is that.”

Revised Standard Version‘s “in these sacrifices” more probably means “by means of these sacrifices.” This means the same as Good News Translation, the sacrifices serve … to, but Good News Bible restructures the sentence.

“In” (Revised Standard Version) or “by these sacrifices” is literally “in them.” This phrase includes the confession of sin which went with the sacrifice.

Year after year is repeated for emphasis from verse 1. Revised Standard Version‘s “reminder,” which Good News Translation turns into a verb (remind), is better than the traditional “remembrance” of King James Version and Knox. For sacrifice as a reminder of sin, compare Numbers 5.15. A “reminder,” here as in Luke 22.19 and 1 Corinthians 11.24, is something said and done to make someone remember a past event.

Serve … to remind people of their sins may be rendered as “cause people to continually think about their sins” or “cause people never to forget about their sins.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .