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 (Job 7:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 7:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “What does it pain you if I have sinned?
    Why do you turn your punishment towards me?
    What has caused you to even care/feel trouble/be disturbed about me?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Oh, you watchman of mankind,
    even though I have sinned, have I harmed you?
    Why do you target me?
    Am I burden to you?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Have- I -sinned? What sin have- I -done to you (sing.), O Watcher of people/man? Why are- you (sing.) -aiming at me? Am I heavy burden/[Lit. to-be-carried] to you (sing.)?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“do/reckon”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, s-are-ru (される) or “do/reckon” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Job 7:20

Job now begins to reproach God for treating him unjustly. The first sentence is long for Hebrew poetry and may be understood as a conditional clause, as in Revised Standard Version If I sin, what do I do to thee…? Job is not admitting (here or elsewhere) that his troubles have come on him because he has sinned; he is establishing the imaginary context or condition which is required to get relief from God, who is his tormentor. In the next verse he will make a plea for forgiveness for his supposed sin. The question, then, is how should that affect God? This question may sometimes be rendered “If I were to sin, how would it affect you?” or “… how are you hurt?” or “… what have I done to harm you?” Thou watcher of men: God is addressed in this expression of irony, which alludes to verse 12, “You have set a guard over me.” Normally in the Scriptures, when God watches, it is for care and protection, but here it is to keep an eye on, that is, to confine or restrict. So Good News Translation translates “you jailer.” Why hast thou made me thy mark?: in 6.4 Job complained of being shot by God’s arrows. In 16.12 Job says “He set me up as his target.” The word translated “target” means something aimed at. Here mark translates a different word, but clearly it has the meaning of target in the present context. In languages where shooting at targets is unknown, it may be necessary to restructure this question to say, for example, “Why have you beaten me?” or “Why have you hit me again and again?” The third question Why have I become a burden to thee? presents a problem, in that Hebrew says not to thee but “to myself,” and this is followed by some translations. According to Jewish tradition “to myself” in this passage is one of the eighteen scribal corrections where the original text was altered out of reverence to God. The rabbinical idea was that for Job to be a burden to God would be blasphemy, and this could not be read. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation follow “to thee.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates “to thee” as a “B” reading. Why have I become a burden to thee? may have to be restructured to say, for example, “Why have I become something heavy for you to carry?” or “How is it that I am like a load that you have to carry?”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .