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 (Leviticus 4:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 4:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “When their sin/mistake is seen/revealed they must bring a bullock which is used as a sacrifice that sweeps away sin and offer it there in front of the Tent of God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When the sin that they have done comes out, they must bring a young bull as The Purification Sacrifice and must offer it inside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When they now become-aware that they have- in-fact -sinned, the whole people will-offer a young cow as an offering for becoming-clean. They will-bring this cow there to the Meeting-Together-Place Tent.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When they realize that they have committed a sin, together they must bring a young bull to be an offering for their sin, to the front of the Sacred Tent.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 4:14

When the sin … becomes known: the passive idea is again better translated in many languages by an expression like “when they discover (or, realize) that they have been sinning,” or “when they become aware of their sin,” or “when someone calls attention to the sin.” But it would almost certainly be someone within the group, not from outside, that would call attention to it.

The assembly: or “the people (of Israel).”

Young bull: this is exactly the same expression used in 4.3, so it should be translated in the same way here.

A sin offering: while the subject of this chapter has been the sin offering from the beginning, this is the first use of the technical term in the text itself. It is probably the easiest of the different names of sacrifices to translate. In most cases it is adequate to say “an offering for unintentional sin,” but some may prefer “an offering to seek forgiveness.” See the discussion of the section heading at 4.1.

The end of verse 14 picks up the same information that is found in verses 3b-4a, except that the words “without blemish” are left implicit as in Hebrew. Receptor-language usage should determine whether or not they need to be made explicit here.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .