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.” Likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.” Loma has (for certain types of sin) “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”) or Navajo uses “that which is off to the side.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida). In Toraja-Sa’dan the translation is kasalan, which originally meant “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and has shifted its meaning in the context of the Bible to “transgression of God’s commandments.” (Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. ).

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 Kaingang, the translation is “break God’s word” and in Sandawe the original meaning of the Greek term (see above) is perfectly reflected with “miss the mark.” (Source: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)

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.

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 18:9

Obadiah is afraid that if he goes and tells King Ahab that Elijah wants to meet with him, Elijah may disappear. As a result, Ahab would probably have Obadiah killed (see verse 12).

He said: The subject of the Hebrew verb rendered said is left implicit. Good News Translation inserts the proper name “Obadiah” and also uses the verb “answered” instead of translating the Hebrew verb literally.

Wherein have I sinned, that you would give your servant…?: The fact that Obadiah refers to himself first in the first person and then in the third person as your servant may be confusing to readers. For this reason Good News Translation changes your servant to the pronoun “me.” But Good News Translation loses the sense of respect expressed in the Hebrew by the word servant. New Living Translation expresses the whole verse better as follows:

• “Oh, sir,” Obadiah protested, “what harm have I done to you that you are sending me to my death at the hands of Ahab?”

The expression give … into the hand of Ahab is a literal rendering, which may be unnatural in some languages. The English idiom “hand me over to Ahab” (God’s Word) fits well here. Other alternative models for expressing the meaning here are “abandon me to Ahab” and “deliver me to the power of Ahab” (Bible en français courant).

Although Obadiah’s response is in the form of a question, this is a rhetorical question. By asking this question, Obadiah is, in fact, informing Elijah that he does not like what Elijah has asked him to do. Obadiah is protesting, as seen in the New Living Translation translation above (similarly Revised English Bible). If the use of a rhetorical question in this context is inadvisable in the receptor language, a more direct statement may be made as in International Children’s Bible, which says “If I tell Ahab that, he will kill me! I have done nothing wrong that I should be killed!”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .