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 Ezekiel 16:52

Bear your disgrace, you also means Jerusalem must suffer utter disgrace. Not only will she be shamed by being stripped naked in public (see verses 37-39), but her shame will be even greater because she has been so bad that other wicked people look good in comparison with her. In Hebrew this verse begins with the emphatic expression rendered you also, which draws attention back from the two sisters to Jerusalem. Every effort must be made to reflect this emphasis in translation, because it introduces a summary of the punishment on Jerusalem. Translators may begin with “It is you who must be disgraced” or “For your part, you will be utterly disgraced.”

For you have made judgment favorable to your sisters is literally “because you have interceded for your sisters by your sins.” This clause takes the idea of the previous verse (about her sisters looking good in comparison to Jerusalem) one step further. By being so bad, it was as if Jerusalem had intervened and asked for mercy on her two wicked sisters, so that they would not be punished so severely because now they did not seem so bad.

Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you repeats the idea of verse 51 about how very bad Jerusalem is in comparison with the two sisters. This sentence and the previous clause may be rendered “It is as if you asked for me to show mercy on your sisters, because your sins are so much worse than theirs that they seem innocent in comparison to you.”

So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous: As if the punishment is not clear, God repeats it almost word for word in this second half of the verse. Again there is the very emphatic phrase you also, and two Hebrew terms for “shame” are used to stress the disgrace that Jerusalem will suffer. Only the reference to Jerusalem making her sisters look good is shorter. By repeating the emphatic you also and referring to the punishment of shame twice, God reaches a climax here. This needs to be reflected in translation.

A model for this verse is:

• And now it’s your turn! You will feel great shame! You have done disgusting things. Because of your sins, you have been so bad and you have made your sisters look good. It is as if you asked me to have mercy on them and not punish them, because they were not as bad as you. So now it’s your turn! You will be humiliated! You will feel great shame! Compared with you, those two cities look as if they did not sin at all.

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 .