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 Hosea 10:9

In 10.1-8 Hosea speaks about Israel. But in the beginning of this verse Yahweh speaks directly to Israel. Good News Translation, New Living Translation, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch make the speaker explicit by adding the quote frame “The LORD says.”

From the days of Gibe-ah, you have sinned, O Israel: Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew order here. Good News Translation follows the usual English order, saying “The people of Israel have not stopped sinning against me since the time of their sin at Gibeah.” The sin at Gibeah was the raping and killing of the Levite’s concubine (see comments on 9.9).

The Israelites are addressed directly in this line with the pronoun you and the vocative O Israel. In the rest of this section God refers to them in the third person (they, them). Good News Translation changes the second person references to third person for naturalness. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers keeping the second person references with a {B} rating, but like Good News Translation, many languages will use third person. Contemporary English Version and New Living Translation use second person for Israel throughout this section. In most languages a translation without a switch from second to third person will sound somewhat more natural. The choice of using second or third person is up to the translator, but it is suggested to carry it through consistently.

There they have continued does not refer to remaining in Gibeah, but to remaining in sin. Good News Translation expresses this clearly with “have not stopped sinning.” The Hebrew verb for have continued refers to taking a firm stand, as in battle, or as in loyalty to an idea or principle. The Israelites began their wrongdoing in Gibeah and continued in it steadfastly. They were determined to sin.

Shall not war overtake them in Gibe-ah?: Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew with this rhetorical question. It expects the answer “Yes.” Good News Translation expresses the same idea more directly and clearly with a statement: “So at Gibeah war will catch up with them.” Other translations put this rhetorical question in the past tense as an implicit threat that what happened then will happen again now; for example, New International Version and NET Bible say “Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah.”

In Gibe-ah expresses two ideas: First, the Israelites will be attacked in the very place where their ancestors sinned. Second, since Gibeah is in the south of Israel, the invader from the north, Assyria, will sweep through all of Israel from north to south.

In Hebrew this verse ends with an expression that is literally “on sons/people of injustice.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation include this phrase in the next verse (see comments there). However, some versions include it here by rendering it “the evildoers” (New International Version, NET Bible) or “the wicked men” (New Living Translation).

A translation model for this verse is:

• Israel has been sinning ever since that time in Gibeah,
and they have persisted in it.
Were they not overtaken by war in Gibeah?

Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .