sin

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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)
  • Nias: horö, originally a term primarily used for sexual sin. (Source: Hummel / Telaumbanua 2007, p. 256)
  • Mauwake: “heavy” (compare forgiveness as “take away one’s heaviness”) (source: Kwan Poh San in this article )

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 (1 John 3:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 John 3:4:

  • Uma: “All people who do sins break God’s commands. For this is what is called sin, breaking God’s commands.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Whoever sins, breaks God’s law, because if we (dual) sin we (dual) already break God’s law.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “If someone sins, he has transgressed the Law of God, for behaviour which is called sin is any kind of behavior which is a transgression of the Law of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whoever sins, he has broken God’s law, because sin is breaking the law just the same.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for the one who does sin, he is fighting/breaking the laws of God. Because what is meant by sin is, fighting/breaking the laws of this God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “All who commit sin break God’s law. Because sin means that one breaks the law.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “Each one of us if we (are accustomed to) do evil we do not receive from (obey) the law because the evil we are doing goes contrary to the law.”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “He who does sin, he just disobeys what God says. When we disobey the law of God, it is sin.”
  • Tzotzil: “If we seek our sin, we break his commandments. When we break his commandments we sin.”
  • Sayula Popoluca: “Whoever sins, he doesn’t obey God’s law. Because when we sin, we don’t obey God’s law.” (Source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

Translation commentary on 1 John 3:4

The right understanding of verse 4 depends on the interpretation of the term lawlessness. This word is often synonymous with sin; compare “those whose wrongs (literally lawlessness) God has forgiven, whose sins he has covered up” (Rom 4.7, Good News Bible), “I will not remember their sins and wicked deeds (literally lawlessness) any longer” (Heb 10.17, Good News Bible), both reflecting the usage of the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. In the present passage the word is rendered thus in many versions. This results, however, in a truism, since the proposition becomes an equation of two closely synonymous terms. It is therefore not probable that John intended the word to be taken in this meaning.

To reach a more convincing interpretation of the term lawlessness in the present verse, one should note that in verse 4b this Greek noun, although in predicate position, is used with the article. This is done in the Greek only when the predicated noun is presented as something well known or as the only thing to be considered, as a technical term, so to speak.

Now in other passages lawlessness seems indeed to serve as a technical term for the Satan-inspired rejection of God and his law that will be manifest in the present age and will come to a climax before Christ’s second coming; compare for example, Matt 7.22-23 (where “evil doers” literally is “those working the lawlessness”), Matt 24.11-13 (where “wickedness” stands for “the lawlessness”), and 2 Cor 6.14-16, where “iniquity” (literally “lawlessness”) is mentioned together with “darkness” and “Belial,” that is, the Devil. A related word is used with reference to Christ’s great adversary, whose rebellion will also reach its summit in that period; compare what 2 Thes 2.1-12 tells about “the lawless one,” “the man of lawlessness,” and “the mystery of lawlessness.” Though the terms differ, Paul’s “lawless one” and John’s “antichrist” (compare 1 John 2.18) express the same concept.

Interpreted along these lines, lawlessness certainly is much more forceful than sin, forming a climax to it. Then the two clauses of the verse characterize the sinner as one who takes sides with the great adversary of God and Christ, and sin as the ultimate wickedness, the rebellion against God. Accordingly these clauses form an apt introduction to the urgent warnings against sin contained in verses 5-10.

Who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness is in the Greek literally “the one who does sin does the lawlessness also.” The word “also” is used to make the lawlessness stand out in relief, and thus to stress its function as technical term, as discussed above.

To bring out this interpretation one may have to restructure the clause; for example, ‘who commits sin does what is (characteristic for) Lawlessness,’ ‘who sins is living in (accordance with) Lawlessness,’ ‘if a person sins it is like the Lawless One that he is acting,’ ‘who sins does what the Lawless One does (or sides with the Lawless One).’

“To commit sin” occurs also in verses 8-9. It is sometimes to be rendered simply as ‘to sin.’ For the construction (in the Greek literally “to do sin”) see comments on “to live according to the truth” in 1.6; for sin see comments on 1.7. The Greek article has generic force here, showing that each single sin is viewed as a manifestation of man’s general sinfulness.

Is, here and in the next clause, is in the present tense, characterizing the proposition as a general truth.

Lawlessness is a quite literal rendering of the Greek term. It means the negation of whatever is comprised in the concept “law” (which stands for God’s utterances, commands, and promises, which reveal his purpose for man). Some attempts to bring out this meaning are ‘breaking/destroying/violating God’s law,’ ‘rejection of God’s law (or of God),’ ‘disobedience (to God),’ ‘rebellion,’ ‘godlessness.’ Resulting renderings of the clause may be ‘everyone who commits sin is living in godlessness,’ ‘if a person sins, he sides with the Rebellious One,’ ‘who sins actually is doing what the Breaker of God’s law does.’

Sin is lawlessness, or, in accordance with the preceding remarks, ‘sin has the quality of Lawlessness (or of Rejection of God, or Rebellion),’ or ‘sin is what the Lawless (or Disobedient) One does.’

Verses 5-8 form one paragraph, included between two sentences (verse 5a and verse 8b) that express the same thought. For this stylistic figure of inclusion, see comments on 2.18. The form of address, “little children,” further divides this paragraph into two parts, verses 5-6 and verses 7-8.

Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The First Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 John 3:4

Paragraph 3:4–6

Read 3:4–6 in both Berean Standard Bible and Good News Translation. Compare the two versions.

Paragraph Theme: These verses show that it is impossible to continue sinning and at the same time remain in union with Christ.

3:4a

who practices sin: (Tense) The tense shows that John is here referring to continual or habitual sinning.

lawlessness: (Alternative Interpretations) The Greek word used here is the same as that for “lawlessness” in the second part of this verse. (See the next note.) There are two views of its meaning here:

(1) It probably means “rejects the authority of God’s law, rebels against God.” (Revised Standard Version, Living Bible)

(2) Some think it means “disobeys God’s law.” (Good News Translation, The Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

3:4b

lawlessness: (Emotive Impact) The Greek word here is a very strong word. It indicates the sort of terrible rebellion against God that no one would want to be accused of. This effect should be kept in your translation.

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