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”
  • 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 (1 Timothy 5:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Timothy 5:20:

  • Uma: “If he is really guilty, reprimand him in front of all the one-faith relatives, so that they will be afraid to follow his behavior.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “If someone has sinned, teach/instruct him/(her) in front of all the ones trusting in Isa so that the rest learn a lesson and they do not copy that deed of his/(hers).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The elder who is always sinning, you must scold in front of the believers so that the other elders might be afraid.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But if it is true that he has sinned and doesn’t turn-his-back-on-it, you (sing.) must admonish him in front of the congregation so that others will be afraid to follow-his-example.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then supposing it’s true that that overseer has sinned, it’s necessary that you rebuke him in the presence of everyone, so that others will be afraid and won’t copy him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But concerning one who is accused and he truly has sin, then reprimand him. All the people should look on so that they upon seeing him being reprimanded, they will fear to commit the sin.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Timothy 5:19 – 5:20

The next subject is about erring elders. First, when an elder is accused of wrongdoing, the minimum number of witnesses against the elder should be two people. If this minimum requirement is not met, then the accusation should not be entertained. On elder see verse 17. Never admit (Good News Translation “Do not listen to”) may also be expressed as “Do not accept for judgment any … unless….” Charge is “accusation” (Good News Translation) in the judicial sense; it may refer to the act of accusing or to the actual content of the accusation. On the evidence of two or three witnesses is literally “except on the basis of (or, upon) two or three witnesses.” The need for two or three witnesses to convict a person of a wrongdoing was already established in Old Testament law (for example, Deut 19.15). The Greek does not make good English sense, and even Revised Standard Version has to do more than just translate literally. Witnesses may include the idea of eyewitnesses, but more importantly it refers to people who can testify against the elder during the arraignment, probably before the whole congregation. Another way of expressing except on the evidence of two or three witnesses is “unless two or more people say that they have seen him doing wrong.”

It is not at all clear whether verse 20 refers to elders or to the whole congregation. Some take those in a more general sense, thus making the subject of the verse all members of the congregation who commit sin. Others, however, take the present verse as related to verse 19, in which case those refers to elders. This second alternative is favored by the fact that the elders have just been described in verse 19. Who persist in sin correctly translates a present tense verb, which means that these people continue to commit sin. A distinction seems to be made between those who err and then mend their ways, and those who continue committing sin despite the fact that they have been judged guilty. It does seem that, in the first trial before the congregation, there is no public rebuke, but if afterward these people continue to commit wrongdoing, it is at that time that they are rebuked publicly. Those who persist in sin may be expressed as “those who do not stop sinning,” or if a translator feels that elders are being referred to, one may translate “those elders who….” Rebuke is to reproach, to reprimand, to censure, and to admonish someone with regard to some wrongdoing. Publicly is literally “before all,” that is, in front of the whole congregation.

The purpose of such public reprimand is so that the rest may stand in fear. The rest refers to the remaining part of a whole. The interpretation of the rest depends a great deal on the identity of the sinners in the first part of the verse. If the sinners are identified as elders, then the rest would be elders as well. If, however, sinners are identified as members of the congregation, then the rest would also be members of the congregation. A third way of looking at this is to identify the sinners as elders, but since the elders are members of the congregation as well, it is then possible to take the rest to refer to the congregation, but not including the erring elders.

To stand in fear is to become so afraid as to be turned away from committing sin and thus not suffer the consequence of being publicly disgraced.

Alternative translation models for verses 19-20 are:
• Do not accept an accusation against a church leader for judging unless two or more people say that they have seen him doing wrong. You must reprimand (or, rebuke) in front of all the believers those people who commit sins, so that the rest of the believers may be afraid.

Or:
• … You must reprimand in front of all the believers those elders (or, church leaders) who commit sins, so that the rest of the believers may be afraid.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 Timothy 5:20

5:20a

But those who persist in sin: The context indicates that Paul was referring to elders. It may be helpful in some languages to make this explicit. For example, the God’s Word says:

Reprimand those leaders who sin.

The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as those who…sin is in the present tense. Paul may have used the present tense for one of two reasons:

(1) He was telling Timothy what he should do if an elder became guilty of a particular sin and did not repent of it, even if he only did it once. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible says:

If anyone is at fault

(New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, King James Version, NET Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible)

(2) Paul was telling Timothy what he should do if an elder was continuing to sin in a specific manner. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:

those who persist in sin

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It does not seem from the context that Paul was talking about whether or not elders persist in sinning. Rather, he was talking about what believers should do when several people accuse an elder of some sin.

should be rebuked in front of everyone: Paul was telling Timothy that he should confront the leader about his sin in front of all the other believers and tell him that he has sinned.

5:20b

so that: This Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that indicates the purpose for which Timothy should rebuke the elder publicly.

the others: This can refer to:

(1) only the other elders (God’s Word)

(2) all the other believers (Contemporary English Version)

Most English versions do not specify who the others are. However the most natural understanding of the context suggests that Paul was referring to the other elders. Therefore, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

will stand in fear of sin: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will stand in fear of sin literally means “may have fear.” If an elder was rebuked in front of other believers, he would be ashamed. When the other elders saw how ashamed the elder was, they would be afraid to sin. They would want to avoid the same shame.

© 2003 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.