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 Timothy 5:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Timothy 5:24:

  • Uma: “Some people, even before their case has been tried, their sins are already obvious. But some other people, their sins are only known after their cases have been tried [lit., sat-upon].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There are people whose sin is really clear and we/one (dual) know(s) that they have sin and they will be judged in the future. There are also other people whose sin is not immediately seen, but it won’t be long and it will be known.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There are people whose evil deeds cannot be hidden, and everybody knows about them before they are investigated. There are also people whose evil deeds are hidden, and these are only known when they are investigated.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Concerning again your (sing.) choosing someone to serve Cristo, remember that there are people whose sin is already-known even though they have not yet been formally-charged. There are also those whose sin is concealed, but it will become known in a future day.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, concerning again your installing people to exercize a responsibility, be careful. Because the truth is, there are people who, even though they haven’t come to judgment yet, still their sin is evident. As for others, it’s only evident if you investigate well.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “There are some people, that before they are judged, it is apparent that they have sin. But also there are some whose sins are not apparent. Yet when they are judged it will be seen that they have sin.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Timothy 5:24 – 5:25

After the small deviation in verse 23, Paul returns to the subject of sins (that he touched upon in verses 19-22), this time comparing them to good deeds. Some sins can easily be seen right away, but other sins are only seen later. This is also the case with good deeds; some are always conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.

In the expression some men, men is the generic word for people, and so, while it is very likely that all those included in the group are males, it is not warranted by the text to translate this exclusively (so Good News Translation “people”; also Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New Revised Standard Version).

Conspicuous refers to something that is easily seen and known, hence “very obvious,” “very clear,” “very easily known,” and this first clause may also be rendered as “Everyone can plainly see the sins of some people.” Pointing to comes from the verb that indicates moving in front or ahead of something that is moving in the same direction, hence “to go in front of,” “to go ahead of” (Good News Translation), “to precede.” In the present context there are at least two possible ways of understanding the expression pointing to judgment: (1) The sins of these people are so obvious that, even before any accusation or charge is made against them, there is no question as to their being guilty. (2) The sins of these people, are, so to speak, already before the court, and when the trial is held, it is these very sins that will be used against them in order to get a guilty verdict. The first alternative is preferred. Judgment likewise can be understood in two ways: (1) It can refer primarily to the activity of the church in general, and to Timothy in particular, especially in relation to the elders, but not excluding other church members. (2) Judgment refers to divine judgment that will be executed on the last day. Again, the first alternative is preferred. With these interpretations in mind, the first part of this verse may also be expressed as “Other people can clearly see the sins of some people; in fact their sins are so obvious that they are clearly guilty in the eyes of the believers,” or “Other people … and their sins are as it were already before God for him to judge.”

Appear later is literally “follow” in contrast with “go ahead” (Good News Translation) in the previous clause. Does this mean that these less conspicuous sins will follow the sinners to judgment, in much the same way as the conspicuous sins go ahead of them to judgment? This is possible. Many translations, however, opt for the meaning represented in Revised Standard Version, in which the verb is understood to mean “to be seen subsequently” (compare Good News Translation “seen only later,” Jerusalem Bible “not discovered until afterward,” New English Bible “whose offences have not yet overtaken them”).

Good deeds are similar to sins in that they share the attribute of being conspicuous. There are some good deeds of course that are not so obvious, that is, they are done quietly and don’t create very much attention. But again, in much the same way that sins done quietly cannot remain concealed, so these simple, quietly-done good deeds cannot be hidden forever but will eventually be seen and recognized.

Alternative translation models for these verses are:
• Other people can clearly see the sins of some people; in fact their sins are so obvious that they are clearly guilty in the eyes of the believers even before being judged. The sins of other people, however, are not as clear and are only recognized later. In the same way, when people do good deeds, these are plain to see. And even if they are not seen clearly by others, they cannot be hidden.

Or:
• Other people can clearly see the sins of some people, and their sins are as it were already before God for him to judge. The sins of some people, however, are not as clear, and other believers only recognize these sins later on. In the same way, when people do good deeds, these are seen plainly by other believers. And even if they do not see them clearly at once, they will eventually recognize them.

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 5:24

Paragraph 5:24–25

In this paragraph Paul resumed his instructions to Timothy about elders. He stated why Timothy should not be quick to appoint them.

5:24a

The sins of some men are obvious: That is, these sins are not done in secret. They are conspicuous or clear to everyone.

some men: The context shows that Paul was especially referring to some of those men whom Timothy might consider choosing as elders.

men: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as men here does not only refer to males. It includes all human beings: men, women, and children.

5:24b

going ahead of them to judgment: Sometimes, people sin in ways that other people can easily see or discover. Timothy and other church leaders knew that those people had sinned. So they would not need to examine or consider them as possible elders.

judgment: Timothy was going to judge whether men were suitable to be elders or not. Paul used the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as judgment to refer to the situation that Timothy was going to be in when he judged people.

5:24c

the sins of others do not surface until later: Other people sin secretly and their sin may not be obvious until after they have sinned. Timothy had to be careful when he chose new elders. He needed to take time to observe their behavior carefully.

© 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.