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 (Job 35:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 35:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “And/but you ask, ‘What kind of life do I get when/if I am righteous
    and/yet I am being punished as a sinner?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Yet you ask Him, ‘What benefit do I get from this,
    and what will I get if I do not sin?’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Yet/But you (sing.) also ask, ‘What can I gain/get if I will- not -sin?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “and you say to God, ‘What good have I received for not sinning?
    What benefit have I received from that?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 35:1 - 35:3

After being identified as the speaker, as at 34.1 and 36.1, Elihu questions Job about the claims he has made. And Elihu said is the author’s way of telling the reader that Elihu’s speech is continuing. And is seldom satisfactory as a marker to show the action is continuing. Better is “Then,” or perhaps no linking word at all.

In 34.9 Elihu paraphrased Job’s words: “It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God.” Job’s assertion has been that being innocent of wrong has no effect on God. Elihu now examines this idea and sets forth two of Job’s claims against each other. On the one side is Job’s claim to have a just case to defend against God. On the other is Job’s claim that it makes no difference to God whether a man sins or does not sin; God will always act entirely independently of what man does.

Do you think this to be just?: think translates the verb used in 13.24; 19.15; 33.10, and translated “to count” or “to consider.” It may be rendered, for example, “Is it your opinion?” or “Does it appear to you?” This points forward to the questions in verse 3. Just translates the same word used in 32.9 and 34.4 meaning “right, justice.” Elihu is asking if Job considers it right to claim what he says in the next line.

Do you say, ‘It is my right before God’ …?: my right translates the Hebrew tsedeq, the word used commonly throughout Job to refer to his claim to be “right, innocent, not guilty of wrongdoing.” Before God is translated in various ways. Some understand it to mean “more than God,” but Job has argued repeatedly that he is innocent in God’s sight, and so the meaning is “I am right in my case against God,” or as Habel translates verse 2, “Do you consider it just to claim ‘I am right against El’?” In some languages this quoted question will have to be expressed, for example, as “Do you think it is fair for you to say to God, ‘I am innocent, God’?” or indirectly, “… to say that you are innocent in God’s eyes?”

That you ask, ‘What advantage have I?: you refers to Job. The Hebrew text shows that Job’s quoted question is “What advantage (benefit) is there for you?” In 7.20 Job asked God “If I sin, what do I do to thee, thou watcher of men?” Revised Standard Version and others change the Hebrew “you” to I in line a. However, Job has not asked how he benefits from sinning. Therefore we should retain the Hebrew “you” as referring to God. Good News Translation has made clear that “you” refers to God, by saying “or to ask God, ‘How does … you?’ ” Some translators may find it better to express the quoted questions in verses 2 and 3 as negative statements; for example, “or to say to God, ‘My sin makes no difference to you.’ ”

How am I better off than if I had sinned? is literally “what do I gain from my sin?” This line is at best ambiguous, since the final Hebrew word may be understood to mean “rather than my sin,” which would mean “more than if I had sinned.” The line may also be taken to mean “what do I profit without sin?” Dhorme and others follow the Septuagint, “What do I do if I sin?” Job has not admitted his sin as the cause of his suffering. However, since Job claims that a person’s sins have no effect on God, “What have I gained by not sinning?” is a more likely meaning of this line. This line may be expressed as a positive question; for example, “What have I gained by being innocent?” or “What good has it done for me to be innocent?”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .