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 (Numbers 31:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 31:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “Everything that does not burn is to be cleansed in fire. Those are things like gold, silver, bronze and all sorts of iron. And all the other things that may burn, shall be cleansed in water.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “and anything that will not be reduced to ashes by fire must be put in the fire. Water for Purification must also be used to purify it. A thing that will be reduced to ashes by fire must only be purified with that water.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Whatever thing which cannot be-burned like gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead you (plur.) must put (them) into fire, so-that they will-become-clean. Afterwards wash them with water which is-used to becoming-clean. Whatever that cannot be-burned just wash (them) with this water.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Put everything that will not burn into the fire, and then they will be acceptable for you to use. But also sprinkle those things with the water that causes things and people to become acceptable to God. The things that would burn if you put them in a fire, sprinkle them with that water.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 31:22 - 31:23

Verses 22-23 deal with purifying items that are ritually impure due to touching corpses in a battle. Fireproof substances must pass through fire, and then they must be washed in the specially prepared water for impurity to complete the process of purification. Substances that are not fireproof must simply be cleansed with that water (so Alter, page 844).

Only renders the Hebrew particle ʾak, which usually introduces a limitation of something previously mentioned (so Ashley, page 596). However, here it introduces a restriction without mentioning something first.

The gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead: These metals are listed from highest to lowest in value. Most languages will have words for silver, even if they are borrowed words, and most will also be familiar with tin, iron, and lead. For bronze see 16.39.

Everything that can stand the fire refers to everything that can be passed through fire without being destroyed or melted. It may be necessary to make it clear that this clause describes the metals just mentioned by saying “that is, all metals that do not burn” (New Living Translation) or “in one word, all that resists the fire” (SPCL).

You shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean: The metals must be placed in a fire to become ritually pure. New Living Translation says “[all metals] must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure.”

Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of impurity: For Revised Standard Version and most other translations the Hebrew clause here means the water for removing ritual impurity is also needed to purify any metal that has been placed in the fire. They take the pronoun it as a reference to everything that can stand the fire. In some languages Nevertheless … also is better rendered “and moreover” (Levine), “but … still” (NET Bible), or “even though [also]” (Reina-Valera Contemporánea, Reina-Valera revisida) to connect this clause with the preceding sentence. Only a few translations connect this clause with what follows (that is, the substances that are not fireproof); for example, Revised English Bible renders the last half of verse 23 as “Other things must be purified by the water of ritual purification; whatever cannot stand fire is to be passed through the water” (similarly Good News Translation, La Nouvelle Bible Segond). We prefer the interpretation in Revised Standard Version. For the water of impurity, see the comments on 19.9. Good News Translation has “the water for purification.” In 19.9 Good News Translation translated the same phrase more explicitly and accurately as “the water for removing ritual uncleanness.”

And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered and indicates that the clause before it should be connected to the metals that are fireproof, and not to the flammable items mentioned here. Good News Translation renders whatever as “Everything else,” which is a helpful model. The water refers to the water of impurity, which is needed to purify whatever can be destroyed by fire.

We recommend the following model based on New Living Translation for verses 22-23:

• 22 Only anything made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead—23 that is, all metals that do not burn—must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. Then these metal objects must be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .