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 (Romans 7:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 7:17:

  • Uma: “So, it’s as if it is not really I who does those evil behavior. Sin that is already in my heart, he is the culprit [lit., owner of the work].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore if I do bad, it is not from my thinking/mind because I hate that bad. But the sin in my liver that’s what urges me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if that’s the case, I’m not the one who does the evil, but rather it is the preexisting evil desires of my body that do those things.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Thus I am not the one who is doing it but rather it is my sinfulness.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore, my heart did not want that I do what I did. Rather it was the sin I had, it caused that I did what I did.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 7:17

In this verse Paul speaks of sin as though it were some personal force that takes hold of a man’s life and controls it.

So I am not really the one who does this thing may be rendered as “so I myself do not do this thing” or “so I am not the person doing this.”

It may be necessary to specify precisely where sin lives within the person—for example, “the sin that lives in my heart.” In this way sin is presented as essentially “the desire to sin.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 7:17

7:17a

This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and” or “but.” This conjunction introduces something more that Paul wanted to say. Some languages will see “it is not longer I who do it” contrasting with “I do what I do not want.” For example:

But (NET Bible)

Other languages will not see contrast with “I do what I do not want.” For example:

And

In that case: The phrase In that case here refers to generally “at this time.” It goes with the present tense of the verb “do.” It refers to the current time and situation in Paul’s life.

it is no longer I who do it: The word I is emphasized here. The words here indicate that the situation is different than it was before.

it: This word refers to “what I do not want to do” in 7:16. In some languages the plural word would be more natural here. For example:

them

7:17b

sin living in me that does it: The words “do it” are implied from 7:17a. In some languages these words must be explicit. For this reason, the Berean Standard Bible adds the words that does it.

Again, Paul spoke of sin as if it were a living thing that lived inside him. Some languages cannot speak of sin in that way. If that is true in your language, you may want to make it a simile. For example:

it was sin ⌊which is like someone who⌋ lives in me and does those things/deeds

living in me that does it: The word living indicates that sin is always present in Paul’s life. He is never free of sin’s influence. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

but sin that dwells in me (English Standard Version)
-or-
it is my sinfulness
-or-
sin that is residing in me, that’s the underlying-cause of the evil that I do

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