From: Russell D Southern (russ@ionet.net)
Date: Sun Dec 31 1995 - 16:54:25 EST
>From: Indepen <adc8@columbia.edu>
>Date: Sat, 30 Dec 1995 10:20:13 -0500 (EST)
>Subject: The Temptation of Deity
>perhaps a more manageable topic would be the meaning of the word
>"sin" in the Bible. In Hebrew, KHATAUAU, in Greek hAMARTIA. Are these
>the same? I don't know Hebrew so I can't comment for certain, though I
>have the impresssion that it simply means breaking the law. But the Greek
>term has the sense of a missing of the goal, or a straying away from the
>right path.
From my undergrad studies, the Hebrew "cHata" carries a meaning more
closely related to "taking the wrong path." I think this is considerably
different than the Greek "hamartia" - "missing the mark."
"Hamartia" brings to mind the image of an archery target "bullseye." The
mark is the exact center of the target. To hit an outer ring is
"hamartanein," to miss the mark. Applied to the category of sin, anything
less than absolute perfection in performance would be "missing the mark."
"cHata", on the other hand, is related much more closely to a lifestyle
perspective. "Walking the wrong path" is less concerned about individual
actions than overall ways of living. I understand that the OT is also
concerned with actions of the individual, but the emphasis seems to be
centered around how a person lives life, not on the specific things that he
or she does. "cHata" reflects this.
We see this emphasis also in the Hebrew word for repentance, "shub." (I
think it is "shub." I'll backtrack if this is in error.) "Shub" means "to
turn around," which is what one does when correcting for walking the wrong
path. The NT word, "metanoein" also carries the connotation of change,
lit. "changing one's mind," but Hebrew is a more visual language.
Hope this fuels some discussion, but please be kind. It's my first post to
such a scholarly list. Thanks, Russ
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