Apologetics

When a Word Isn’t a Word

by Benjamin Frasca
09/23/19
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Have you ever tried to translate material written in a foreign language into English? Hard to do, isn’t it? Some words just don’t “fit.” They have little nuances of meaning that the closest English words just do not have. Unavoidably, much is lost.

Translating the Bible from original manuscripts into English presents the same problem, only on a grander scale. The Hebrew and Aramaic languages of the Old Testament is as different from English as night is from day. The same is true of Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament. When original words have no exact English equivalent translators must find modern words that are as close as possible to the original.

Surprisingly the English word sin is one of these. Sin has no direct equivalent in original biblical texts but is used to translate a variety of words. These words include Pasha, a Hebrew word associated with rebellion, asebeia, a Greek term associated with an impious attitude, and anomos, a Greek word meaning lawlessness. There are many others, but one word rises above the others as it is used hundreds of times in its different forms; the Greek word Hamartano.

 Hamartano is actually an archery term meaning to missing the mark. We can see by context, however, that the word is used somewhat differently in the Bible. Hamartano becomes missing the mark in life. Take Romans 6:23 for example; “The wages of sin is death.” Actually it says “The wages of hamartanos is death.” You send your arrow of self towards the target of God’s will but don’t quite make it. Missing the mark leads to a kind of spiritual death.

So we see that the word sin it is more than what is commonly thought. It is not just about breaking a set of rules or regulations. It is about being the type person we should be. Christianity is a way of life. Christ spoke of this in the Sermon on the Mount as again and again He imparted wisdom in the form, “You have heard it said by them of old….but I tell you.” For example, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ’You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” (Mathew 5:21-22, King James Version)  Living rightly is not just following a set of rules. Living rightly starts with the heart. We must be “born again.”

Ben Frasca