Menu

G266 ἁμαρτία (hamartía)

Greek 📖 Greek Word Study
Noun, Feminine
‹ G265 Greek Dictionary G267 ›

Quick Definition

ἁμαρτία, ας, ἡ n.f. a sin

Strong's Definition

a sin (properly abstract)

Derivation: from G264 (ἁμαρτάνω);

KJV Usage: offence, sin(-ful)

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

noun, f. | -ας | ἁμαρτάνω

88.289 · Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior · Sin, Wrongdoing, Guilt

to sin, to engage in wrongdoing, sin to act contrary to the will and law of God

MAT 12:31 · LUK 7:47 · JHN 8:34 · JHN 8:34 · JHN 16:8 · JHN 16:9 · ROM 3:9 · ROM 3:20 · ROM 5:12 · ROM 5:13 · ROM 5:20 · ROM 6:1 · ROM 6:16 · ROM 6:17 · ROM 6:23 · ROM 7:5 · ROM 7:7 · ROM 7:7 · ROM 7:13 · ROM 8:10 · ROM 14:23 · 1CO 15:3 · 1CO 15:17 · 1CO 15:56 · 1CO 15:56 · 2CO 5:21 · 2CO 5:21 · 2CO 11:7 · GAL 2:17 · EPH 2:1 · 1TH 2:16 · 1TI 5:22 · 1TI 5:24 · 2TI 3:6 · HEB 4:15 · HEB 9:26 · HEB 10:17 · JAS 1:15 · JAS 1:15 · JAS 2:9 · JAS 4:17 · JAS 5:15 · JAS 5:16 · 1PE 2:22 · 1PE 4:1 · 1PE 4:8 · 2PE 2:14 · 1JN 1:8 · 1JN 2:2 · 1JN 2:12 · 1JN 3:4 · 1JN 3:4 · 1JN 3:5 · 1JN 3:8 · 1JN 3:9 · 1JN 4:10 · 1JN 5:16 · 1JN 5:16 · 1JN 5:17 · 1JN 5:17 · REV 18:4 · REV 18:5

88.118 · Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior · Bad, Evil, Harmful, Damaging

sinfulness, being evil a state of sinfulness as an integral element of someone’s nature The implication of this statement made in criticism of Jesus in JHN 9:34 was that he had not adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees.

JHN 9:34 · ROM 5:12 · ROM 6:2 · ROM 6:6 · ROM 6:6 · ROM 6:10 · ROM 6:11 · ROM 6:12 · ROM 6:13 · ROM 6:14 · ROM 6:18 · ROM 6:20 · ROM 6:22 · ROM 7:8 · ROM 7:8 · ROM 7:9 · ROM 7:11 · ROM 7:13 · ROM 7:13 · ROM 7:14 · ROM 7:17 · ROM 7:20 · ROM 7:23 · ROM 7:25 · ROM 8:2 · ROM 8:3 · ROM 8:3 · GAL 3:22 · HEB 3:13 · HEB 11:25 · HEB 12:1 · HEB 12:4 · 1PE 2:24

88.310 · Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior · Sin, Wrongdoing, Guilt

guilt, sin the moral consequence of having sinned A number of languages make a clear distinction between the active event of committing sin and the resulting moral effect of guilt, so that one must speak of ‘committing sin’ but ‘forgiving guilt.’ This is often required in some languages since a term meaning ‘to forgive’ is literally ‘to wipe away,’ ‘to erase,’ ‘to blot out,’ or ‘to return to someone.’ The actual event of sinning often does not fit with such verb expressions, since it is not the event itself which is eliminated but the moral consequences of such an event, namely, the guilt.

MAT 1:21 · MAT 3:6 · MAT 9:2 · MAT 9:5 · MAT 9:6 · MAT 26:28 · MRK 1:4 · MRK 1:5 · MRK 2:5 · MRK 2:7 · MRK 2:9 · MRK 2:10 · LUK 1:77 · LUK 3:3 · LUK 5:20 · LUK 5:21 · LUK 5:23 · LUK 5:24 · LUK 7:48 · LUK 7:49 · LUK 11:4 · LUK 24:47 · JHN 1:29 · JHN 8:21 · JHN 8:24 · JHN 8:24 · JHN 8:46 · JHN 9:41 · JHN 9:41 · JHN 15:22 · JHN 15:22 · JHN 15:24 · JHN 19:11 · JHN 20:23 · ACT 2:38 · ACT 3:19 · ACT 5:31 · ACT 7:60 · ACT 10:43 · ACT 13:38 · ACT 22:16 · ACT 26:18 · ROM 4:7 · ROM 4:8 · ROM 5:13 · ROM 5:21 · ROM 6:7 · ROM 8:3 · ROM 11:27 · 1CO 15:17 · GAL 1:4 · COL 1:14 · 2TI 3:6 · HEB 1:3 · HEB 2:17 · HEB 5:1 · HEB 5:3 · HEB 7:27 · HEB 8:12 · HEB 9:28 · HEB 9:28 · HEB 10:2 · HEB 10:3 · HEB 10:4 · HEB 10:6 · HEB 10:8 · HEB 10:11 · HEB 10:12 · HEB 10:18 · HEB 10:26 · HEB 13:11 · JAS 5:20 · 1PE 2:24 · 1PE 3:18 · 1JN 1:7 · 1JN 1:8 · 1JN 1:9 · 1JN 1:9 · 1JN 2:12 · 1JN 3:5 · 1JN 3:5 · 1JN 4:10 · REV 1:5

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

ἁμαρτία, -as, 9, (fr. 2 aor. ἁμαρτεῖν, as ἀποτυχία fr. ἀποτυχεῖν), a failing to hit the mark (see ἁμαρτάνω). In Grk. writ. (fr. Aeschyl. and Thue. down). 1st, an error of the understanding (cf. Ackermann, Das Christl. im Plato, p. 59 Anm. 3 [Eng. trans. (S. R. Asbury, 1861) Ρ. ὅΤ η. 997). 2d, a bad action, evil deed. In the N. T. always in an ethical sense, and 1. equiv. to τὸ ἁμαρravew α sinning, whether it occurs by omission or commission, in thought and feeling or in speech and actior (cf. Cie. de fin. 3, 9): Ro. v. 12 sq. 20; ὑφ᾽ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι held down in sin, Ro. iii. 9; ἐπιμένειν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, Ro. Vi. 1; ἀποθνήσκειν τῇ dp. and ζῆν ἐν αὐτῇ, Ro. vi. 2; τὴν dp. γινώσκειν, Ro. vii. 7; 2 Co. v. 21; νεκρὸς τῇ dp. Ro. vi. 11; περὶ ἁμαρτίας to break the power of sin, Ro. viii. 3 [cf. Mey.]; σῶμα τῆς ἅμ. the body as the instrument of sin, Ro. vi. 6; ἀπάτη τῆς ἅμ. the craft by which sin is accustomed to deceive, Heb. iii. 13; ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμ. [ἀνομίας T Tr txt. WH éxt.] the man so possessed by sin that he seems unable to exist without it, the man utterly given up to sin, 2 Th. ii. 3 [W. § 34, 3 Note 2]. In this sense ἡ ἁμαρτία (i. 4. τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν) as a power exercising dominion over men (sin as a principle and power) is rhetorically represented as an imperial personage in the phrases 7 ἅμ. βασιλεύει, κυριεύει, κατεργάζεται, Ro. v. 21; vi. 12, 14; vii. 17, 20; δουλεύειν τῇ ἁμ. Ro. vi. 6; δοῦλος τῆς dp. In. viii. 84 [WH br. Gom. τῆς dp. ]; Ro. vi. 17; νόμος τῆς dp. the dictate of sin or an impulse proceeding from it, Ro. vii. 23; viii. 2; δύναμις τῆς du. 1 Co. xv. 563; (the prosopopeia occurs in Gen. iv. 7 and, ace. to the reading ἁμαρτία, in Sir. xxvii. 10). Thus ἁμαρτία in sense, but not in signification, is the source whence the several evil acts proceed; but it never denotes vitiosity. 2. that which is done wrong, committed or resultant sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act (ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία, 1 Jn. 111. 4}; a. generally: Jas. i. 15; Jn. viii. 46 (where ἅμαρτ. must be taken to mean neither error, nor craft by which Jesus is corrupting the people, but sin viewed generally, as is well shown by Liicke ad loc. and Ullmann in the Stud. u. Krit. for 1842, p. 667 sqq. [ef. his Siindlosigkeit Jesu p- 66 sqq. (Eng. trans. of 7th ed. p. 71 sq.)]; the thought is, ‘If any one convicts me of sin, then you may lawfully question the truth and divinity of my doctrine, for sin hinders the perception of truth’); χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας so that he did not commit sin, Heb. iv. 15; ποιεῖν duapτίαν and τὴν dp. Jn. viii. 34; 1 Jn. iii. 8; 2 Co. xi. 7; 1 Pet. ii. 22; ἔχειν ἁμαρτίαν to have sin as though it were one’s odious private property, or to have done something needing expiation, i. q. to have committed sin, Jn. ix. 41; xv. 22, 24; xix. 11; 1 Jn.i. 8, (so αἷμα ἔχειν, of one who has committed murder, Eur. Or. 514); very often in the plur. ἁμαρτίαι [in the Synopt. Gospels the sing. occurs but once: Mt. xii. 31]: 1 Th. ii. 16; [Jas. v. 16 LT Tr WH]; Rev. xviii. 4 sq., ete.; πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν, Jas. v. 20; 1 Pet. iv. 8; ποιεῖν ἁμαρτίας. Jas. v. 15; also in the expressions ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν, ἀφιέναι τὰς dp., ete. (see ἀφίημι, 1 d.), in which the word does not of itself ᾿ denote the guilt or penalty of sins, but the sins are conceived of as removed so to speak from God’s sight, regarded by him as not having been done, and therefore are not punished. ἐν ἅμαρτ. σὺ ἐγεννήθης ὅλος thou wast covered all over with sins when thou wast born, i. 6. didst sin abundantly before thou wast born, Jn. ix. 34; ἐν ταῖς du. ἀποθνήσκειν to die loaded with evil deeds, therefore unreformed, Jn. viii. 24; ἔτι ἐν ἁμαρτίαις εἶναι still to have one’s sins, se. unexpiated, 1 Co. xv. 17. b. some particular evil deed: τὴν dp. ταύτην, Acts vii. 60; πᾶσα ἁμαρτία, Mt. xii. 31; ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον, 1 Jn. v. 16 (an offence of such gravity that a Christian lapses from the state of ζωή received from Christ into the state of θάνατος (cf. θάνατος, 2) in which he was before he became united to Christ by faith; cf. Liicke, De Wette, [esp. Westcott, ad 1.1). 3. collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many : αἴρειν τὴν dp. τοῦ κόσμου, Jn. i. 29 (see αἴρω. 3 &.) ; ἀποθνήσκειν ἐ» τῇ du. Jn. viii. 21 (see 2 a. sub fin.) ; περὶ ἁμαρτίας, sc. θυσίας [ W. 583 (542); B. 393 (336) ], expiatory sacrifices, Heb. x. 6 (acc. to the usage of the Sept., who sometimes so translate the Hebr. HXNUM and nxon, e.g. Lev. ν. 11; vil. 27 (37); Ps. xxxix. (x1) 7); χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας having no fellowship with the sin which he is about [7] to expiate, Heb. ix. 28. 4. abstract for the concrete, i. q. ἁμαρτωλός : Ro. vii. 7 (ὁ νόμος ἁμαρτία, opp. to ὁ νόμος ἅγιος, vs. 12); 2 Co. v. 21 (τὸν... ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν he treated him, who knew not sin, as a sinner). Cf. Fritzsche on Rom. vol. i. 289 sqq.; [see ἁμάρτημα; Trench § Ixvi.].

Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary

ἁμαρτία hamartia 173x

error; offence, sin, Mt. 1:21; a principle or cause of sin, Rom. 7:7; proneness to sin, sinful propensity, Rom. 7:17, 20; guilt or imputation of sin, Jn. 9:41; Heb. 9:26; a guilty subject, sin-offering, expiatory victim, 2 Cor. 5:21

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

ἁμαρτία, -ας, ἡ

(< ἁμαρτάνω, q.v.), [in LXX chiefly for חַטָּאת and cogn. forms, also for פֶּשַׁע ,עָוֹן, etc.;]

prop. a missing the mark; in cl. (v. reff. to CR in MM, VGT, s.v.);

guilt, sin (Plat., Arist., al.);

more freq., from Æsch. down, a fault, failure. In NT (as LXX) always in ethical sense;

as a principle and quality of action, = τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν, a sinning, sin: Ro 5:12, 13 20; ὑφ’ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι, Ro 3:9; ἐπιμένειν, Ro 6:1; ἀποθνήσκειν, νεκρὸν εἶναι τῇ ἁ., Ro 6:2, 11; τὴν ἀ. γινώσκειν, Ro 7:7; σῶμα τῆς ἁ., Ro 6:6; ἀπάτη τῆς ἁ., He 3:13; personified as a ruling principle, ἁ. βασιλεύει, κυριεύει, etc., Ro 5:21 6:12, 14 7:17, 20; δουλεύειν, Ro 6:6; δοῦλος τῆς ἁ., ib. 17; νόμος τῆς ἁ., Ro 7:23 8:2; δύναμις τῆς ἁ., I Co 15:56 (cf. Ge 4:7).

As a generic term (disting. fr. the specific terms ἁμάρτημα, q.v., etc.) for concrete wrongdoing, violation of the divine law, sin: Jo 8:46, Ja 1:15, al.; ποιεῖν (τὴν) ἁ., Jo 8:34, II Co 11:7, I Jo 3:8; εἴχειν ἁ., Jo 9:41 15:22, 24 19:11, I Jo 1:8; in pl. ἁμαρτίαι, sin in the aggregate, I Th 2:16 (v. Milligan, in l.); ποιεῖν ἁμαρτίας, Ja 5:15; πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν, Ja 5:20, I Pe 4:8; ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν, Mt 26:28, Mk 1:4, al.; ἐν ἁμαρτίαις εἶναι, I Co 15:17; collectively, αἴρειν τὴν ἁ. τ. κόσμου, Jo 1:29; ἀποθνήσκειν ἐν τῇ ἁ., Jo 8:21.

= ἁμάρτημα, a sinful deed, a sin: Mt 12:31, Ac 7:60, I Jo 5:16.

SYN.: v.s. ἁμάρτημα.

Trench — Synonyms of the New Testament

παράβασις, παράπτωμα, ἀγνόημα, ἥττημα. A MOURNFULLY numerous group of words, and one which it would be only too easy to make larger still. Nor is it hard to see why. For sin, which we may define in the 240 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ϑιυχνι. language of Augustine, as ‘ factum vel dictuin yel concuvitum aliquid contra eternam legem’ (Con. Faust. xxii. 27; cf. the Stoic definition, ἁμάρτημα, νόμου ἀπαγόρευμα, Plutarch, De Rep. Stoic. 11); or again, ‘ voluntas admittendi vel retinendi quod justitia vetat, et unde liberum est abstinere’ (Con. Jul. i. 47), may be regarded under an infinite number of aspects, and in all languages has been so regarded; and as the diagnosis of it belongs most of all to the Scriptures, nowhere else are we likely to find it contemplated on so many sides, set forth under such various images. It may be regarded as the missing of a mark or aim; it is then ἁμαρτία or ἁμάρτημα : the overpassing or transgressing of a line; it is then παράβασις: the disobedience to a voice; in which case it is παρακοή : the falling where one should have stood upright; this will be παράπτωμα : ignorance of what one ought to have known; this will be ἀγνόημα : diminishing of that which should have been rendered in full measure, which is ἥττημα : non-observance of a law, which is ἀνομία or παρανομία : a discord in the harmonies of God’s universe, when it is πλημμέλεια : and in other ways almost out of number. To begin with the word of largest reach. In seeking accurately to define ἁμαρτία; and so better to distinguish it from other words of this group, no help can be derived from its etymology, seeing that it is quite uncertain. Suidas, as is well known, derives it from μάρπτω, ‘ ἁμαρτία quasi duaprria, a failing tu grasp. Buttmann’s conjecture (Lexilogus, p. 85, English ed.), that it belongs to the root μέρος, μείρομαι; on which a negative intransitive verb, to be without one’s share of, to miss, was formed (see Xenophon, Cyrop. i. 6. 36), has found more favour (see a long note by Fritzsche, on Rom. v. 12, with excellent philology and execrable theology). Only this much is plain, that when sin is contemplated as ἁμαρτία, it is regarded as a failing and missing the true end and scope of our lives, which is God ; ἡ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἀπόπτωσις, as Ecumenius: ἡ τοῦ ἀγα§iuxvi. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 241 θοῦ ἀποτυχία, and ἁμαρτάνειν an ἄσκοπα τοξεύειν, as Suidas; ἡ τοῦ καλοῦ ἐκτροπή, εἴτε τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν, εἴτε τοῦ κατὰ νόμον, as another. We may compare the German “ fehlen.’ Itisa matter of course that with slighter apprehensions of sin, and of the evil of sin, there must go hand in hand a slighter ethnical significance in the words used to express sin. It is therefore nothing wonderful that ἁμαρτία and ἁμαρτάνειν should nowhere in classical Greek obtain that depth of meaning which in revealed religion they have acquired. The words run the same course which all words ultimately taken up into ethical terminology seem inevitably to run. Employed first about things natural, they are then transferred to things moral or spiritual, according to that analogy between those and these, which the human mind so delights to trace. Thus ἁμαρτάνειν signifies, when we meet it first, to miss a mark, being exactly opposed to τυχεῖν. So a hundred times in Homer the warrior is said ἁμαρτάνειν, who hurls his spear, but fails to strike his foe (e.g. Il. iv. 491); 80 τῶν ὁδῶν ἁμαρτάνειν (Thucydides, iii. 98. 2) is to miss one’s way. The next advance is the transfer of the word to things intellectual. The poet ἁμαρτάνει, whoselectsa subject which it is impossible to treat poetically, or who seeks to attain results which lie beyond the limits of his art (Aristotle, Poét. 8 and 25); so we have δόξης ἁμαρτία (Thucydides, i. 31); γνώμης ἁμάρτημα (11.05). Itis constantly set over against ὀρθότης (Plato, Legg. i. 627 d; 11. 668 c; Aristotle, Poét.25). So far from having any ethical significance of necessity attaching to it, Aristotle sometimes withdraws it, almost, if not altogether, from the region of right and wrong (Eth. Nic. v. 8.7). The ἁμαρτία is a mistake, a fearful one it may be, like that of dipus, but nothing more (Poét. 13; cf. Euripides, Hippolytus, 1426). Elsewhere, however, it has as much of the meaning of our ‘sin,’ as any word, employed in heathen ethics, could possess; thus Plato, Phaedo, 113 e; Rep. ii. 3664; Xenophon, Cyrop. v. 4. 19. ει 242 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § τχνι. ᾿Αμάρτημα differs from ἁμαρτία, in that ἁμαρτία is sin in the abstract as well as the concrete; or again, the act of sinning no less than the sin which is actually sinned, ‘peccatio’ (A. Gellius, xiii. 20. 19) no less than ‘ peccatum’; while ἁμάρτημα (it only occurs Mark iii. 28; iv. 12; Rom. iii. 25; 1 Cor. vi. 18) is never sin regardedas sinfulness, or as the act of sinning, but only sin contemplated in its separate outcomings and deeds of disobedience to a divine law; being in the Greek schools opposed to κατόρθωμα." There is the same difference between ἀνομία and ἀνόμημα (which last is not in the N. T.; but 1 Sam. xxv. 28; Ezek. xvi. 49), ἀσέβεια and ἀσέβημα (not inthe N. T.; but Lev. xviii. 17), ἀδικία and ἀδίκημα (Acts xviii. 14). Thisis brought out by Aristotle (Ethic. Nic. v. 7. 7), who sets over against one another ἄδικον (ΞΞ ἀδικία) and ἀδίκημα in these words: διαφέρει τὸ ἀδίκημα καὶ τὸ ἄδικον. "Αδικον μὲν yap ἐστι τῇ φύσει, ἢ τάξει" τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο, ὅταν πραχθῇ, ἀδίκημά ἐστι. Compare an instructive passage in Xenophon (Mem. ii. 2. 3): ai πόλεις ἐπὶ τοῖς μεγίστοις ἀδικήμασι ζημίαν θάνατον πεποιήκασιν, ws οὐκ ἂν μείζονος κακοῦ φόβῳ τὴν ἀδικίαν παύσοντες. On the distinction between ἁμαρτία and ἁμάρτημα, ἀδικία and ἀδίκημα, and other words of this group, there is a long discussion by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. ii. 15), but one not yielding much profit. ᾿Ασέβεια, joined with ἀδικία (Xenophon, Apol. 24; Rom. i. 18) ; as ἀσεβής with ἄδικος, with ἀνόσιος (Xenophon, Cyrop. viii. 8. 27), with ἁμαρτωλός (1 Tim. i. 9; 1. Pet. iv. 18), is positive and active irreligion, and this contemplated as a deliberate withholding from God of his dues of 1 ‘When the Pelagians, in their controversy with the Catholic Church, claimed Chrysostom as siding with them on the subject of the moral condition of infants, Augustine (Con. Jul. Pelag. vi. 2) replied by quoting the exact words which Chrysostom had used, and showing that it was not ἁμαρτία, or sin, but ἁμαρτήματα, the several acts and outcomings of sin, from which the Greek Father had pronounced infants to be free. Only in this sense were they partakers of the ἀναμαρτησία of Christ, διχνι. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 243 prayer and of service, a standing, so to speak, in battle array against Him. We have always rendered it ‘ ungodliness,’ while the Rheims as constantly ‘impiety,’ and ἀσεβής ‘impious,’ neither of these words occurring anywhere in our English Bible. The ἀσεβής and the δίκαιος are constantly set over against one another_(thus Gen. Xvili. 23), as the two who wage the great warfare between light and darkness, right and wrong, of which God has willed that this earth of ours should be the stage. Ilapaxoy is in the N. T. found only at Rom. v. 19 (where it is opposed to ὑπακοή); 2 Cor. x. 6; Heb. ii. 2. Itis not in the Septuagint, but παρακούειν (in the N.T. only at Matt. xviii. 17) occurs several times there in the sense of to disobey (Esth. iii. 3, 8; Isai. Ιχν. 12). [apaxon is in its strictest sense a failing to hear, or a hearing amiss; the notion of active disobedience, which follows on this inattentive or careless hearing, being superinduced upon the word ; or, it may be, the sin being regarded as already committed in the failing to listen when God is speaking. Bengel (on Rom. τ. 19) has a good note : “παρά in παρακοή perquam apposite de:larat rationem initii in lapsu Adami. Queritur quomodo hominis recti intellectus aut voluntas potuit detrimentum capere aut noxam admittere? Resp. Intellectus et voluntas simul labavit per ἀμέλειαν " neque quicquam potest prius concipi, quam ἀμέλεια, incuria, sicut initium capiende urbis est vigiliarum remissio. Hanc incuriam significat zapaxo7, inobedientia.’ It need hardly be observed how continually in the O. T. disobedience is described as a refusing to hear (Jer. xi. 10; xxxv. 17); and it appears literally as such at Acts vii. 57. Joined with and following παράβασις at Heb. ii. 2, it would there imply, in the intention of the writer, that not merely every actual transgression, embodying itself in an outward act of disobedience, was punished, but every refusal to hear, even though it might not have asserted itself in such overt acts of disobedience. R2 244 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ὃ τανι. We have generally translated ἀνομία “ iniquity’ (Matt. vii. 23; Rom. vi. 19; Heb. x. 17) ; once ‘ unrighteousness ἢ (2 Cor. vi. 14), and once “transgression of the law” (1 John iii. 4). It is set over against δικαιοσύνη (2 Cor. vi. 14: cf. Xenophon, Mem. i. 2. 24) ; joined with ἀναρχία (Plato, Rep. ix. 575 a), with ἀντιλογία (Ps. liv. [LXX] 10). While ἄνομος is once at least in the N.T. used negatively of a person without law, or to whom a law has not been given (1 Cor. ix. 21; οἵ, Plato, Politic. 302 e, ἄνομος μοναρχία) ; though elsewhere of the greatest enemy of all law, the Man of Sin, the lawless one (2 Thess. ii. 8) ; ἀνομία is never there the condition of one living without law, but always the condition or deed of one who acts contrary to law: and so, of course, παρανομία, found only at 2 Pet. ii. 16; ef. Prov. x. 26, and παρανομεῖν, Acts xxiii. 3. It will follow that where there is no law (Rom. v. 13), there may be ἁμαρτία, ἀδικία, but not ἀνομία : being, as @cumenius defines it, ἡ περὶ τὸν θετὸν νόμον πλημμέλεια : aS Fritzsche, ‘legis contemtio aut morum licentia qué lex violatur.’ Thus the Gentiles, not having a law (Rom. ii. 14), might be charged with sin; but they, sinning without law (ἀνόμως Ξε χωρὶς νόμου, Rom. ii. 12; 111. 21), could not be charged with ἀνομία. It is true, indeed, that, behind that law of Moses which they never had, there is another law, the original law and revelation of the righteousness of God, written on the hearts of all (Rom. ii. 14, 15); and, as this in no human heart is obliterated quite, all sin, even that of the darkest and most ignorant savage, must still in a secondary sense remain as ἀνομία, a violation of this older, though partially obscured, law. Thus Origen (in Rom. iv. 5): ‘Iniquitas sane a peccato hance habet differentiam, quod iniquitas in his dicitur que contra legem committuntur, unde et Greecus sermo ἀνομίαν appellat. Peccatum vero etiam illud dici potest, si contra quam natura docet, et conscientia arguit, delinquatur.’ Cf. Xenophon, Mem. iv. 4. 18, 19. It is the same with παράβασις. There must be something to transgress, before there can be a transgression. There was sin between Adam and Moses, as was attested by the fact that there was death ; but those between the law given in Paradise (Gen. ii. 16, 17) and the law given from Sinai, sinning indeed, yet did not sin~“after the similitude of Adam’s transgression” (παραβάσεως, Rom. v. 14). With law came for the first time the possibility of the transgression of law (Rom. iv. 15); and exactly this transgression, or trespass, is παράβασις, from παραβαίνειν, ‘transilire lineam ;’ the French ‘forfait’ (‘faire fors’ or “hors’), some act which is excessive, enormous. Cicero (Parad. 3): ‘ Peccare est tanquam transilire lineas;’ compare the Homeric ὑπερβασίη, Jl. iii. 107, and often. In the constant language of St. Paul this παράβασις, as the transgression of a commandment distinctly given, is more serious than ἁμαρτία (Rom. ii. 23; 1 Tim. ii. 14; cf. Heb. ii. 2; ix. 15). It is from this point of view, and indeed with reference to this very word, that Augustine draws often a distinction between the ‘ peccator’ and the ‘ preevaricator,’ between ‘ peccatum’ (ἁμαρτία) and ‘ preevaricatio’ (παράβασιο). Thus Enarr. in Ps. exviii.; Serm. 25: ‘Omnis quidem prevaricator peccator est, quia peccat in lege, sed non omnis peccator prevaricator est, quia peccant aliqui sine lege. Ubi autem non est lex, nec prevaricatio.” It will be seen that his Latin word introduces a new image, not now of overpassing a line, but of halting on unequal feet; an image, however, which had quite faded from the word when he used it, his motive to employ it lying in the fact that the ‘prevaricator,’ or collusive prosecutor, dealt unjustly with a law. He who, being under no express law, sins, is, in Augustine’s language, ‘peccator’; he who, having such a law, sins, is ‘ preevaricator’ (Ξε παραβάτης, Rom. ii. 25; Jam. ii. 9, a name constantly given by the Church Fathers to Julian the Apostate). Before the law came men might be the 246 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 8 υχσι. former; after the law they could only be the latter. In the first there is implicit, in the second explicit, disobedience. We now arrive at παράπτωμα, a word belonging altogether to the later Greek, and of rare occurrence there; it is employed by Longinus of literary faults (De Subl. 36). Cocceius: ‘Si originem verbi spectemus, significat ea facta pre quibus quis cadit et prostratus jacet, ut stare coram Deo et surgere non potest.’ At Ephes. ii. 1, where παραπτώματα and ἁμαρτίαι are found together, Jerome records with apparent assent a distinction between them ; that the former are sins suggested to the mind and partially entertained and welcomed there, and the latter the same embodied in actual deeds: ‘Aiunt quod παραπτώματα quasi initia peccatorum sint, quum cogitatio tacita subrepit, et ex aliqua parte conniventibus nobis; necdum tamen nos impulit ad ruinam. Peccatum vero esse, quum quid opere consummatum pervenit ad finem.’ This distinction has no warrant. Only this much truth it may be allowed to have; that,as sins of thought partake more of the nature of infirmity, and have less aggravation than the same sins consummated, embodied, that is, in act, so doubtless παράπτωμα is sometimes used when it is intended to designate sins not of the deepest dye and the worst enormity. One may trace this very clearly at Gal. vi. 1, our Translators no doubt meaning to indicate as much when they rendered it by ‘fault’; and not obscurely, as it seems to me, at Rom. v.15, 17,18. Παράπτωμα is used in the same way, as an error, a mistake in judgment, a blunder, by Polybius (ix. 10. 6); compare Ps. xviii. 13, 14, where it is contrasted with the ἁμαρτία μεγάλη : and for other examples see Cremer, Biblisch-Theolog. Worterbuch, p- 501. Toa certain feeling of this we may ascribe another inadequate distinction,—that, namely, of Augustine (Qu. ad Lev. 20), who will have παράπτωμα to be the negative omission of good (‘desertio boni,’ or ‘delictum’), § uxvi. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 247 as contrasted with ἁμαρτία, the positive doing of evil (‘ perpetratio mali’). But this milder subaudition is very far from belonging always to the word (see Jeremy Taylor, Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, iii. 3. 21). There is nothing of it at Ephes. ii. 1, “ dead in trespasses (παραπτώμασι) and sins.”’ Παράπτωμα is mortal sin, Ezek. xviii. 26 ; and the παραπεσεῖν of Heb. vi.6 is equivalent to the ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνειν of x. 26, to the ἀποστῆναι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ζῶντος of iii. 12; while any such extenuation of the force of the word is expressly excluded in a fragment of Philo (vol. ii. p. 648, ed. Mang.), which very closely resembles these two passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in which he distinctly calls it παράπτωμα, when a man, having reached an acknowledged pitch of godliness and virtue, falls back from, and out of this; ‘he was lifted up to the height of heaven, and is fallen down to the deep of hell.’ ᾿Αγνόημα occurs in the N. T. only at Heb. ix. 7 (see Tholuck, On the Hebrews, Appendix, p. 92), but also at Judith v. 20; 1 Mace. xili. 39; Tob. iii. 3; and ἄγνοια in the same sense of sin, Ps. xxiv. 7, and often; and ἀγνοεῖν. to sin, at Hos. iv. 15; Ecclus. v.15; Heb. v. 2. Sin is designated as an ἀγνόημα when it is desired to make excuses for it, so far as there is room for such, to regard it in the mildest possible light (see Acts iii. 17). There is always an element of ignorance in every human transgression, which constitutes it human and not devilish; and which, while it does not take away, yet so far mitigates the sinfulness of it, as to render its forgiveness not indeed necessary, but possible. Thus compare the words of the Lord, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke xxiii. 34), with those of St. Paul, “I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief” (1 Tim. i. 13), where, as one has well said,‘ Der Ausdruck fasst Schuld und Entschuldigung zusammen.’ No sin of man, except perhaps the sin against the Holy Ghost, which may for 248 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 8 τινι. this reason be irremissible (Matt. xii. 32), is committed with a full and perfect recognition of the evil which is chosen as evil, and of the good which is forsaken as good. Compare the numerous passages in which Plato identifies vice with ignorance, and even pronounces that no man is voluntarily evil; οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν κακός, and what is said qualifying or guarding this statement in Archer Butler’s Lectures on Ancient Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 285. Whatever exaggerations this statement of Plato’s may contain, it still remains: true that sin is always, in a greater or a less deyree, an ἀγνόημα, and the more the ἀγνοεῖν, as opposed to the ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνειν (Heb. x. 26), predominates, the greater the extenuation of the sinfulness of the sin. There is therefore an eminent fitness in the employment of the word on the one occasion, referred to already, where it ᾿ appears in the N. T. The ἀγνοήματα, or ‘ errors’ of the people, for which the High Priest offered sacrifice on the great day of atonement, were not wilful transgressions, “presumptuous sins” (Ps. xix. 13), committed xara προαίρεσιν, κατὰ πρόθεσιν, against conscience and with a high hand against God ; those who committed such were cut off from the congregation; no provision having been made in the Levitical constitution for the forgiveness of such (Num. xv. 30, 31); but they were sins growing out of the weakness of the flesh, out of an imperfect insight into God’s law, out of heedlessness and lack of due circumspection (ἀκουσίως, Lev. iv. 13; cf. v. 15-19; Num. Xv. 22-29), and afterwards looked back on with shame and regret. The same distinction exists between ἄγνοια and ἀγνόημα which has been already traced between ἁμαρτία and ἁμάρτημα, ἀδικία and ἀδίκημα : that the former is often the more abstract, the latter is always the concrete. ἽἭττημα appears nowhere in classical Greek ; but ἧττα, a briefer form of the word, is opposed to νίκη, as discomfiture or worsting to victory. It has there past very much §uxvi. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 249 through the same stages as the Latin ‘clades.’ It appears once in the Septuagint (Isai. xxxi. 8), and twice in the N. T., namely at Rom. xi. 12; 1 Cor. vi. 7; but only in the latter instance having an ethical sense, as a coming short of duty, a fault, the German ‘Fehler,’ the Latin ‘delictum.’? Gerhard (Loc. Theoll. xi): “ἥττημα diminutio, defectus, ab ἡττᾶσθαι victum esse, quia peccatores succumbunt carnis et Satane tentationibus.’ Πλημμέλεια, a very frequent word in the O. T. (Lev. Υ. I 5; Num. xviii. 9, and often), and not rare in later ecclesiastical Greek (thus see Clement of Rome, Cor. 41), does not occur in the New. Derived from πλημμελής, one who sings out of tune (πλὴν and pédos),—as ἐμμελής is one who isin tune, and ἐμμέλεια, the right modulation of the voice to the music; it is properly a discord or dis~ harmony (πλημμέλειαι καὶ ἀμετρίαι, Plutarch, Symp. ix. 14. 7) ;—so that Augustine’s Greek is at fault when he finds in it μέλει, ‘cure est’ (Qu. in Lev. iii. 20), and makes πλημpédeva = ἀμέλεια, carelessness. Rather it is sin regarded as a discord or disharmony in the great symphonies of the universe : ‘disproportioned sin Jarred against nature’s chime, and with harsh din Broke the fair music that all creatures made To their great Lord.’ Delitzsch, on Ps. xxxii. I, with whom Hupfeld, on the same passage, may be compared, observes on the more important Hebrew words, which more or less correspond with these: ‘Die Siinde heisst "Ὁ 8 als Losreissung von Gott, Treubruch, Fall aus dem Gnadenstande [= ἀσέβεια]. mspq als Verfehlung des gottgewollten Zieles, Abirrung vom Gottgefilligen, Vollbringung des Gottwidrigen [ΞΞ- ἁμαρτία], 2% als Verkehrung des Geraden, Missethat. Verschuldung [=dvopia, adixia].? 250 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § uxvu.

Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT

ἁμαρτία. In an inscription of Cyzicus territory (JAS xxvii. (1907) p- 63), which F. ΝΥ. Hasluck supposes to belong to iii/B.c., we find ἁμαρτίαν μετανόει, and the word is also found in the interesting Sy// 633 151 (ii/a.p.) which illustrates so many NT words, ὃς ἂν [sic /eg.] δὲ πολυπραγμονήσῃ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ περιεργάσηται, ἁμαρτίαν ὀφιλέτω Μηνὶ Τυράννωι, ἣν οὐ μὴ δύνηται ἐξειλάσασθαι. See also P Lips I. 119 vecfo® (A.D. 274) - - - τ]ῶν ἁμαρτιῶ[ν] τὰς πονηρίας συνεχῶς ἀ]νορθουμένων, P Oxy VIII. 1110}} (A.p. 254) αὐτὸς ὑπέσχετο ἀντὶ τῆς ἁμα]ρτίας, ἀγνοίας πρίόϊφασιν ὑποτειμησάμενος, ὑποστήσεσθαι τὸ [με]τὰ τοῦτο τὰς λειτουργίας. On the Greek conception of ἁμαρτία see CX XXV. pp. 195-7, and xxiv. pp. 88, 234.

Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon

ἁμαρτία (hamartia) — sin. ἁμαρτ-ία, ἡ, a failure, fault, τῶνδ᾽ ἁ. δόμων[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἁ. δόξης error of judgement, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. in Philos. and Religion, guilt, sin, [NT+5th c.BC+]

STEPBible — Tyndale Abridged Greek Lexicon

ἁμαρτία, -ας, ἡ (ἁμαρτάνω, which see), [in LXX chiefly for חַטָּאת and cogn. forms, also for פֶּשַׁע ,עָוֹן, etc. ;] prop. a missing the mark; in cl. (see reff. to CR in MM, VGT, see word); __(a) guilt, sin (Plat., Arist., al.); __(b) more freq., from Æsch. down, a fault, failure. In NT (as LXX) always in ethical sense; __1. as a principle and quality of action, = τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν, a sinning, sin: Rom.5:12, 13 20; ὑφ᾽ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι, Rom.3:9; ἐπιμένειν, Rom.6:1; ἀποθνήσκειν, νεκρὸν εἶναι τῇ ἁ., Rom.6:2, 11; τὴν ἀ. γινώσκειν, Rom.7:7; σῶμα τῆς ἁ., Rom.6:6; ἀπάτη τῆς ἁ., Heb.3:13; personified as a ruling principle, ἁ. βασιλεύει, κυριεύει, etc., Rom.5:21 6:12, 14 7:17, 20; δουλεύειν, Rom.6:6; δοῦλος τῆς ἁ., ib. 17; νόμος τῆς ἁ., Rom.7:23 8:2; δύναμις τῆς ἁ., 1Co.15:56 (cf. Gen.4:7). __2. As a generic term (disting. fr. the specific terms ἁμάρτημα, which see, etc.) for concrete wrongdoing, violation of the divine law, sin: Jhn.8:46, Jas.1:15, al.; ποιεῖν (τὴν) ἁ., Jhn.8:34, 2Co.11:7, 1Jn.3:8; εἴχειν ἁ., Jhn.9:41 15:22, 24 19:11, 1Jn.1:8; in pl. ἁμαρτίαι, sin in the aggregate, 1Th.2:16 (see Milligan, in l.); ποιεῖν ἁμαρτίας, Jas.5:15; πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν, Jas.5:20, 1Pe.4:8; ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν, Mat.26:28, Mrk.1:4, al.; ἐν ἁμαρτίαις εἶναι, 1Co.15:17; collectively, αἴρειν τὴν ἁ. τ. κόσμου, Jhn.1:29; ἀποθνήσκειν ἐν τῇ ἁ., Jhn.8:21. __3. = ἁμάρτημα, a sinful deed, a sin: Mat.12:31, Act.7:60, 1Jn.5:16. SYN.: see: ἁμάρτημα. (AS)

Bible Occurrences (150)

📖 Greek Word Study — In-Depth Study from Precept Austin

Sin (noun) (266) hamartia

Sin (266) (hamartia) literally conveys the idea of missing the mark as when hunting with a bow and arrow (in Homer some hundred times of a warrior hurling his spear but missing his foe). Later hamartia came to mean missing or falling short of any goal, standard, or purpose. Hamartia in the Bible signifies a departure from God's holy, perfect standard of what is right in word or deed (righteous). It pictures the idea of missing His appointed goal (His will) which results in a deviation from what is pleasing to Him. In short, sin is conceived as a missing the true end and scope of our lives, which is the Triune God Himself. As Martin Luther put it "Sin is essentially a departure from God." Ryrie adds that sin "is not only a negative idea but includes the positive idea of hitting some wrong mark." See discussion of the verb form - hamartano See discussion of "the Sin" = Sin "personified" as a principle Disclaimer - Note that SIN is a major theological teaching in the Scriptures and the present discussion is but a feeble attempt to provide the reader with a "starting point" from which one can expand their concept of sin as one reads, studies and meditates on this vitally important topic in the Scriptures. Remember that a "low view of sin" will lead to a "low view of salvation". In fact a failure to understand the true nature of sin as God sees it (and describes it in Scripture), can result in a false understanding of salvation (cp Mt 7:21-note, Mt 7:22, 23-note - Observe that they "practice [present tense = continually, as their lifestyle, as the general "direction" of their life] lawlessness" which 1Jn3:4 defines as sin!). Sinners need to be confronted boldly and head on with the sinfulness of their personal sins against the holy God, so that they might from a sense of anguish, deep despair and utter hopelessness and helplessness, be motivated (the Spirit of course "superintends" the entire process, Jn 3:5, 6, 7, 8, Jn 16:8, 1Pe 1:2-note, 2Th 2:13, Titus 3:5-note) to humble themselves and cry out to God and His Son for salvation (cp Peter when he knew he was drowning - Mt 14:30! The Philippian jailer - Acts 16:30, 31, Zaccheus - Lk 19:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Two men - one who had a true understanding of sin - Lk 18:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Cp OT pictures - Ps 3:7, 8, 6:4, 55:16, Jer 17:14, Naaman - 2Ki 5:10, 11, 12, 13, 14) From a Biblical perspective hamartia describes the missing of the ultimate purpose and person of our lives, that purpose being to please God Who is also the Person the sinner misses! Hamartia is a deviation from God's truth or His moral rectitude (righteousness). It is a deviation from the straight line, marked off by the "plumb line" of God's perfect, pure Word. As someone has well said ultimately sin is man's (foolish) declaration of independence of God, of the "apostasy" of the creature from his Creator! Woe! John Blanchard aptly describes sin as that which "defiles man and defies God" or as he states in another way "Sin is moral mutiny by man". The Puritan John Bunyan minced no words when he defined sin as... the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power and the contempt of His love. Calvin echoed Bunyan declaring that... All wickedness flows from a disregard of God. Tozer stated that... The essence of sin is rebellion against divine authority. F F Bruce described sin when he wrote that... There is something in man—even regenerate man—which objects to God and seeks to be independent of Him. John Bunyan wrote that... Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power and the contempt of His love. Spurgeon on sin... Sin drives men mad. Against their reason, against their best interests, they follow after that which they know will destroy them. It is not the nature of sin to remain in a fixed state. Like decaying fruit, it grows more rotten. The man who is bad today will be worse tomorrow. Sin is a thief. It will rob your soul of its life. It will rob God of his glory. Sin is a murderer. It stabbed our father Adam. It slew our purity. Sin is a traitor. It rebels against the king of heaven and earth. Hamartia is what happens when we err (err is from Latin errare = to wander!) which means to wander from the right way, to deviate from the true course or purpose and so to violate an accepted standard of conduct. Ryrie notes that... Sin may also be defined as against the character of God (from Ro 3:23, where the glory of God is the reflection of His character).... Certainly the chief characteristic of sin is that it is directed against God. (This may be expressed in relation to God’s Law as well.) Any definition that fails to reflect this is not a biblical one. The cliché that categorizes sins as against self, against others, or against God fails to emphasize the truth that all sin is ultimately against God (Ps 51:4; Ro 8:7). (Ryrie, C. C.. Basic Theology: Moody Press) Easton's Bible Dictionary says sin... is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (1John 3:4; Ro 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Ro 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God. Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters, (1) ill-desert, guilt; and (2) pollution (macula).", Hodge's Outlines. (Read Multiple Dictionary Articles on Sin) Eerdmans Dictionary says that sin is... In essence, the failure or refusal of human beings to live the life intended for them by God their creator. Sin (See Sin principle) is personified as a king, a master or monarch in Paul's writings (eg, Ro 6:12, 13, 14-note) and you can mark it down that... Sin always ruins where it reigns! Wayne Grudem defines sin as... any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. Sin is here defined in relation to God and his moral law. Sin includes not only individual acts such as stealing or lying or committing murder, but also attitudes that are contrary to the attitudes God requires of us. (Grudem, W. A.: Systematic Theology- An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine). (Bolding added) See Twenty Reasons Not to Sin! Hamartia in the Bible means to miss God's mark as an archer misses the “bull’s eye” and ultimately to miss the true purpose and end of our lives which is God Himself. Hamartia is the word used most frequently in the NT for sin. Other Sin synonyms parakoe, anomia, paranomia, parabasis, paraptoma, agnoema and hettema. Sin is any violation of God’s righteous character. It is anything we say or do or think or imagine or plan that does not meet God’s standard of perfection. Scriptural definitions of "sin" include... 1Jn 5:17 = unrighteousness Jn 16:9 = do not believe in Jesus Jas 4:17 = knows right thing to do & does not do it 1Jn 3:4 = lawlessness Ro 3:23-note = falling short of the glory of God NIDNTT says that in classic Greek hamartia... originally meant to miss, miss the mark, lose, not share in something, be mistaken. The Greek view of a mistake is intellectually orientated -- hamartano is the result of some agnoia, ignorance. The cognate noun is hamartia (Aesch. onwards), mistake, failure to reach a goal (chiefly a spiritual one). The result of such action is hamartema, failure, mistake, offense, committed against friends, against one’s own body, etc. From these was derived (in the 5th cent. B.C.) the adjective and noun hamartolos, that thing or person that fails; in Aristoph. it occurs as a barbarism used with a deprecatory and ironic ring. hamartetikos (the better form) is also uncommon and late. The root hamart-, with its meaning of fail, produced many popular compounds, e.g. hamartinoos, madman... In the LXX two words, hamartia and adikia, represent between them almost the whole range of Heb. words for guilt and sin... The NT uses (hamartano and cognates) as the comprehensive expression of everything opposed to God. The Christian concept of sin finds its fullest expression and its deepest theological development in Paul and John... Hamartia is always used in the NT of man’s sin which is ultimately directed against God.... Jesus used the OT and Jewish concept of sin that was familiar in the world around him. This becomes clear from the fact that in the Synoptic Gospels the nouns hamartia and hamartema are found almost exclusively in the context of the forgiveness of sins. The verb is often used absolutely, i.e. in its usual and familiar sense (cf. Mt 18:15; Lk 17:3, 4.). The use of the nouns chiefly in the plural shows that the dominant idea is that of individual faults committed against the law or one’s brother... Paul almost always uses the word hamartia in the singular. Sin is almost a personal power which acts in and through man (Ro 5:12, 21; 6:6, 17; 7:9, 10, 11ff.) (See Sin "personified"). The same is also true of sarx, flesh (See Flesh "personified") (Gal. 5:19, 24), and thanatos, death (Ro 6:9b). (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan or Computer version) Cremer says that hamartia... would seem to denote primarily, not sin considered as an action, but sin considered as the quality of action, that is, sin generically...Sin is not merely the quality of an action, but a principle manifesting itself in the conduct of the subject" Ralph Earle observes that... Paul prefers to use other words for sinful acts, reserving hamartia largely for the generic idea of sin as a principle, what we call the carnal nature. How-ever, in the plural, as here, it may denote sinful acts as such. Kenneth Wuest adds that... The pagan Greeks used it of a warrior who hurls his spear and fails to strike his foe. It is used of one who misses his way. Hamartia is used of a poet who selects a subject which it is impossible to treat poetically, or who seeks to attain results which lie beyond the limits of his art. The hamartia is a fearful mistake. It sometimes is employed in an ethical sense where the ideas of right and wrong are discussed, but it does not have the full significance of the biblical content of the word. In the moral sphere, it had the idea of missing the right, of going wrong. In the classics, its predominating significance was that of the failure to attain in any field of endeavor. Brought over into the NT, this idea of failing to attain an end, gives it the idea of missing the divinely appointed goal, a deviation from what is pleasing to God, doing what is opposed to God's will, perversion of what is upright, a misdeed. Thus the word hamartia means a missing of the goal conformable to and fixed by God. It is interesting to note that in Romans the word dikaiosune which means "conformity to the standard" appears as the opposite of hamartia, a missing of the standard set by God (Ro 6:16, 17, 18). (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos) Stahlin says that the NT uses hamartia to denote the determination of human nature in hostility to God. Thayer (abbreviated and modified)... “a failing to hit the mark”. In Greek writings first, “an error” of the understanding. Second, “a bad action, evil deed.” In the NT always in an ethical sense, and (1) Equivalent to "to hamartanein" = “a sinning,” whether it occurs by omission or commission, in thought and feeling or in speech and action: Ro 5:12, 13,20; held down in sin = Ro 3:9; Ro 6:1; Ro 6:2; Ro 7:7; 2Co 5:21; Ro 6:11; to break the power of sin, Ro 8:3; body as the instrument of sin, Ro 6:6;the craft by which sin is accustomed to deceive, He 3:13 (see discussion of The Deceitfulness of Sin); the man so possessed by sin that he seems unable to exist without it, the man utterly given up to sin, 2Th 2:3. In this sense hamartia as a power exercising dominion over men (“sin as a principle and power”) is rhetorically represented as an imperial personage (Ed: Sin is like a "King" who demands loyalty and obedience!) in the phrases Ro 5:21; Ro 6:12, Ro 6:14; Ro 7:17, Ro 7:20; Ro 6:6; Jn 8:34; Ro 6:17 The dictate of sin or an impulse proceeding from it, Ro 7:23; 8:2; 1Co 15:56; (the prosopopoeia [rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person or object. Literally from Greek roots = "a face, a person, to make"] occurs in Ge 4:7). Thus, hamartia in sense, but not in signification, is the source whence the several evil acts proceed. See related discussion of Sin which is "personified" as a principle or propensity inherited from Adam (2) “that which is done wrong,” committed or resultant “sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act” (1Jn 3:4); a. generally: Jas 1:15; Jn 8:46 (where hamartia must be taken to mean neither “error,” nor “craft” by which Jesus is corrupting the people, but “sin” viewed generally; the thought is, ‘If anyone convicts me of sin, then you may lawfully question the truth and divinity of my doctrine, for sin hinders the perception of truth’); so that he did not commit sin, He 4:15; Jn 8:34; 1Jn 3:8; 2Co 11:7; 1Pe 2:22; To have sin as though it were one’s odious private property, or to have done something needing expiation, equivalent to to have committed sin, Jn 9:41; 15:22,24; 19:11; 1Jn 1:8 (of one who has committed murder, Euripides); very often in the plural (hamartiai) (in Synoptic Gospels singular occurs but once Mt 12:31); 1Th 2:16; Jas 5:16; Re 18:4, 5, etc.; Jas 5:20; 1Pe 4:8; Jas 5:15; also in the expressions in which the word does not of itself denote the “guilt or penalty of sins,” but the sins are conceived of as removed so to speak from God’s sight, regarded by him as not having been done, and therefore are not punished. Thou wast covered all over with sins when thou wast born i.e. didst sin abundantly before thou wast born, Jn 9:34; to die loaded with evil deeds therefore unreformed, Jn 8:24; still to have one’s sins, namely, unexpiated, 1Co 15:17. b. “some particular evil deed”: Acts 7:60; Mt12:31; 1Jn 5:16 (3) collectively, “the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many”: Jn 1:29 Jn 8:21; He 9:28. (4) abstract for the concrete, equivalent to hamartolos Ro 7:7; 2Co 5:21 he treated him, who knew not sin, as a sinner. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon Daniel Doriani writes that... Sin is a riddle, a mystery, a reality that eludes definition and comprehension. Perhaps we most often think of sin as wrongdoing or transgression of God's law. Sin includes a failure to do what is right. But sin also offends people; it is violence and lovelessness toward other people, and ultimately, rebellion against God. Further, the Bible teaches that sin involves a condition in which the heart is corrupted and inclined toward evil. The concept of sin is complex, and the terminology large and varied so that it may be best to look at the reality of sin in the Pentateuch first, then reflect theologically. (Click to read the full discussion of "Sin" in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology) Webster's 1823 Dictionary has a "bibliocentric" definition of sin as... The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. Sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not actions only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts, purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God’s commands or law. Hamartia - 173x in 150v - Mt 1:21; 3:6; 9:2, 5, 6; 12:31; 26:28; Mk 1:4, 5; 2:5, 7, 9, 10; Lk 1:77; 3:3; 5:20, 21, 23, 24; 7:47, 48, 49, 11:4; 24:47; Jn 1:29; 8:21, 24, 34, 46; 9:34, 41; 15:22, 24; 16:8, 9; 19:11; 20:23; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 7:60; 10:43; 13:38; 22:16; 26:18; Ro 3:9-note, Ro 3:20-note; Ro 4:7, 8-note; Ro 5:12-note, Ro 5:13-note, Ro 5:20, 21-note; Ro 6:1, 2-note, Ro 6:6, 7-note, Ro 6:10-note, Ro 6:11-note, Ro 6:12, 13, 14-note, Ro 6:16, 17-note, Ro 6:18-note, Ro 6:20-note, Ro 6:22-note, Ro 6:23-note; Ro 7:5-note, Ro 7:7, 8, 9-note, Ro 7:11-note, Ro 7:13-note, Ro 7:14-note, Ro 7:17-note, Ro 7:20-note, Ro 7:23-note, Ro 7:25-note; Ro 8:2, 3-note, Ro 8:10-note; Ro 11:27-note; Ro 14:23-note; 1Co 15:3, 17, 56; 2Cor 5:21; 11:7; Gal 1:4; 2:17; 3:22; Ep 2:1-note; Col 1:14-note; 1Th 2:16-note; 1Ti 5:22, 24; 2Ti 3:6-note; He 1:3-note; He 2:17-note; He 3:13-note; He 4:15-note; He 5:1-note, He 5:3-note; He 7:27-note; He 8:12-note; He 9:26-note, He 9:28-note; He 10:2, 3-note, He 10:4-note, He 10:6-note, He 10:8-note, He 10:11, 12-note, He 10:17, 18-note, He 10:26-note; He 11:25-note; He 12:1-note, He 12:4-note; He 13:11-note; Jas 1:15-note; Jas 2:9; 4:17; 5:15, 16, 20; 1Pe 2:22-note, 1Pe 2:24-note; 1Pe 3:18-note; 1Pe 4:1-note, 1Pe 4:8-note; 2Pe 1:9-note; 2Pe 2:14-note; 1Jn 1:7, 8, 9; 2:2, 12; 3:4, 5, 8, 9; 4:10; 5:16, 17; Rev 1:5-note; Rev18:4-note, Rev 18:5-note. NT uses of hamartia summarized - Romans 48x = 28% (Ro 6 = 16x; Ro 7 = 15x); Hebrews 25x = 14% (He 10 = 10x); John 17x = 10% (Jn 8 = 6x); 1John 17x = 10% (1Jn 3 = 6x); Luke 11x = 6%; Acts 8x = 5%; Matthew 7x = 4%; James 7x = 4%. NAS = sin(96), sinful(2), sins(75). Hamartia - 377x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - Ge 15:16; 18:20; 20:9; 41:9; 42:21; 50:17; Ex 10:17; 20:5; 28:43; 29:14, 36; 30:10; 32:21, 30ff, 34; 34:7, 9; Lev 4:3, 8, 14, 20f, 23ff, 28f, 32ff; 5:1, 5ff, 17; 6:17, 25, 30; 7:7, 18, 37; 8:2, 14; 9:2f, 7f, 10, 15, 22; 10:16f, 19; 12:6, 8; 14:13, 19, 22, 31; 15:15, 30; 16:3, 5f, 9, 11, 15f, 21, 25, 27, 30, 34; 19:8, 17, 22; 20:17, 19; 22:9; 23:19; 24:15; 26:18, 21, 24, 28, 39ff; Nu 5:6f, 15, 31; 6:11, 14, 16; 7:16, 22, 28, 34, 40, 46, 52, 58, 64, 70, 76, 82, 87; 8:8, 12; 9:13; 12:11; 14:18f, 34; 15:24f, 27, 31; 16:26; 18:1, 9, 22, 32; 27:3; 28:15, 22, 30; 29:5, 11, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38; 30:15; 32:23; Dt 5:9; 9:18, 21; 15:9; 19:15; 21:22; 23:21f; 24:15f; 30:3; Josh 22:20; 1Sa 2:17; 12:19; 14:38; 15:23; 1Kgs 8:34ff; 12:30; 13:34; 14:22; 15:3, 26, 30, 34; 16:13, 19, 26, 31; 22:52; 2Kgs 1:18; 3:3; 10:29, 31; 12:16; 13:2, 6, 11; 14:6, 24; 15:9, 18, 24, 28; 17:21f; 21:16f; 24:3; 1Chr 21:3; 2 Chr 6:25ff; 7:14; 25:4; 28:13; 29:21, 23f; 33:19; 36:5; Ezra 6:17; 8:35; Neh 1:6; 9:2, 37; 10:33; Job 1:5; 7:21; 10:6; 13:23, 26; 14:16; 22:5; 24:20; 31:33; 34:37; 42:9f; Ps 10:15; 19:13; 25:7, 11, 18; 32:1f, 5; 38:3, 18; 40:6; 51:2f, 5, 9; 59:3, 12; 78:38; 79:9; 85:2; 89:32; 103:10; 109:7, 14; 141:4; Pr 5:22; 10:16, 19; 12:13; 13:6, 9; 14:34; 15:27; 20:9; 21:4; 24:9; 26:11, 26; 28:2; 29:16, 22; Eccl 10:4; Isa 1:4, 14, 18; 3:9; 5:18; 6:7; 13:11; 14:21; 22:14; 27:9; 30:1, 13; 33:24; 38:17; 40:2; 43:24; 44:22; 50:1; 53:4ff, 10ff; 55:7; 57:17; 59:2f, 12; 64:7, 9; 65:2, 7; 66:4; Jer 5:25; 14:7; 15:13; 16:10, 18; 18:23; 30:14, 16; 31:30, 34; 32:18; 33:8; 36:3; 50:20; Lam 1:8; 3:39; 4:13; Ezek 3:20; 16:51f; 18:14, 24; 21:24; 23:49; 28:17f; 33:14, 16; 36:19; 39:23; 40:39; 42:13; 43:10, 19, 21f, 25; 44:29; 45:17, 22f, 25; 46:20; Da 4:22, 27, 33f; 6:4, 22; 8:12f, 23; 9:13, 16, 20, 24; 11:32; Hos 4:8; 8:11, 13; 9:9; 13:12; Amos 3:2; 5:12; Mic 1:5, 13; 3:8; 6:7, 13; 7:19; Zech 14:19 Charles Spurgeon said "Sin is the mother and nurse of all evil, the egg of all mischief, the fountain of all bitterness, the root of misery." Puritan John Bunyan (Pilgrim’s Progress), described sin like this - Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power and the contempt of His love. Godly people, such as Bunyan, have always been able to articulate just how horrible and damaging sin really is. Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine - Sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God. Not only is it sin, it is a perverse distortion of the image of the Creator in us. All these good things, and all our security, are rightly found only and completely in him. Nothing seems to expose the sin nature more than two boys tugging on opposite ends of a toy fire truck, each one screaming, "Mine! Mine!!" John Blanchard -No sin is to be regarded as small, because the God who forbids all sin is so great...Sin keeps us from knowing the true nature of sin...To understand the deceitfulness of sin, compare its promises and its payments. (Source: This quote and several of the quotes in this section are from John Blanchard's book which is highly recommended as the single best compendium of Biblically sound quotations available - The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations - also on WORDsearchBible.com) Jerry Bridges asks "What is sin?" It is often described as “missing the mark”—that is, failure to live up to the rigorous standard of God’s holy law. But the Bible makes it clear that it is much more than that. In Leviticus 16:21, sin is described as transgression; literally, as rebellion against authority. In the prophet Nathan’s confrontation of David over his sins of adultery and murder, Nathan describes sin as a despising of both God’s Word and God himself (2Sa 12:9—10). And in Nu 15:30—31, Moses characterizes sinners as acting “with a high hand,” meaning defiantly. Therefore, we can conclude that sin is a rebellion against God’s sovereign authority, a despising of his Word and his person, and even a defiance of God himself. It is no wonder Paul wrote that because of our sin, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath (Eph. 2:3). We would like to think that, as believers, such descriptions of sin no longer apply to us. We look at the gross and obvious sins of society around us, and we tend to define sin in terms of those actions. We fail to see that our anxiety, our discontentment, our ingratitude toward God, our pride and selfishness, our critical and judgmental attitudes toward others, our gossip, our unkind words to or about others, our preoccupation with the things of this life, and a whole host of other subtle sins are an expression of rebellion against God and a despising of his Word and person. The truth is that even the most mature believers continue to sin in thought, word, deed, and especially in motive. We continually experience the inward spiritual guerilla warfare Paul describes when he states, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Gal. 5:17). That is why it was necessary for the apostle Peter to exhort us to “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Pet. 2:11-note). This, then, is the doctrine of sin. Because of Adam’s sin as representative of the entire human race (Ed: Discussed fully in Ro 5:12-21-see notes), we are born with a sinful nature and as objects of God’s wrath. We then aggravate our condition before God with our personal sins, whether they be the gross, obvious sins, or the subtle sins we too often tolerate in ourselves and in our Christian circles. And it is in view of this truth of the doctrine of sin that we should understand Paul’s words, “Christ died for (Ed: In our place, on our behalf, as our representative, as our substitute for) our sins.” (1Cor 15:3-note) It is with this understanding of the nature and reality of sin that we should understand the words of the angel to Joseph, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21 - Ed note - Hebrew is Yehoshua, contracted to Joshua = Yeshua = Yehowshuwa = he will save = Yahweh or Jehovah -I Am- + yasha = saves = "Jehovah saves." The Name also may be contracted simply to Yeshua, which is the Hebrew word for "salvation," frequently used in the Old Testament. It is also equivalent to "Joshua." Appropriately, Mt 1:21 is the first use of "save" in the NT.). Christ died for our sins. This phrase suggests two ideas—substitution and sacrifice. Christ died in our place as our substitute and representative. Just as God appointed Adam to act as representative of all humanity, so he appointed Jesus Christ to act on behalf of all who trust in him. (The Great Exchange- My Sin for His Righteousness- Jerry Bridges, Bob Bevington - this book is worth reading - it is heavy but needed in our day of a softening of the "Gospel Message.") "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_520-21.htm#s

Everything we make is available for free because of a generous community of supporters.

Donate