Expert: Marvin Howard - 9/28/2008

Question
You wrote that "Originally, sin was an archery term" and my pastor has said the same. But looking into it myself, I find that the accurate entomology doesn't hold to that claim.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=sin&searchmode=none

Answer
Hi!

Russell, I was remembering from lessons I learned three decades ago (Greater Atlanta Christian Schools/9th grade/1978/Owen Freeman, Bible Instructor) when I wrote that sermon, and it took me a while to find it again. I normally use Strong or Thayer for my language sources, and they did not give full etymologies. I had to add books to my library to get the full information for you. Being on Social Security meant waiting for today for the chance.

Genesis 4:7, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”

This is the first passage where the translated word, “sin,” is actually used. Let’s look at this with the Strong’s numbers applied, for it will help us locate things.

Genesis 4:7, “IfH518 thou doest well,H3190 shalt thou notH3808 be accepted?H7613 and ifH518 thou doest notH3808 well,H3190 sinH2403 liethH7257 at the door.H6607 And untoH413 thee shall be his desire,H8669 and thouH859 shalt ruleH4910 over him.”

I preach predominately from the King James Version, but GACS used the NASB. The different versions are another study, so I will not get into it, but all can be useful at times. Let us look to the “New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance” (keyed to Strong’s numbers) for an etymology.

H2403
chattaah (308b); from H2398); sinful thing, sin: - sin (2).

Since this word came from another, let’s dig more deeply into the language. I am sorry. This forum will not allow me to use the actual, Hebrew term, so I must use the English transliterations. However, you have the numbers to research this for yourself if needed. You will see the similarities in spelling and pronunciation. (The words with numbers following are various translations of the word, and the parenthetical numbers are the numbers of times it is translated as that word.)

H2398
chata (306c); a prim. root; to miss, go wrong, sin: - bear the blame (2), bewildered (1), bore the loss (1), bring sin (1), cleanse (5), cleansed (1), cleansing (1), commit (2), commits sin (1), committed (21), done wrong (1), errs (1), fault (1), fear...loss (1), forfeits (1), indicted (1), miss (1), offended (1), offered it for sin (1), offers it for sin (1), purged (1), purified (2), purified themselves from sin (1), purify (6), purify him from uncleanness (1), purify himself from uncleanness (2), reach (1), sin (55), sin have I committed (1), sinful (1), sinned (87), sinner (7), sinning (4), sins (23).

If you notice, the first phrase is, “to miss.” The second, “to go wrong,” also means to depart from the desired course. When the Old Testament was translated into Greek, there was a penchant to explain things in sports terms. Thus missing something was applied specifically to a target. There were no firearms, so archery was the shooting sport then in vogue. This is how sin came to be used as an archery term by the time the Bible was completely written in Greek.

Russel, I pray I have provided you with additional information to study. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to ask. I will try to take less time in my resopnses.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard