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Other scholars believe that the term implies a “painful burden or difficulty”—i.e., that
sin is a toilsome, exhausting load of “trouble and sorrow,” which the offender causes for
himself or others. This meaning is indicated in Ps. 90:10: “The days of our years are three
score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their
strength labor and
(
[
RSV
, “trouble”].…” A similar meaning appears in Prov. 22:8:
“He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity [
(
]: and the rod of his anger shall fail.”
*(
may be a general term for a crime or offense, as in Micah 2:1: “Woe to them
that devise iniquity …” (cf. Isa. 1:13). In some passages, the word refers to falsehood or
deception: “The words of his mouth are
%$
and deceit: he hath left off to be wise,
and to do good” (Ps. 36:3). “For the idols have spoken
2
[
NASB
, “iniquity”] …”
(Zech. 10:2). Isa. 41:29 portrays idols deceiving their worshipers: “Behold, they are all
2 ;
their works are nothing: Their molten images are wind and confusion.”
(
, 817), “sin; guilt; guilt offering; trespass; trespass offering.” Cognates
appear in Arabic as
$
(“sin; offense; misdeed; crime”),
(“to sin, err, slip”),
and
$
(“sinful; criminal; evil; wicked”); but the Arabic usage does not include the
idea of restitution. In the Ugaritic texts of Ras Shamra, the word
occurs in similar
passages. Scholars believe this Ugaritic word may mean “offense” or “guilt offering,” but
this cannot be ascertained.
*
implies the condition of “guilt” incurred through some wrongdoing, as in
Gen. 26:10: “And Abimelech said, … one of the people might lightly have lain with thy
wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.” The word may also refer to
the offense itself which entails the guilt: “For Israel hath not been forsaken … though
their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel” (Jer. 51:5). A similar
meaning of the word appears in Ps. 68:21: “But God shall wound the head of his enemies
and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses [
RSV
, “guilty ways”;
NASH, “guilty deeds”].”
Most occurrences of
refer to the compensation given to satisfy someone who
has been injured, or to the “trespass offering” or “guilt offering” presented on the altar by
the repentant offender after paying a compensation of six-fifths of the damage inflicted
(Num. 5:7- 8). The “trespass offering” was the blood sacrifice of a ram: “And he shall
bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering,
unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance
wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him” (Lev. 5:18; cf. Lev. 7:5, 7;
14:12-13). The most significant theological statement containing
is in Isa. 53:10,
which says that the servant of Yahweh was appointed as an
for sinful mankind.
This suggests that His death furnished a 120- percent compensation for the broken law of
God.
(
, 5999), “evil; trouble; misfortune; mischief; grievance; wickedness;
labor.” This noun is related to the Hebrew verb
(“to labor, toil”). The Arabic