cognate
means “to get tired from hard work.” The Aramaic
means “make”
or “do,” with no necessary connotation of burdensome labor. The Phoenician Canaanite
usage of this term was closer to the Arabic; the Book of Ecclesiastes (which shows
considerable Phoenician influence) clearly represents this use: “Yea, I hated all my
which I had taken under the sun …” (Eccl. 2:18). “And also that every man should eat
and drink, and enjoy the good of all his
…” (Eccl. 3:13). A related example appears
in Ps. 107:12: “Therefore he brought down their heart with
;
they fell down and
there was none to help.”
In general,
refers either to the trouble and suffering which sin causes the sinner
or to the trouble that he inflicts upon others. Jer. 20:18 depicts self-inflicted sorrow:
“Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor [
] and sorrow [
], that
my days should be consumed with shame?” Another instance is found in Deut. 26:7:
“And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and
looked on our affliction [ ], and our labor [
], and our oppression [
].”
Job 4:8 illustrates the sense of trouble as mischief inflicted on others: “… They that
plow iniquity [
(
], and sow wickedness [
] reap the same.” The word appears in
Ps. 140:9: “As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own
lips cover them.” Hab. 1:3 also refers to the trouble inficted on others: “Why dost thou
show me iniquity [
(
], and cause me to behold grievance [
]? For spoiling and
violence are before me; and there are that raise up strife and contention.”
(
( , 5771), “iniquity.” This word is derived from the root
(
, which
means “to be bent, bowed down, twisted, perverted” or “to twist, pervert.” The Arabic
cognate
(
means “to twist, bend down”; some scholars regard the Arabic term
(“to err from the way”) as the true cognate, but there is less justification for this
interpretation.
*(
portrays sin as a perversion of life (a twisting out of the right way), a
perversion of truth (a twisting into error), or a perversion of intent (a bending of rectitude
into willful disobedience). The word “iniquity” is the best single-word equivalent,
although the Latin root
%$
really means “injustice; unfairness; hostile; adverse.”
*(
occurs frequently throughout the Old Testament in parallelism with other
words related to sin, such as
(“sin”) and
(“transgression”). Some
examples are 1 Sam. 20:1: “And David … said before Jonathan, what have I done? what
is mine iniquity [
(
]? and what is my sin [
] before thy father, that he seeketh
my life?” (cf. Isa. 43:24; Jer. 5:25). Also note Job 14:17: “My transgression [
] is
sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity [
(
]” (cf. Ps. 107:17; Isa. 50:1).
The penitent wrongdoer recognized his “iniquity” in Isa. 59:12: “For our
transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our
transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them” (cf. 1 Sam. 3:13).
“Iniquity” is something to be confessed: “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the