Sin

Author: Leandro Alegsa Creation date: November 13, 2022

A sin is a bad act. Particularly, it is a bad act against another person(s), an animal, a spirit, or a god.

In Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity and Judaism, it is an act that goes against what God wants. It turns people away from God and true happiness. In Exodus chapter 20, Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God, explaining important sins like murder and idolatry. This is not believed by all people, and not all societies have the same idea of sin.

There is a difference between sins and prohibitions. For example, Muslims and Jews say that it is wrong to eat pork, and Hindus do not eat beef. That is for them, but for others it is not wrong to eat these things.

Sin, symbolized by the snake, is expelled through baptism. Baptismal font in St. John (Bremen)

Etymology

The Greek expression ἁμαρτία (hamartía) of the New Testament and the Hebrew word chata'a or chat'at (חַטָּאָה/חַטָּ֣את) of the Tanakh mean missing a target - concretely and figuratively, i.e., failure - and are rendered as sin in German translations of the Bible.

Wulfila translated hamartía as frawaúrhts (from frawaúrkjan, from Gothic waúrkjan, "to work," root-related to "work"). The German word Sünde (from Old High German sunta or suntea) has a common West Germanic root with words of other Germanic languages (English sin, Old Norwegian synd). The origin is not exactly clear. Presumably, like Latin sunnia ("distress of being" in the Lex salica), the word goes back to the Indo-Germanic root *es- ("to be," Old High German sīn) as a participle meaning "that which is." In German, "sin" was first used as a Christian term.

A folk etymological interpretation traces it back to the Germanic sund, because Sund denotes a separation of two land masses (by a strait). However, this is countered by the fact that Sund, on the contrary, denotes a narrowness, i.e. a connection, for example a strait. According to another explanation, however, the word can be derived from the Old Norse verb sundr. It means "to separate" or "to divide" (cf. German "(ab)sondern", modern Scandinavian sondre and Swedish sönder "broken"). Thus a sund would be a land division or fracture.

Judaism

In Judaism, the transgression of a law of God is a sin. The laws are the commandments of the Torah, other regulations in the Tanakh, and the interpretations compiled in the Talmud. According to Jewish understanding, every person commits sins in the course of his life. God compensates the appropriate punishment through grace. As mentioned in the prayer Unetaneh tokef on Rosh ha-Shanah and on Yom Kippur, sincere repentance and conversion (Jonah 3:5-10 EU), (Dan 4:27 EU) as well as almsgiving are central elements of atonement.

The common Hebrew word for sin is aveira, literally "transgression" (of a commandment). According to the interpretation of the Tanakh, three forms of sin are distinguished:

Pesha or Mered: Sin committed deliberately, in conscious rebellion against God.
Avon: Sin committed emotionally, consciously, but not in rebellion against God.
Chet: Unintentional sin

According to Jewish teachings, no human being is perfect, and all people sin. However, these actions do not result in permanent damnation; only a few sins are unforgivable. According to the Babylonian Talmud, God's grace is summarized in thirteen attributes:

God is merciful even before man sins, although He knows that man is capable of sin.
God is merciful to the sinner after he has sinned.
God can be gracious even where a human being cannot or does not deserve it.
God is compassionate and eases the punishment of the guilty party.
God is gracious even to those who do not deserve it.
God is not easily angered.
God's kindness is manifold.
God is a God of truth; therefore, His promise to forgive the confessing sinner is valid.
God is kind to future generations, just as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob experienced His kindness.
God forgives sins consciously committed when the sinner repents.
God forgives the deliberate angering of Himself when the sinner repents.
God forgives sins committed out of error.
God forgets the sins of those who repent.

Jews are to apply these principles in their dealings with fellow human beings.

According to the Jewish Bible, the "tabernacle" and later the Jerusalem temple were places where the Hebrews or Israelites could offer sacrifices after repenting their sins before God (Hebrew: kippär). Some sins additionally required confession before God. Priests performed the rituals specified in the Torah (singing, prayer, offerings). The holiday of Yom Kippur is a special day when all the Jewish people come together for the forgiveness of their sins.

In the later books of the prophets, rituals without genuine repentance are rejected and the necessary inner attitude of the supplicants toward repentance and conversion is again urged.