BibleProject | Understanding Sin, Iniquity, & Transgressionናሙና

Pop culture sometimes obsesses over bad behavior—who’s doing the wrong things, who’s saying the wrong words, and who's to blame? Our most popular movies and books often depend on the “good guys versus bad guys” storyline. Whether we know it or not, we’re obsessing over sin.

The same goes for church culture. Pastors and priests preach about sin on Sundays. Small group leaders encourage you to confess it. Jesus and the apostles never shy away from bringing it up. And churches throughout history have been celebrating a 40-day season called Lent, which is devoted to reflections about sin and its ongoing corruption.

Contrary to some popular assumptions, when the biblical authors talk about sin, they are talking about something much deeper and more complex than regulatory lists of good and bad behaviors or good guys versus bad guys. They’re talking about a corruption of God’s good world that shows up in human relationships and choices, something that we do and something that happens to us.

The story starts with God creating everything and repeatedly calling it good (or tov in Hebrew; see Gen. 1 for all seven references). But then a snake enters the narrative, corrupting that goodness. As the story unfolds, the biblical authors use language like “sin,” “iniquity,” and “transgression” to explain this corruption and the harm it causes. So let’s take a closer look at what these words mean so we can understand the authors’ perspectives.

The Hebrew word khata’ is most commonly translated as “sin.” Khata’ means “to fail” or “to miss the goal,” and the word is not always about morality.

In Judges 20:16, we learn that a slingshot expert who successfully nails the bullseye does not khata’, which means he does not fail or miss the target. Similarly, we read in Proverbs 19:2 that people who act hastily while traveling are likely to khata’—to miss their intended destination.

So if sin is missing a goal, what’s the goal?

When God creates humanity in his divine image, he sets the goal. Genesis 1:26 captures an interesting statement from God, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness,” reminding us that this single God exists in three different yet undivided persons—Father, Word, and Spirit—inseparable but distinct, forever together in unbreakable love. To be created in the image of a God like this suggests that humanity’s most essential nature is divine love. Living with love for God and one another and all creation is our primary human goal. Choosing to not love invites corruption into the goodness of creation, so it is khata’—sin.

In Genesis 3, the first human beings miss the goal of loving God when they ignore his instruction and redefine good and bad on their own terms. Their choice fractures their relationship with God and each other, leading to death. In the next chapter (Gen. 4), we see the Bible’s first use of khata’. Cain is faced with the decision to be truly human and love his brother Abel or to corrupt himself and others by murdering his brother.

God warns Cain: “If you do not choose what is good, khata’ (sin) is crouching at the door. It wants you, but you can rule over it” (Gen. 4:7). Here, the author describes sin as something outside of Cain, like a crouching predator waiting to attack and destroy life. But Cain can resist sin if he chooses to—he can rule over the crouching beast.

Examining khata’ in the Hebrew Bible simultaneously makes the idea of sin clearer and more mysterious. Sin is like a crouching monster outside of us, waiting to pounce and corrupt by tempting us to be unloving toward God and others. But every human can reject it by choosing to aim for the truest human goal—becoming infinitely loving toward God and others.

In today’s video, take a closer look at the Hebrew word khata'.