Sæktu forritiðBibleProject | Understanding Sin, Iniquity, & TransgressionSýnishorn
The biblical authors explore more of the relational consequences of sin with the Hebrew word pesha, often translated as “transgression.” Pesha refers to ways that people violate the trust of others, like the betrayal of a relationship.
Take for instance a law in the Hebrew Bible about theft (e.g., Exod. 22:7-9). If people are away on a trip and somebody sneaks into their house to steal, that’s robbery. But if the thief is your neighbor, that’s pesha. Why? Because a neighbor is someone you should be able to trust.
The same relational betrayal can happen between humans and God. Prophets in the Hebrew Bible accuse the Israelites of pesha, referring to their worship of other gods and violation of their relationship with Yahweh (e.g., Hos. 11). They also associate pesha with the choice to mistreat or ignore poor and vulnerable people in their communities (e.g., Amos 2:6) because doing so corrupts what should be loving, life-giving relationships. The prophets watched leaders ignore or justify the mistreatment of humans in the name of national security and a strong economy (e.g., Amos 1:9, 13), and they called this a betrayal of humanity, a violation of universal trust that should otherwise exist between humans made in God’s loving image.
In today’s video, explore the biblical word pesha, or transgression, and how it describes the rupture of trust in relationships and a lack of faithfulness and integrity, leading to painful experiences that harm everyone involved.
About this Plan
BibleProject designed this plan to help individuals, families, and groups reflect on the biblical concept of sin. What is wrong, and what is right? And how does the Bible define sin? We look at three Hebrew words used for sin in the Bible and examine how sin is not only something we do but also something that happens to us—a force that we can choose to rule over.
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