Let’s define our terms by the lexicon and other study helps, after the long study about sin.

Let’s begin

I.. Table of Words for Sin

A.. Brief intro.

Let’s get into the molecular structure of this doctrine, all (or most) of the words that mean sin or related words. The table of sins demonstrates how deeply embedded sin is in the Bible and therefore in all humans. It confirms the doctrine of universal sin.

Table of Words for Sin
	Original Word	Definition
Old Testament
1	Verb ḥaṭa’	Pronounced khah-tah and means “miss the mark” and used 240 times. See Judg. 20:16l Prov. 19:2l Job 5:24; Jos. 7:11; Gen. 20:6; 1 Sam. 19:4; Exod. 23:33
2	Noun ’awen	It means “evil, sin, wickedness” with the connotation of “injustice, deception, falsehood, emptiness” and is used 81 times, e.g. Gen. 35:18
3	Noun haṭṭa’t	“Sin” and “the sin offering.” It is pronounced khaht-tat and is used 298 times, 19 times in Leviticus 4, alone. It was crouching at Cain’s door (Gen. 4:7). Sin can be a snare (1 Kings 12:30; cf. 13:34). It can refer to the accumulation of many sins, as a singular collective (1 King 8:34). Solution: 2 Cor. 5:20.
4	Noun ‘awon	“sin, guilt, wickedness and iniquity” and is pronounced ah-wone and used 233 times. Lev. 16:21-22; Ps. 51:5, 9; Exod. 34:6-7, all three nouns (3, 4, 5) for sin are used.
5	Noun pesha‘	“Rebellion, offense, sin, transgression” and is pronounced as written and used 93 times. Amos 2:4-6; Lev. 16:16, 21
6	Noun asham	“guilt offering” and is pronounced as written and used 47 times; Lev. 5:5-6. In Is. 52:10 the Suffering Servant is our ahsam. “The Lord makes his life a guilt offering.” Christ is our substitute and paying the penalty for our sins—penal substitution—for us.
7	Noun ḥamas	“Sinful violence” and is pronounced khah-moss and used 60 times (Gen. 49:5); or mental anguish (Ps. 35:11-12). In Old Covenant, God employs people to wreak punishment through the word as judgment; (Jer. 13:22). General injustice in society (Is. 59:6; Jer. 6:7)
8	Verb ra‘a‘	Being or causing evil, “to be evil or afflict” and is pronounced rah-ah and used 95 times (Gen. 21:11-12) or to anger or get angry (Gen. 48:17; Is. 59:15). Various degrees of evil (Num. 16:15; Deut. 26:6; Jer. 23:14). The opposite of the verb is law keeping and good (Ps. 119:115; Is. 43:23; Jer. 10:5).
9	Adjective or noun ra‘	It is usually translated as “evil” and is pronounced rah and used 312 times. “Bad” as in a bad report (Num. 14:37) or a noun “purge evil from among you” (Deut. 22:24). “Disaster, destruction” (Deut. 30:15). “Disaster” (1 Kings 5:4; Ps. 140:11; Is. 3:11; 31:2). The most important verse is Is. 45:7: “I form the light and created darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster” (see also Mic. 1:12). Older translations say God created “evil,” but this is wrong, based on the context.
10	Adjective rasha‘	Related to ra‘ and means “wicked, evil, guilty or unjust.” It is used 264 times. “Wicked character” and “practice.” Contrasted with ṣaddiq (righteous) (Ps. 34:21; Ps. 10:4; Ps. 36:1 (Ps. 37:20).
11	Verb ṭame’	“ceremoniously unclean, defiled” and is pronounced tah-may and used 88 times. Contact with unclean things and crosses over to moral uncleanness (Lev. 10-15). Sexual misconduct (Lev. 18:24-25) and idolatry (Lev. 20:3-5; Ps. 106:38), and murder (Num. 35:33). It defiles the Holy Land and temple because God is there (Exod. 25:8; 1 Kings 8:1-21; Is. 12:6; Ezek. 8-11; 43:1-12).
12	Noun ṭum’a	“Uncleanness” and “impurity” (e.g. Lev. 15:3; 25-26; 30-31) and is pronounced too-ma and used 87 times. General impurity of the people (Ezek. 24:11, 13; 36:17. God can cleanse them (Ezek. 36:25; cf. Zech. 13:2). In Christ God cleanses us from unrighteousness (1 John 1:10).
13	Adjective ṭame’	It means the same as the noun and verb and is pronounced tah-may and used 87 times (e.g. Lev. 11; Lev. 13-15). In Christ, believers are cleansed by his blood (Heb. 10:13-14)
New Testament
1	Verb harmatanō	Pronounced hahr-mah-tahn-oh and means to “miss the mark, losing, falling short,” like an arrow that misses the bullseye or even falls to the ground and does not come near the target. It is used 43 times. Sins against humankind and God (1 Cor. 8:12). From our sin nature (Rom. 5:12; 1 John 1:10).
2	Noun harmatia	Pronounced hahr-mah-tee-ah and usually means the “transgression of the law.” It is used 173 times in the New Testament, 64 times in Paul’s writing, 48 times in Romans, 37 times in John’s writings, and 27 times in Hebrews.
3	Noun parabasis	Pronounced pah-rah-bah-sis and means “transgression” and is used 7 times. It means crossing the line or going across the frontier, and spiritually and morally it means breaking the law of God; Rom. 2:23; 5:14; Gal. 3:19 Rom. 4:15; see Heb. 2:2
4	Noun paraptōma	pronounced pah-rah-ptoh-ma and means “trespass, sin, transgression” and is used 19 times. The word ptō means “a falling” or “calamity” (Matt. 7:27; Luke 2:34) and the ma– suffix means “the result of.” Together they mean “crossing over” the line or “overstepping” the line; Mark 14:12; 24:28; Mark 6:29; 15:45; Rev. 11:8-9.
5	Noun anomia	Pronounced ah-noh-mee-ah and means “lawlessness, a violation of the law” (see the next one) and is used 15 times.
6	Adjective anomos	It is used 9 times. Both noun and adjective mean “the absence of law” or “no law” because the prefix –a– means “no” or “not,” and the stem nom– means “law.” “Lawlessness.” 2 Cor. 6:15; 2 Pet. 2:8; Heb. 1:9; Rom. 6:19; Matt. 23:28; 1 Cor. 9:21.
7	Noun adikia	Pronounced ah-dih-kih-ah and means “unrighteousness” and “iniquity” and “unjust” and is used 25 times. Also  “evil, wickedness, dishonest, worldly, sin, wrong; Luke 16:8-9; Acts 8:23; 2 Cor. 2:12:13; Rom. 1:18
8	Adjective adikos	Pronounced ah-dee-kohss and is usually translated as “unjust” or “unrighteousness” and is used 12 times. “dishonest or untrustworthy” (Luke 16:10-11), “evildoer” (Luke 18:11) or “wicked” (1 Cor. 6:9). See also Rom. 3:5; Heb. 6:10
9	Noun kakia	Pronounced kah-kee-ah and means “evil, malice” and is used 11 times. It can break or destroy fellowship (Rom. 1:28-29; Tit. 3:3). Christians are to put off kakia, like dirty clothing (Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; Jas. 1:21; 1 Pet. 2:1)
10	Adjective kakos	Pronounced kah-kohss and means “evil, bad, wicked” and is used 50 times. God is not the source of it (Jas. 1:13). Moral evil is what humans do (Matt. 21:41; 24:48; Phil. 3:2; Rev. 2:2). Human attributes, emotions, deeds (John 18:23, 30; Rom. 1:30; 3:8; 7:19, 21; 13:4; 14:20; 1619; 1 Cor. 13:5; 2 Cor. 13:7; 1 Thess. 5:15; 1 Pet. 3:9, 12). The heart is the seat of evil (Mark 7:21). Objects or events are said to evil in a destructive sense (Luke 16:25; Acts 16:28; 28:5; Tit. 1:12; Rev. 16:2). The love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). The tongue is blamed for being evil (Jas. 3:8)
11	Adverb kakōs	Pronounced kah-kohss and is used 16 times. “physical illness” (“the sick”) or moral harm (“wrong, wicked”) (Matt. 4:24; cf. 8:16; 14:35; 15:15:22; 17:15; Mark 1:32, 34; 6:5). It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Matt. 9:12; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31).
12	Adjective and noun ponēros	Pronounced poh-nay-rohs and means “bad, evil, wicked”; it is used 78 times. It can be used of sickness or pain (Matt. 6:3; Rev. 16:2). Mostly used of moral evil (Matt. 12:39; 16:4; Luke 11:29) Thoughts and works can be evil (Matt. 15:19; Col. 1:21; 2 Tim. 4:18). When used as a noun, it refers to evildoers (Matt. 5:39, 45) and to the evil one who is the devil (Matt. 6:13; Matt. 13:19, 38; John 17:15; Eph. 6:16; 1 John 5:18). An evil man brings out of his heart what is evil (Luke 6:45). We are supposed to hate what is evil (Rom. 12:9).
13	Noun bia	Pronounced bee-ah and means “violence and force” and is used 3 times.  The high Jewish court does not want to use violence against the apostles (Acts 5:26). A violent mob attempted to kill Paul (Acts 21:35). A violent storm can break out (Acts 27:41).
14	Verb biazo	Pronounced bee-ah-zoh and means to “use violence” and is used only 2 times: Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16
15	Noun akatharsia	Pronounced ah-kahr-thahr-see-ah and means “unclean” or “dirty” and is used 10 times. The a– prefix means “no” or “not,” and it is attached to “clean.” It is used only once of physical uncleanness in which a tomb is filled with every unclean thing (Matt. 23:27). All other times it is used morally, a state of moral corruption (2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5)
16	Adjective akathartos	Pronounced ah-kah-thar-tohss and also means “unholy” or “impure, unclean, defiled” and is used 32 times: Acts 10:14, 28; 11:8; 2 Cor. 6:17). Uncleanness is connected to fornication (Eph. 5:5; Rev. 17:4). Those afflicted with demons can be unclean, because the demon itself is unclean (Matt. 10:1; 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26; 3:11, 30: 5:2, 8, 13; 6:7: 7:25; 9:25)
17	Noun phthora	Pronounced f-thoh-rah and means “corruption, destruction, perish, depravity” and is used 9 times, e.g. 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:19; 1 Cor. 15:42, 50; Gal. 6:8
Mounce, Complete Expository Dictionary, pp. 654-57, and elsewhere in his dictionary

B.. Old and New Testaments

1.. Number of words and cognates: 28

2.. Old Testament: 1687

3.. New Testament: 496

C.. Grand Total Combined

1.. Grand total: 2183

2.. So there are 2,183 words for sin and evil (and their synonyms and cognates).

D.. Summary

1.. The vast, vast majority of times this quality or attribute or nature or power resides in humanity.

2.. Only a few times does this quality or nature or attribute reside in the physical world or objects (natural world)

3.. Sometimes it resides in the worldly system.

4.. Clearly the moral world of humans and the natural world are connected.

5.. The evil world system and human evil are connected. The evil world system is built on evil humans.

5.. Sin and its synonyms are used very often in the Bible, so this demonstrates how deeply these spiritual realities (not just abstract concepts) afflict humankind. People are sinful by nature and they do sinful things.

II. Expanded Definition of Key Words

A. Brief intro.

BDAG is considered many as the authoritative lexicon of the Greek New Testament. It stands for the four main editors: Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich.

Let’s break down a few terms

B. Sin

t comes from the noun hamartia (pronounced hah-mar-tee-ah). A deep study reveals that it means a “departure from either human or divine standards of uprightness” (BDAG, p. 50). It can also mean a “destructive evil power” (ibid., p. 51). In other words, sin has a life of its own.

C. Classical world

Be careful! In the older Greek of the classical world, it originally meant to “miss the mark” or target. Sin destroys, and that’s why God hates it, and so should we. The good news: God promises us forgiveness when we repent.

D. Sinner or sinful

It is the adjective hamartōlos (pronounced hah-mahr-toh-loss and used 47 times and used 18 times in Luke), and it means someone who does not observe the law, in this context: “unobservant or irreligious person … of one who is especially sinful.”

BDAG defines the adjective hamartōlos as follows: “pertaining to behavior or activity that does not measure up to standard moral or [religious] expectations (being considered an outsider because of failure to conform to certain standards is a frequent semantic component. Persons engaged in certain occupations, e.g. herding and tanning [and tax collecting] that jeopardized [religious] purity, would be considered by some as ‘sinners,’ a term tantamount to ‘outsider.’” Non-Israelites were especially considered out of bounds [see Acts 10:28].)”

E. Irreligious

“Sinner, with a general focus on wrongdoing as such.”  “Irreligious, unobservant people.” “Unobservant” means that he did not care about law keeping or observing the law.

F. Debtors

In the Lord’s prayer, a debtor is a moral issue.

it could be translated literally as “morally indebted” to us, because the word is not hamartia (the standard word for sin). Rather, it is the verb opheilō (pronounced oh-fay-loh). BDAG says it is (1) a “financial debt”; (2) “to be under obligation to meet certain social or moral expectations, owe.” The Shorter Lexicon adds: “commit a sin.”

In the Lord’s prayer it is sin that put the person in a moral debt or obligation to you. So someone wrongs you, and you believe he owes you an apology, but what if he is unwilling to give it or is even unaware that he has wronged you? You still need to forgive his moral debt to you. Unforgiveness is poison in your soul, not his. Forgive the other person, and God will purge out the poison.

III. Application

A. Avoid sin

The way to avoid it is to walk (or live) in the Spirit. Then we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16)

B. Pray

Up your prayer life. Pray that you will not be led into temptation.

C. Live the crucified life.

When I decided to do this back in 2014, my life changed.

Pray this prayer:

“Father, repent of all of my sins. I put my full faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I humbly ask for your forgiveness. I declare with my mouth “Jesus is Lord.” I believe in my heart God raised him from the dead. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I submit my life to you. Empower me with your Spirit to be born again. Empower me with your Spirit to live a holy life. I surrender all. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

D. Final word

As I noted in the first post in the series on hamartiology, even after the Fall and sin became widespread, God still says humankind has been crowned with glory and honor.

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    a son of man that you care for him?
⁷ You made them a little lower than the angels;
    you crowned them with glory and honor
⁸     and put everything under their feet.” (Heb. 2:6-8)

Let’s never forget to treat humans, whether sinful or saintly, with honor and glory. Let’s picture the invisible crown of glory and honor on them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works Cited