A DIFFERENT WAY OF LOOKING AT SIN

I think I've alluded to it before, but I'm taking part in a Hebrew for "dummies" biblical study and it is helping me to better interpret and understand certain difficult parts of the bible's Old Testament. For instance...

When we think about the concept of "sin" we often interpret it as something indescribably terrible that is within every one of us. A breaking of one of the Ten Commandments, as it were. But when you look in the Bible, at the original Hebrew word for sin, you see something refreshingly different.

The real biblical meaning of sin is not what we have come to understand. In Biblical Hebrew the root chet (חטא) actually means to be slightly off, to miss the mark. To Ancient Israelites to sin meant to make a mistake or to neglect one's obligation. For example, in Genesis 36, Jacob asks Laban, "What is my offense, what is my sin that you have hotly pursued me?" This word, appearing almost 500 times in the Bible, is central to the biblical state of mind, where upholding one's covenantal obligations was paramount.

When you read it in Hebrew, you get a new perspective of “sin” not as a blemish, but rather a human error. Fortunately, there is a remedy. The holy word of God tells us that the sinful error can be corrected by strengthening one's relationship with Him, seeking forgiveness and improving one's behavior moving forward.

Of course you already knew that, didn't you(?).