חָטָא

From the study of Proverbs 20:2

Range of meaning

Its root meaning is 'to miss': slingers who 'could sling a stone at a hair and not miss' (Judg 20:16), the hasty man who 'misses the way' (Prov 19:2). From there it means to fall short of an obligation, to offend someone (a king, a neighbor, God), and so to incur guilt and its penalty. With a person as object it can mean 'to wrong' them.

Against the English

KJV: 'sinneth [against] his own soul', where 'against' is supplied. BSB, WEB, ESV and NASB: 'forfeits his life'. YLT: 'is wronging his soul'. A modern reader of KJV hears a religious offense against God that hurts the immortal soul. The Hebrew says he misses in a way that costs his own life.

How it drifted

In English 'sin' has narrowed to moral or religious wrongdoing toward God. The Hebrew verb still carried its everyday sense of missing a target or failing an obligation, with consequences.

Used elsewhere in the period

Close parallels: Prov 8:36, 'whoever misses me (choteʾi) does violence to his own life (naphsho)'; Hab 2:10, 'you have forfeited your life' (choteʾ naphshekha). The LXX has hamartanei eis tēn heautou psychēn, 'sins against his own life/soul', and the Vulgate peccat in animam suam. Both keep the structure, and both later fed the KJV's 'soul' reading.

From the study of Proverbs 13:22

Range of meaning

'To miss (a mark or way), to fail, to do wrong, to incur guilt.' Judg 20:16 uses it literally of slingers who 'do not miss.' As a participle it names a person characterised by wrongdoing.

Against the English

Modern Christian ears often hear 'sinner' as 'every human being' or as 'non-believer.' In Proverbs the ḥoṭe’ is one moral type set against the tsaddiq: the person whose life runs on wrongdoing, especially dishonest or exploitative gain.

How it drifted

Later doctrine of universal sinfulness (rightly drawn from other texts) and evangelical use of 'sinner' for the unconverted give the word a broader or different reference than it has in this saying.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 1:10 ('if sinners entice you…', in a speech about violent robbery for gain); Prov 11:31; 13:21; 23:17; Eccl 2:26 (the ḥoṭe’ is given the task of gathering and heaping up, to hand it to the one who pleases God).

From the study of Job 2:10

Range of meaning

Ḥāṭāʾ means to miss a mark (Judg 20:16, slingers who “do not miss”), to fail an obligation, or to offend or wrong someone, here God. Śāpâ, “lip” (dual “lips”), also means speech, language or edge. “Lips” stands for what a person says, as often in wisdom writing (Prov 10:19; Ps 39:1; Ps 141:3).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT “with his lips” keeps the bodily image and the narrow focus. BSB “in what he said” states the meaning plainly but hides a phrase interpreters have argued over for two thousand years.

Used elsewhere in the period

Compare 1:22, which closes the first test with a fuller verdict: “Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with wrong (tiplâ).” The Accuser's prediction both times is about speech: “he will curse [lit. ‘bless’] you to your face” (1:11; 2:5). The Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 16a) records the comment of the sage Rava: “with his lips he did not sin, but in his heart he sinned.” Rabbinic and later interpreters noticed that the qualifier “with his lips” is new here.