סִין

From the study of Exodus 16:1

Range of meaning

A proper name for a wilderness region (Exod 16:1; 17:1; Num 33:11–12). It is spelled with samekh (ס). It is a different place and a different spelling from the 'wilderness of Zin' (צִן, with tsade) near Kadesh, and from the Egyptian city Sin (Pelusium, Ezek 30:15). The meaning is uncertain.

Against the English

Every major English version transliterates it as 'Sin'. That is correct, but it looks exactly like the English word 'sin'.

How it drifted

An accident of transliteration: the Hebrew sounds come out spelled like an unrelated English word. The Hebrew words for sin (chet', chatta't, 'avon, pesha') share nothing with it.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has erēmon Sin, the Vulgate 'desertum Sin'. Most scholars connect it with the name Sinai, which appears a few words later. Some suggest a link with the moon-god Sin, worshipped in Mesopotamia and Arabia. That idea is speculative and unproven.

From the study of Exodus 17:1

Range of meaning

A proper name for a wilderness region 'between Elim and Sinai' (Exod 16:1; Num 33:11–12). It is unrelated to the Hebrew vocabulary for wrongdoing (ḥēṭ', 'āwōn, peša'). A different word sîn names an Egyptian fortress city, probably Pelusium (Ezek 30:15–16). It must also be kept apart from the 'wilderness of Zin' (ṣin, with a different first letter; Num 13:21; 20:1), which lies further north near Kadesh.

Against the English

Every English version keeps the name 'Sin'. Because it looks exactly like the English word 'sin', it invites a moral pun that the Hebrew does not contain.

How it drifted

This is a coincidence of spelling in transliteration, not a change in meaning. The English word 'sin' is Germanic and unrelated.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 16:1; 17:1; Numbers 33:11–12. Many scholars connect the name with 'Sinai' (sînay). Some have proposed a link with the Mesopotamian moon-god Sin, but that remains speculative.

From the study of Ezekiel 30:16

Range of meaning

A place name. The 'Sin' of Ezekiel 30:15–16 is generally identified with Pelusium (modern Tell el-Farama), the fortress town on the easternmost branch of the Nile at Egypt's north-east frontier. It is a different place from the 'Wilderness of Sin' in Sinai, which is spelled differently.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT keep 'Sin', which an English reader can easily take for moral 'sin'. BSB, NIV, ESV and NLT translate it as 'Pelusium', which is clearer but rests on an identification (though a widely accepted one).

How it drifted

Simple transliteration. The Hebrew name happens to be spelled the same as an important English theological word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Verse 15 calls Sin 'the stronghold (māʿôz) of Egypt'. The Vulgate in v.15 reads 'Pelusium'. The Greek name Pelusium comes from pēlos, 'mud'. The Hebrew sîn may come from a Semitic word for 'mud' or 'clay', but that is uncertain. Pelusium's strategic role is well attested: Herodotus places the decisive Persian victory over Egypt (525 BC) there. The Septuagint in v.16 reads 'Syene' (Aswan) instead, perhaps confusing it with Seveneh (30:6).