# G0266 - hamartia **Strong's:** [G0266](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g266/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** ham-ar-tee'-ah **Part of speech:** feminine noun **Root:** from *G0264 - hamartano* (ἁμαρτάνω, "to miss, fail, err, sin"), etymologically *not hitting the target*. **Hebrew equivalents (LXX):** [H2403 - chattath](/codex/h2403-chattath/) (חַטָּאת, sin / sin-offering), *H5771 - awon* (עָוֹן, iniquity / guilt), [H6588 - pesha](/codex/h6588-pesha/) (פֶּשַׁע, transgression / rebellion). **NT occurrences:** ~174 ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG) 1. **A failing to hit the mark / a deviation from the right path**, the etymological core. Sin as missing the target. 2. **A specific act of sin**, particular wrong actions; sins committed (plural common). 3. **Sin as a power / principle / dominion**, Pauline hypostatized usage: sin reigns, sin rules, sin enslaves ([Romans 5](/codex/romans-5/)-7). Sin as a *power* the unregenerate are *under*. 4. **The state or condition of sin**, sinfulness as a settled disposition. 5. **A sin offering** (LXX-influenced), the sacrifice that addresses sin (rare in NT; cf. [2 Corinthians 5:21](/codex/2-corinthians-5-21/) "He made Him… *to be sin* on our behalf" = sin-offering reading). ## Theological force, Pauline hamartiology The Pauline development of *hamartia* is one of the NT's most distinctive theological moves. Sin is not merely: - **Specific bad acts** (though it is that, [1 John 3:4](/codex/1-john-3-4/) "*hamartia* is *anomia* / lawlessness"), - nor merely **moral failure** (though it is that, falling short of God's standard, [Romans 3:23](/codex/romans-3-23/)), but also a **personal-like power** that has dominion over fallen humanity. [Romans 5:21](/codex/romans-5-21/) ("*sin reigned* in death"); [Romans 6:6](/codex/romans-6-6/) ("our old self was crucified with Him… so that we would no longer be slaves to *sin*"); [Romans 6:14](/codex/romans-6-14/) ("*sin* shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace"); [Romans 7](/codex/romans-7/) (the agonized "I do the very thing I do not want… *sin* dwelling in me"). This personification underwrites the doctrine of **bondage of the will** (Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards): the unregenerate are not free in the libertarian sense to choose God; sin's dominion has crippled the will. Liberation requires divine intervention, grace, not human moral exertion. ## Notable verses ### Universal sinfulness - **[Romans 3:23](/codex/romans-3-23/)**, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - **[Romans 5:12](/codex/romans-5-12/)**, "sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin" - **[1 John 1:8](/codex/1-john-1-8/)**, "if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves" ### The wages / consequence - **[Romans 6.23](/codex/romans-6-23/)**, "the wages of sin is death" - **[James 1:15](/codex/james-1-15/)**, "when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death" - **[Genesis 2:17](/codex/genesis-2-17/)** (LXX), "in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die" ### Christ's substitutionary work - **[John 1:29](/codex/john-1-29/)**, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the *sin* of the world" - **[2 Corinthians 5:21](/codex/2-corinthians-5-21/)**, "He made Him who knew no *sin* to be *sin* on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" - **[Hebrews 9:26](/codex/hebrews-9-26/)**, "to put away *sin* by the sacrifice of Himself" - **[1 Peter 2:24](/codex/1-peter-2-24/)**, "He Himself bore our *sins* in His body on the cross" - **[1 John 2:2](/codex/1-john-2-2/)**, "He Himself is the propitiation for our *sins*" - **[1 John 3:5](/codex/1-john-3-5/)**, "He appeared in order to take away *sins*" ### Confession and forgiveness - **[1 John 1:8-9](/codex/1-john-1-8-9/)**, "if we confess our *sins*, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our *sins* and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" - **[Acts 2:38](/codex/acts-2-38/)**, "be baptized… for the forgiveness of your *sins*" - **[Ephesians 1:7](/codex/ephesians-1-7/)**, "we have redemption… the forgiveness of our trespasses" ### Sin as a power ([Romans 5](/codex/romans-5/)-7 cluster) - **[Romans 5:21](/codex/romans-5-21/)**, "sin reigned in death" - **[Romans 6:1-2](/codex/romans-6-1-2/)**, "shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!" - **[Romans 6:6](/codex/romans-6-6/)**, "our old self was crucified… so that we would no longer be slaves to sin" - **[Romans 6:14](/codex/romans-6-14/)**, "sin shall not be master over you" - **[Romans 7:17](/codex/romans-7-17/), [20](/codex/romans-7-20/)**, "sin which dwells in me" - **[Romans 8:2](/codex/romans-8-2/)**, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" ## Patristic / scholarly note Augustine's *Confessions* (Book 8) and *On Nature and Grace* (c. AD 415) develop the doctrine of original sin and bondage of the will from [Romans 5](/codex/romans-5/)-7 against Pelagius. The Council of Carthage (AD 418) codified original sin as catholic doctrine. The Reformers (Luther's *Bondage of the Will*, 1525; Calvin's *Institutes* II.1-5) sharpen this against late-medieval semi-Pelagianism. Jonathan Edwards's *Original Sin* (1758) is the major Reformed/Puritan systematic treatment. Modern Reformed and conservative scholarship (Henri Blocher, *Original Sin*, 1997; D. A. Carson, *The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God*, ch. on sin) sustains the high doctrine of human sinfulness, both as condition and as personal acts. The doctrine is foundational: a low view of sin makes redemption optional; a high view makes it indispensable. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Top-cited references: [Romans 5.8](/codex/romans-5-8/), [Romans 6.23](/codex/romans-6-23/), [Romans 3.23](/codex/romans-3-23/), [Ephesians 2.8-9](/codex/ephesians-2-8-9/) (forgiveness implied). ## See also - *G0264 - hamartano*, the cognate verb - G3892 - paranomia, "lawlessness" ([1 John 3:4](/codex/1-john-3-4/) equates) - [H2403 - chattath](/codex/h2403-chattath/), Hebrew "sin / sin-offering" - *H5771 - awon*, Hebrew "iniquity" - [H6588 - pesha](/codex/h6588-pesha/), Hebrew "transgression / rebellion" - [G5485 - charis](/codex/g5485-charis/), the antithesis: grace meets sin - [G2434 - hilasmos](/codex/g2434-hilasmos/), "propitiation", what addresses sin