Lexicon

G0266 - hamartia

Strong's: G0266 · 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 (חַטָּאת, sin / sin-offering), H5771 - awon (עָוֹן, iniquity / guilt), H6588 - pesha (פֶּשַׁע, transgression / rebellion). NT occurrences: ~174

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

A failing to hit the mark / a deviation from the right path, the etymological core. Sin as missing the target.
A specific act of sin, particular wrong actions; sins committed (plural common).
Sin as a power / principle / dominion, Pauline hypostatized usage: sin reigns, sin rules, sin enslaves (Romans 5-7). Sin as a power the unregenerate are under.
The state or condition of sin, sinfulness as a settled disposition.
A sin offering (LXX-influenced), the sacrifice that addresses sin (rare in NT; cf. 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 "hamartia is anomia / lawlessness"),
nor merely moral failure (though it is that, falling short of God's standard, Romans 3:23),

but also a personal-like power that has dominion over fallen humanity. Romans 5:21 ("sin reigned in death"); Romans 6:6 ("our old self was crucified with Him… so that we would no longer be slaves to sin"); Romans 6:14 ("sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace"); 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, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
Romans 5:12, "sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin"
1 John 1:8, "if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves"

The wages / consequence

Romans 6.23, "the wages of sin is death"
James 1:15, "when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death"
Genesis 2:17 (LXX), "in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die"

Christ's substitutionary work

John 1:29, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"
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, "to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself"
1 Peter 2:24, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross"
1 John 2:2, "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins"
1 John 3:5, "He appeared in order to take away sins"

Confession and forgiveness

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, "be baptized… for the forgiveness of your sins"
Ephesians 1:7, "we have redemption… the forgiveness of our trespasses"

Sin as a power (Romans 5-7 cluster)

Romans 5:21, "sin reigned in death"
Romans 6:1-2, "shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!"
Romans 6:6, "our old self was crucified… so that we would no longer be slaves to sin"
Romans 6:14, "sin shall not be master over you"
Romans 7:17, 20, "sin which dwells in me"
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 5-7 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, Romans 6.23, Romans 3.23, Ephesians 2.8-9 (forgiveness implied).