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Word study

Hebrew

To sin

חָטָאStrong’s H2398

chata (cha-ta)

Appears in 220 verses of the Old Testament

In short

Chata is the Hebrew word usually translated “we have sinned”, “have sinned” and “caused to sin”. It appears in 220 verses of the Old Testament.

“We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:”
Daniel 9:5 KJV
Meaning
  1. To sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness(Qal) · (Piel) · (Hiphil) · (Hithpael)
How it's translated
  • we have sinned 24
  • i have sinned 22
  • he caused to sin 18
  • he has sinned 17
  • they have sinned 10
  • he sinned 9
  • they sinned 8
  • he will sin 8

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Leviticus 27
  • 1 Kings 18
  • 2 Kings 18
  • Numbers 17
  • Ezekiel 14
  • Jeremiah 13

27 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 220 verses, by book
Joshua 2
7:117:20
1 Chronicles 2
21:821:17
Lamentations 3
1:85:75:16
Micah 1
7:9
Habakkuk 1
2:10
Zephaniah 1
1:17
Hebrew dictionary

חָטָא chata · to sin

1) to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to miss 1a2) to sin, miss the goal or path of right and duty 1a3) to incur guilt, incur penalty by sin, forfeit 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to bear loss 1b2) to make a sin-offering 1b3) to purify from sin 1b4) to purify from uncleanness 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to miss the mark 1c2) to induce to sin, cause to sin 1c3) to bring into guilt or condemnation or punishment 1d) (Hithpael) 1d1) to miss oneself, lose oneself, wander from the way 1d2) to purify oneself from uncleanness

From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “sin” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

SIN, noun

  1. The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God's commands or law. 1 John 3:4Matthew 12:31James 4:17Matthew 12:31
  2. A sin-offering; an offering made to atone for sin He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin 2 Corinthians 5:21
  3. A man enormously wicked. [Not in use.]
  4. sin differs from crime, not in nature, but in application.
All definitions and other forms of “sin”

    SIN, verb intransitive

    1. To depart voluntarily from the path of duty prescribed by God man; to violate the divine law in any particular, by actual transgression or by the neglect or non-observance of its injunctions; to violate any known rule of duty. Romans 3:9Psalms 51:2
    2. To offend against right, against men or society; to trespass.

    Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

    Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.