Re: Hamartia, cHata, and related concepts :)

From: Rod Decker (rdecker@inf.net)
Date: Sun Dec 31 1995 - 21:08:22 EST


> "Hamartia" brings to mind the image of an archery target "bullseye." The
>mark is the exact center of the target. To hit an outer ring is
>"hamartanein," to miss the mark. Applied to the category of sin, anything
>less than absolute perfection in performance would be "missing the mark."

The NT pix of sin is, IMHO, something more than hitting the outer ring of a
target. Too often the etymologizing approach goes to the slingsmen of the
OT who could cast a stone at a handsbreadth and not 'sin'--i.e., miss
('harmartanw' in LXX). It is more like shooting at the _wrong target_. It
is not that people try to "hit God's mark" but come a bit short. "Sin"
points to a deliberate rebellion against his standard (to mix the metaphors
a bit). This explan. cannot be based on the "mng." of the word 'harmartia'
but comes from the biblical theology of sin (context, not etymology).

These notes from memory and I don't have resources at home to check the
ref. for you. If I've remembered wrong ['missed the mark'?!] I'm sure
someone will sling the appropriate stone my way. :)

Rod

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rodney J. Decker Calvary Theological Seminary
Asst. Prof./NT 15800 Calvary Rd.
rdecker@inf.net Kansas City, Missouri 64147
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