Sin (1) Greek Word

The Greek word “amartia”, usually translated as “sin”, is an interesting word, because its meaning is quite different from what Christians often assume when they talk about sin.

Greek Culture
The Greek verb “amartano” that is used in the New Testament means “missing the mark”, or “to err”. It is most often associated with Greek tragedy, where the term was applied to Greek heroes. Each hero of a tragedy, who is in other respects a superior being, had an “amartia”, a tragic flaw, an inherent defect or shortcoming in their character that brought about their downfall. The hero’s suffering and its far-reaching reverberations are usually far out of proportion to his flaw.

Often the hero’s tragic deed is committed unwittingly, as when Oedipus unknowingly killed his father and married his own mother. If the deeds are committed knowingly, they are not usually committed by choice. Also, an apparent weakness is often only an excess of virtue, such as an extreme adherence to principle or zeal for perfection.

In Greek culture, amartia is a character flaw that causes a good person to take an action that brings them harm. It is often committed unwittingly or without free choice. Often the motivation is excessive zeal for perfection. This is not the way that Christians think about sin. I don’t know how much influence Greek culture had on Jesus and Paul, but this is the way that the Greek word amartia was used at the time when they were using the word.