Sin is spoken about in the Old Testament with six different Hebrew words.

The first two are general, speaking of any wickedness or evil.

 Avel, meaning wickedness, injustice, wrong

 Rasha, wicked, cruel, evil

 Zadon, wickedness, evil, insolence, malice

These last three involve intent, which is how God classifies sin.

Avon, translated Iniquity, Avah is the root word of avon, simply meaning “to sin,” and which is used in Scripture for Intentional Sin

Fesha, translated Willful Sin. Fesha comes from the root pesha, which means to sin or to rebel. Pesha is used to describe sin committed with the Intention of Angering God

Khata-ah, translated Error. Khata is the root for khata-ah and means to sin, transgress, or miss. Khata-ah is used in Scripture for Unintentional Sin, sin that is committed in carelessness

We can better understand how these words regarding sin were used by Jewish translators of Exodus 34:7 into Greek. See both Hellenists and Septuagint elsewhere in this Glossary.

 In the NT amartia is the most frequently used of those three words.

A fourth Greek word comes from a Hebrew idiom for sin and is used only three times in the NT: astokheo. The literal meaning is to miss the mark, which is a Hebrew expression for sin. Stokhos means target, mark. Astokheo is used only in 1 Timothy 1:6, 6:21, and 2 Timothy 2:18.

Man tends to rate sins, with some more serious than others. The closest God comes to rating sins is in Proverbs 6:16. (K) “There are six things which the Lord hates, seven which are an abomination to him; 17. An arrogant look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18. A heart that plots wicked plans, feet that swiftly run to evil. 19. A false witness who speaks lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.” Note that pride and arrogance, then lying are listed even before murder. God’s rating system is by intent, not the specific sin.