H2398 — חָטָא (châṭâʼ)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2398
Original: חָטָא
Transliteration: châṭâʼ
Pronunciation: khaw-taw'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root — properly "to miss" (a mark or path); hence to sin, forfeit, purify
Occurrences: 220 unique verses (292 tokens) across 27 books
First Occurrence: Gen 20:6 — "I also withheld thee from sinning (châṭâʼ) against me"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn: — bear the blame, cleanse, commit (sin), by fault, harm he hath done, loss, miss, (make) offend(-er), offer for sin, purge, purify (self), make reconciliation, (cause, make) sin(-ful, -ness), trespass.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	%	Typical Meaning
Qal	136	72.3%	to sin, miss the mark, go wrong
Hiphil	30	16.0%	to cause to sin, lead astray
Piel	14	7.4%	to purify, cleanse, make a sin offering
Hithpael	8	4.3%	to purify oneself

The stem distribution reveals a critical semantic split: the Qal/Hiphil senses cluster around committing or causing sin, while the Piel/Hithpael senses denote the opposite action — purification and cleansing. This dual polarity within a single root is foundational to the noun H2403 chattaʼah functioning as both "sin" and "sin/purification offering."

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
sin / sinned / sinneth / sinning (all forms)	~155	~70%
made [Israel to] sin (Hiphil)	~20	~9%
purify / purified / cleanse / cleansing	~15	~7%
offend / offended	~6	~3%
bear the blame / fault	~4	~2%
miss	1	0.5%
sinner	~6	~3%
reconciliation	1	0.5%
loss (bare the loss)	1	0.5%
Other	~11	~5%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Ecclesiastes	7	3.2
Leviticus	27	3.1
2 Kings	18	2.5
1 Kings	18	2.2
Hosea	4	2.0
Lamentations	3	1.9
1 Samuel	12	1.5
Numbers	17	1.3
Job	12	1.1
Ezekiel	14	1.1
Daniel	4	1.1
Jeremiah	13	1.0
Nehemiah	4	1.0
2 Chronicles	7	0.9
Exodus	10	0.8
Proverbs	6	0.7
2 Samuel	4	0.6
Judges	4	0.6
Deuteronomy	6	0.6
Genesis	8	0.5
Isaiah	6	0.5
Psalms	9	0.4
Joshua	2	0.3
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
Zephaniah	1	1.9
Habakkuk	1	1.8
Micah	1	1.0

Highest density in Ecclesiastes and Leviticus. The Kings/Chronicles cluster reflects the Jeroboam "made Israel to sin" Hiphil formula. The Levitical concentration reflects both sin-offering legislation and Piel purification procedures. Absent from Ruth, Esther, Song of Solomon, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

Semantic Categories¶

1. To Sin — Moral Transgression Against God¶

The dominant usage. The verb denotes violation of God's commands or covenant relationship. - Gen 39:9 — "how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin (châṭâʼ) against God?" - Exo 20:20 — "that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin (châṭâʼ) not" - 1 Ki 8:46 — "If they sin (châṭâʼ) against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not)" - Ecc 7:20 — "there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth (châṭâʼ) not"

2. Confession of Sin — "I/We Have Sinned"¶

A recurring penitential formula, especially in Qal perfect first-person forms. - Exo 9:27 — "Pharaoh said... I have sinned (châṭâʼ) this time: the LORD is righteous" - Num 21:7 — "the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned (châṭâʼ)" - 2 Sam 12:13 — "David said unto Nathan, I have sinned (châṭâʼ) against the LORD" - Dan 9:5 — "We have sinned (châṭâʼ), and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly"

3. To Cause to Sin — Hiphil Causative¶

Almost exclusively used of Jeroboam and the kings of the northern kingdom. - 1 Ki 14:16 — "Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin (hechĕṭîʼ)" - 1 Ki 15:30 — "the sins of Jeroboam... which he made Israel sin (hechĕṭîʼ)" - 2 Ki 3:3 — "the sins of Jeroboam... which made Israel to sin (hechĕṭîʼ)" - 2 Ki 21:11 — "Manasseh... hath made Judah also to sin (hechĕṭîʼ) with his idols"

4. To Purify / Cleanse — Piel Intensive¶

The Piel stem reverses the Qal meaning: instead of "to sin," it means "to un-sin," i.e., to remove sin, purify, or perform the purification ritual. This is the key semantic bridge to H2403 chattaʼah as "purification offering." - Exo 29:36 — "thou shalt cleanse (chiṭṭêʼtâ, Piel) the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it" - Lev 8:15 — "Moses took the blood... and purified (yᵉchaṭṭêʼ, Piel) the altar" - Psa 51:7 — "Purge me (tᵉchaṭṭᵉʼênî, Piel) with hyssop, and I shall be clean" - Eze 43:20 — "thus shalt thou cleanse (chiṭṭêʼtâ, Piel) and purge it"

5. To Purify Oneself — Hithpael Reflexive¶

Used exclusively in Numbers for ritual purification from corpse contamination. - Num 19:12 — "He shall purify himself (yitchaṭṭâʼ, Hithpael) with it on the third day" - Num 19:20 — "the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself (yitchaṭṭâʼ)" - Num 31:19 — "purify (titchaṭṭᵉʼû, Hithpael) both yourselves and your captives"

6. To Miss the Mark — Literal / Physical Sense¶

The root meaning preserved in a single occurrence. - Judg 20:16 — "every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss (yachăṭîʼ, Hiphil)"

7. To Bear Loss / Forfeit¶

A secondary Qal sense: to incur penalty or loss through failure. - Gen 31:39 — "I bare the loss of it (ʼăchaṭṭennâh); of my hand didst thou require it" - Gen 43:9 — "if I bring him not unto thee... then I shall bear the blame (châṭâʼtî)"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭâʼâh)	H2403	51x (23%)	Verb + cognate noun: "sinned a sin" or sin-offering context
עָשָׂה (ʻâsâh)	H6213	59x (27%)	"Done" — describes the sinful deed committed
יְהֹוָה (Yᵉhôvâh)	H3068	80x (36%)	"Sinned against the LORD" — covenantal framework
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrâʼêl)	H3478	43x (20%)	"Made Israel to sin" — Jeroboam formula
יָרׇבְעָם (Yârobʻâm)	H3379	21x (10%)	Jeroboam as archetype of causing national sin
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	24x (11%)	"If a soul sin" — Levitical sin-offering formula
רַע (raʻ)	H7451	23x (10%)	"Evil" — characterizing the nature of the sin

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2399 חֵטְא (chêṭʼ) — noun: a crime or its penalty; "fault, grievousness, sin" (12v)
H2400 חַטָּא (chaṭṭâʼ) — adjective: sinful, sinner (19v)
H2401 חֲטָאָה (chăṭâʼâh) — noun: an offence, or a sacrifice for it (8v)
H2402 חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭâʼâh) — Aramaic noun: sin offering (1v, Ezra 6:17)
H2403 חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭâʼâh) — noun: sin, sin offering, purification offering (182v). The most important derivative — carries forward the verb's Piel "purification" sense into the noun's dual meaning of both "sin" and "sin/purification offering."
H2408 חֲטִי (chăṭîy) — Aramaic noun: sin (1v, Dan 4:27)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭâʼâh)	H2403	"sin" / "sin offering"	H2403 is the cognate noun — the act or state of sin, or the sacrifice that addresses it; H2398 is the verbal action
חֵטְא (chêṭʼ)	H2399	"sin" / "fault"	H2399 emphasizes the crime itself or its penalty; H2398 is the act of committing it
עָוֹן (ʻâvôn)	H5771	both describe wrongdoing	H5771 = iniquity/guilt (crookedness, perversity); H2398 = missing the mark/standard
פֶּשַׁע (peshaʻ)	H6588	both describe wrongdoing	H6588 = rebellion/transgression (willful revolt); H2398 = broader term including inadvertent sin
אָשַׁם (ʼâsham)	H816	"be guilty" / "offend"	H816 = incur guilt/liability requiring restitution; H2398 = the act of sinning itself

Synonyms (from SDBH)¶

H4775 מָרַד (mârad) — rebel
H5753 עָוָה (ʻâvâh) — do iniquity, pervert
H7561 רָשַׁע (râshaʻ) — be wicked, act wickedly

Antonyms¶

"Do good" (ʻâsâh ṭôwb) — the opposite action

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō)	G264	151	6.45	Primary equivalent — "to sin, miss the mark"
ἁμαρτία (hamartia)	G266	62	4.14	Noun form used where LXX nominalizes the Hebrew verb
ἀδικέω (adikeō)	G91	10	4.29	"To do wrong" — used for the "offend" sense
πονηρός (ponēros)	G4190	20	2.91	"Evil" — characterizing the sinner
ἀφίστημι (aphistēmi)	G868	13	3.31	"To depart" — for the apostasy sense

The dominant LXX bridge is ἁμαρτάνω (G264) with 151 co-occurrences and the highest PMI score (6.45). This is an exceptionally strong one-to-one correspondence, establishing the primary OT-to-NT semantic link for the concept of sinning.