H2401 — חֲטָאָה (chăṭâʼâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2401
Original: חֲטָאָה
Transliteration: chăṭâʼâh
Pronunciation: khat-aw-aw'
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: חָטָא (châṭâʼ, H2398) — to miss (a mark), to sin
Occurrences: 8 unique verses (12 tokens) in 4 books
First Occurrence: Gen 20:9 — "thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin"
Hapax Legomenon: No
Relationship to H2403: Alternate feminine form of the same root. H2403 chaṭṭâʼâh is the dominant form (270 verses); H2401 is the rarer variant (8 verses). The lexicon describes H2401 as "feminine of [H2399]" — an offence, or a sacrifice for it.

Lexicon Definition¶

Feminine of H2399; an offence, or a sacrifice for it: — sin (offering).

The definition parallels H2403 chaṭṭâʼâh but the actual usage of H2401 is narrower. While H2403 splits roughly evenly between "sin" and "sin offering," H2401 overwhelmingly denotes the moral offence (75% "sin") with only one "sin offering" occurrence (Psa 40:6).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Tokens	%
sin	6	50.0%
a (+ sin context)	4	33.3%
a sin	1	8.3%
and sin offering	1	8.3%

The KJV renders H2401 as "sin" in the majority of cases. The "a" entries reflect instances where the article is tagged separately. Only Psa 40:6 carries the "sin offering" rendering.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Exodus	3	0.25
Psalms	3	0.12
Genesis	1	0.07
2 Kings	1	0.14

All 8 verses cluster in narrative and poetic contexts. Unlike H2403 which dominates Leviticus and Numbers (cultic/sacrificial law), H2401 appears zero times in the Pentateuchal law codes. Its Exodus occurrences are all in the golden calf narrative (ch. 32), not in ritual legislation.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Great Sin — Egregious Moral Offense¶

The dominant usage pattern. In 5 of 8 verses, chăṭâʼâh is modified by "great" (gâdôwl H1419) and describes a grave communal or personal offense that provokes divine or human outrage.

Gen 20:9 — "thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin" (Abimelech to Abraham regarding the deception about Sarah)
Exo 32:21 — "thou hast brought so great a sin upon them" (Moses confronting Aaron over the golden calf)
Exo 32:30 — "Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin" (Moses to the people)
Exo 32:31 — "this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold" (Moses to YHWH)
2 Ki 17:21 — "Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin" (Jeroboam's apostasy summarized)

2. Sin as Moral-Legal Liability¶

In judicial and prayer contexts, chăṭâʼâh names the sin that stands as a charge or burden.

Psa 32:1 — "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (pesha + chăṭâʼâh paired)
Psa 109:7 — "let his prayer become sin" (imprecatory — the condemned man's very prayer is counted against him)

3. Sin Offering (Cultic)¶

One occurrence carries the sacrificial sense shared with H2403.

Psa 40:6 — "burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required" (contrasting ritual sacrifice with obedience; paired with ʻôlâh H5930)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חָטָא (châṭâʼ)	H2398	4x (50%)	Cognate verb + noun: "sinned a great sin"
אָמַר (ʼâmar)	H559	4x (50%)	Speech framing: the sin is named in direct discourse
מֹשֶׁה (Môsheh)	H4872	3x (38%)	Moses as intercessor confronting the sin
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	3x (38%)	Sin is against or addressed before YHWH
עַם (ʻam)	H5971	3x (38%)	Corporate sin: "this people" committed it
עָשָׂה (ʻâsâh)	H6213	3x (38%)	"What did this people do" — sin as a deed

The collocations confirm that H2401 gravitates toward narrative accusation and intercession scenes — Moses naming Israel's sin before God and people — rather than cultic/ritual instruction.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2398 חָטָא (châṭâʼ) — root verb: to miss (a target), to sin
H2399 חֵטְא (chêṭᵉʼ) — concrete noun: a crime or its penalty (12 verses)
H2403 חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭâʼâh) — dominant feminine noun form: sin, sin offering (270 verses)
H2402 חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭâʼâh) — Aramaic cognate (Ezra 6:17)
H2408 חֲטִי (chăṭîy) — Aramaic: an offence (Daniel)

Synonyms¶

H6588 פֶּשַׁע (peshaʻ) — transgression/rebellion; paired with chăṭâʼâh in Psa 32:1
H7563 רָשָׁע (râshâʻ) — wicked/guilty; moral-neighbor term
H5930 עֹלָה (ʻôlâh) — burnt offering; paired in Psa 40:6 sacrifice context

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭâʼâh)	H2403	"sin," "sin offering"	H2403 is the dominant form (270v vs. 8v); carries full semantic range including cultic "sin offering" as a major sense. H2401 is the rarer variant, overwhelmingly used for the moral offence, especially in "great sin" formula.
חֵטְא (chêṭᵉʼ)	H2399	"sin"	More forensic/concrete: the criminal act or its penalty; H2401 overlaps semantically but appears in narrative rather than legal contexts.

Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002003003014	Guilty	Moral culpability domain
002003002020	Sacrifice	One occurrence in Psa 40:6 sacrifice context

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
ἁμαρτία (hamartia) G266	8	5.95	Primary equivalent — all 8 verses mapped
ἁμαρτάνω (hamartano) G264	3	5.56	Verb form used where LXX renders the noun with the corresponding verb
μέγας (megas) G3173	5	4.67	Reflects the "great sin" collocation — adjective co-occurring, not a translation of H2401 itself

The G266 ἁμαρτία bridge covers all 8 verses but the co-occurrence count (8) is far below the threshold for auto-generating a cross-testament trace. See the existing TR-chattaah-hamartia.md for the primary H2403 → G266 bridge.