Guilt - Encyclopedia of The Bible

Encyclopedia of The Bible – Guilt

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Guilt

GUILT, the legal and moral condition that results from a violation of God’s law as expressed through the covenant, i.e., from sin. In OT and NT thought there is little or no clear distinction made between sin, guilt and punishment (cf. Gen 4:13 where all three occur together). Older Eng. trs. therefore tend uniformly to employ the word “sin” where modern trs. reflect the greater precision of modern Eng. usage. For example, “guilt” occurs only twice in the KJV, but it occurs 109 times in the RSV; “guilty” occurs 25 times in the KJV, 46 times in the RSV. Among the more important of the Biblical words tr. or implying guilt are the Heb. אָשָׁם, H871, רֶ֫שַׁע, H8400; and עָוֹן, H6411; and the Gr. ἁμαρτία, G281, (“sin” see Sin); ἔνοχος, G1944, (“liable, answerable, guilty”; see Mark 14:64; 1 Cor 11:27; James 2:10; etc.); ὑπόδικος, G5688, (“liable to judgment or punishment, accountable”; see Rom 3:19); ὀφείλημα, G4052, (“debt”; see Matt 6:12); ἀδικία, G94, (“wrongdoing, wickedness”; see Rom 1:18); ἀνομία, G490, (“lawlessness”; see Rom 6:19); and ἀιτίον (“guilt, complaint”; see Luke 23:4, 14, 22). For a wider view of the subject area of which guilt is a part, see Sin.

1. Old Testament concept. In general in the OT sin, guilt and punishment are all implied in the various words used by the Biblical authors to denote the violation of God’s commandments and its results. Guilt may be incurred, increased, purged, pardoned, remembered, removed, borne or taken away. (a) The word אָשָׁם, H871, usually refers to both moral and ritual transgression. Joseph’s brothers say to each other, “In truth we are guilty (אָשָׁם, H871) concerning our brother” (Gen 42:27; see also Gen 26:10; Lev 4:3, 13, 22, 27; 5:2, 3, 4, 5, 17, 19; 22:16; Num 5:6; Judg 21:22; 1 Chron 21:3; 2 Chron 19:10; 24:18; 28:13; 33:23; Ezra 9:6, 7, 13, 15; 10:10; Pss 5:10; 68:21; Prov 30:10; Isa 24:6; Jer 2:3; 50:7; 51:5; Hosea 4:15; 5:15; 10:2; 13:1); (b) Psalm 32:5 speaks of “the guilt (עָוֹן, H6411) of my sin” (the word occurs seventy times in the OT, but not all imply the notion of guilt; see Exod 28:43; Num 14:18; 1 Sam 20:8; 2 Sam 14:32; 19:19; Hosea 12:8); (c) Numbers 35:31 speaks of the “murderer who is guilty (רָשָׁע, H8401) of death” (see also Deut 25:1; 1 Kings 8:32; Job 10:7; Ps 18:23; Isa 5:23; 50:9).

To be guilty of sin is to incur God’s wrath both collectively (Exod 20:5, 6; Isa 65:7; Jer 14:20) and individually (Deut 24:16; Ezek 18:2-4, 14-20). At first guilt could exist without the individual’s awareness of sin, but along with individualization of guilt came the necessity of subjective knowledge (see Hempel, 155f.). For the psalmist and the prophets, to be guilty of breaking God’s laws involves universal shame and repentance (Ps 38:1-12; 53:2, 3; Isa 1:4, 5). A sincere desire to have God remove one’s sins or even a willingness to forgive a neighbor’s wrongdoing leads to forgiveness and a restoration of purity (Pss 32:5; 51:1-12; 79:9; Dan 9:4-19 (esp. 9, 16, 19; Ecclus 28:2). The idea of sin as a legal indebtedness to God, important for an understanding of NT usage, occurs in later Judaism; the Aram. חﯴב, H2550, (“debt”), is in fact, the term commonly used by the rabbis for sin (see Targ. Onkelos on Num 14:19; Exod 34:7; Isa 53:4, 12).

2. New Testament concept. The idea of guilt is much less frequent in the NT. Although the word ἁμαρτία, G281, usually means “sin,” it also occasionally implies guilt, esp. the guilt of all men for Jesus’ death. In the synoptic gospels, esp. Matthew, guilt often occurs in the context of forgiveness of sin understood as a debt owed to God (Matt 6:12; 18:21-35; etc.). Guilt as the result of lawlessness (ἀνομία, G490, equivalent to the Heb. עָוֹן, H6411) is also implied in the synoptics (Matt 7:23; 13:41) in the context of the judgment of God.

Paul deepens the understanding of guilt by universalizing and internalizing the debt to God which results from sin. He thinks of the actual removal of sin by Christ’s death as well as payment of the debt through the justification which God through faith grants the repentant sinner (Rom 3:24f.; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; etc.). To be ἐν Χριστῷ means to be free from condemnation and guilt (Rom 8:1ff.); it means that the verdict of “guilty” is reversed.

Guilt is also seen in a Hebraic way as the consequence of sin by other NT writers; see John 9:41 (ἔνοχος, G1944); James 2:10 (ἔνοχος, G1944); and 1 John 3:4 for important examples.

Bibliography J. G. Simpson, “Guilt,” HDCG, 1 (1906), 696-698; J. R. Willis, “Guilt,” HDB, 1 vol. ed. (1909), 320-322; F. R. Tennant The Concept of Sin (1912); H. F. Hall, “Guilt,” ISBE, 2 (1915), 1309, 1310; H. R. Mackintosh, “Sin (Christian),” HERE, 11 (1921), 538-544; C. A. Beckwith, “Guilt,” SHERK, 5 (1950), 95, 96; L. Morris, “’Asham,” EQ, 30 (1958), 196-210; J. Hempel, “Ethics in the OT,” IDB, 2 (1962), 153-161; S. J. De Vries, “Sin, sinners,” IDB, 4 (1962), 361-376; J. Barr, “Guilt,” HDB rev. (1963), 354, 355; J. Heuschen and B. Vawter, “Guilt,” Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible (1963), 912-918; G. Quell, G. Bertram, G. Stählim and W. Grundmann, “ἁμαρτάνω, ἁμάρτημα, ἁμαρτία,” TDNT, 1 (1964), 276-316, esp. sections on Guilt; J. Lachowski, “Sin (in the Bible),” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 6 (1967), 850-852; P. Schoonenberg, “Sin,” Sacramentum Mundi, 6 (1970), 87-92.