Hebrew Word Study – Unintentional Sin – Chatah – Chet, Teth Aleph Hei 

Chata חָטָא  khaw-taw’

Genesis 4:5-7: “But unto Cain and his offering he had no respect, and Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, “Why are thou wroth and why has thy countenance fallen?   If thou doest well shall thou not be thou accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”

Why did God have no respect for Cain’s offering? For one thing, the ground had been cursed, so Cain was offering something that was cursed. The second thing is that God was telling Cain that if he did well he would be accepted. Was God really playing hardball at this time? Without the law, or a Bible, how was one to know if he was doing well or not? The Hebrew word for doing well is tov. As explained in an earlier chapter, this word means to be in harmony with God.  Cain offered something that was cursed by God and was not good (tov) or in harmony with Him. Note that God warns that if you don’t do what is good (tov) or in harmony with Him then sin lies at the door. The word sin here is chatah which means unintentional mistakes or sins.  The act of offering fruits and vegetables may not necessarily have been a sin, but at most it was an unintentional mistake. Still, it was not good or (tov) in harmony with God.  Maybe Cain killing his brother was more manslaughter than murder, more unintentional. It is possible he did not even understand physical death.  What I am pondering is this idea that if you do not do what is in harmony with God, then chatah (unintentional sin) is lying at the door. I don’t believe that this is as metaphoric as we think.   

The word in the Hebrew for door has the preposition Lamed before it which is often rendered as to, for, or unto with the definite article the. This is a definite door.  Not only that but the word for door used here comes from the root word patach which refers not only just to a door but also to portal.  A portal is more than just a doorway to another room, it is an entrance to something entirely different.  We never seem to stop to ask how  Cain and Abel knew their sacrifices were accepted by God.  The Bible is not clear, but I think the answer is buried in the Hebrew. They were opening a portal to the presence of God. Whenever they felt the departure of God’s presence they knew it was time to offer a sacrifice.  If the sacrifice were accepted the patach – portal to God’s presence would open.

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Note that when Cain’s offering was not accepted his countenance fell. The word countenance is pani in the Hebrew which means presence.  His presence was fallen. In verse 7 God says if he does what is in harmony he will be accepted. The word accepted is se’eth also means to be lifted up, elation, and cheerfulness.  It would seem that the offerings were made so their presence would be lifted up to God’s presence and experience that euphoria you experience when you worship God.  When Cain offered something that was cursed, out of harmony with God, he could not be God’s presence, his presence fell downward rather than upward to meet the presence of God. When Cain did not feel the presence of God in giving his offering, he was wroth. The word for wroth is charah which means to be hot.  It does not have to be rendered as anger. You get hot when you are feeling sorrow as in the pain of rejection. It is possible Cain’s countenance fell because he did not feel the anticipated presence and fellowship with God that should have followed his offering. God explained to Cain that even though he did not intentionally make a mistake or sin or do something out of harmony with God, it still blocked the entrance through the portal to His presence and fellowship.  Poor Cain was just too jealous and blamed his brother’s relationship with God and the rest is history.

I have heard many Christians say; “Well, I don’t go to that church anymore, I just don’t feel God’s presence in that church.”   Do you ever consider that maybe you are like Cain, blaming someone else, like the church, when it is really sin lying at your door?

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