Hebrew Word Study

אשמ

            The Hebrew word הצע “asam” is integral in trying to figure out the significance of the penalty of sin and reconciliation with Yahweh.  When the word appears, especially when someone commits a sin, it is to make atonement for “desecration” of “sancta,” for the mishandling of something that was holy and a man/woman has not treated it that way. In the book of Isaiah, the word only occurs one time but it is in chapter 53 and is in the context of the passage of the suffering servant and sheds a great deal of light upon the coming messaiah.

Lexical Meaning.  The word הצע “asam” as a verb in the nom. means sin, transgression, outrage and guilt.  It is usually translated guilt offering.  Brown, Driver, Briggs writes, “This offering seems to have been confined to offences against God or man that could be estimate and so covered by compensation.” Usually, when one offered a guilt offering as atonement, it was a ram if they could afford one, if not it was usually a he-lamb. 

Etymology.  The root for הצע “asam” appears in the form “atima” which when translated means “to sin, transgress” or be “guilty.” This root occurs frequently in Old Arabic poetry as well as in the Koran.  There is a great diversity in the meaning as it appears in the noun “asham” compared to the verb where the meaning is fairly similar.  In the noun, it usually appears as “sacrifice” but one will also see it as “sin-offering.”

Concordance Study.  In the Old Testament, the verb “asam” appears 33 times in the qal and once in the hiphil.  The largest block of occurrences are from Lev 5:14-6:7 which are the basic regulations for the guilt offering.  In Lev 7:1-7, it is used with special regulations for the priests.  Though the word is used elsewhere in the Old Testament, in most to all the cases, it is used for atonement of sins.  In the book of Isaish, it only occurs one time but it is in chapter 53 and the passage of the suffering servant.  This Messianic servant offers himself as a “asam” in 53:10, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.” Since “asam” here has to do with atonement, the death of the Suffering Servant compensates God fully for the damages he has incurred by mankind’s sinning.  Secondly, it could have even more significance here in chapter 53 in Isaiah because the Israelites are in the midst of Babylonian captivity and have been expelled from their land.  In this case, “asam” means the Sufferin Servant’s purpose is to restore the Israelites to their land and to their God.

Comparison to other Authors and Dictionaries.  For the most part, each dictionary and author have fairly similar views on the word “asam.” Most of the disagreements center around the root of the word and how it is translated in individual areas in the Old Teatament.  There seem to be a number of instances that authors disagree with the NIV translation because it does not do justice to the context of the passage.  Secondly, there is disagreement over the type of guild when “asam” is used.  One instance is in Lev. 5:17. The NIV reads, “If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.” Milgrom argues that guilt is determined by feeling while Hartly contends it has to do with legal status.

Next, there were two kinds of sin offerings that “asam” can be referring to.  First the sin offering was for unintentional sins against humans and the guilt offering was for unintentional sins against God and intentional sins against humans.  A good number of authors have concluded that the original meaning has been lost and it is too hard to distinguish which offering is which.

Application.  In summary, “asam” sheds a lot of light on both the Old Testament, New Testament and nature of God.  In Leviticus it shows the severity of sin and what one must do to reconcile themselves to Yahweh.  More practical is the passage in Isaiah 53 which foreshadows the life of Jesus Christ.  “Asam” lets the reader know the kind of sacrifice that Jesus Christ was.  In youth ministry, students tend to just see Jesus as their friend and hopefully Savior for their sins if they have been taught well.  By going back to Isaiah and even Leviticus, it enlarges the students view Jesus and his sacrifice for their lives because students tend to focus too much on themselves and lose the larger picture.

Bibliography

Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer. Theological Workbook of the Old Testament, Vol. 1. Chicago: Moody, 1980.

VanGemeren, Willem A. New International Dictionary of Old Testiment Theology and Exegesis, Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Michigan, 1997.

Whitaker, R. (1997, c1906). The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: From A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, based on the lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius. Ed. by Richard Whitaker. Text provided by Princeton Theological Seminary. (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.