ἁμαρτωλός

ἁμαρτωλός, όν pert. to behavior or activity that does not measure up to standard moral or cultic expectations (being considered an outsider because of failure to conform to certain standards is a freq. semantic component. Persons engaged in certain occupations, e.g. herding and tanning, that jeopardized cultic purity, would be considered by some as ‘sinners’, a term tantamount to ‘outsider’. Non-Israelites were esp. considered out of bounds [cp. Ac 10:28 and s. b, below]).

ⓐ as adj. (Aristoph., Th. 1111; Aristot., EN 2, 9, 1109a 33; Philod., Ira p. 73 W.; Plut., Mor. 25c; LXX; TestAbr A 9 p. 86, 22 [Stone p. 20]; Just., A I, 15, 5, D. 43, 3 al.) sinful ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ τῇ μοιχαλίδι καὶ ἁ. in this adulterous (=unfaithful) and sinful generation Mk 8:38. ἵνα γένηται καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν ἁ. ἡ ἁμαρτία that sin might become sinful in the extreme Ro 7:13.—With focus on cultic nonconformity ἀνὴρ ἁ. (Sir 15:12; 27:30; 1 Macc 2:62) a sinner Lk 5:8; 19:7; ἄνθρωπος ἁ. (Sir 11:32; 32:17) J 9:16; pl. (Num 32:14; Just., D. 23, 2) Lk 24:7.

ⓑ as subst.

α. ὁ ἁ. the sinner, gener. w. focus on wrongdoing as such (ins from Lycia ἁ. θεοῖς ‘sinner against the gods’ [IAsMinLyk I, 30, no. 7; CIG 4307; Lyc. ins: ARW 19, 1919, 284] or ἁ. θεῶν [IAsMinLyk II, 36, no. 58; OGI 55, 31f; CIG 4259, 6]; other ins: Steinleitner [see ἁμαρτάνω, end] p. 84f; LXX, En, TestAbr, ApcEsdr, ApcSed, ApcMos, Test12Patr; Just., A I, 15, 8 al.) ἁ. παρὰ πάντας τοὺς Γαλιλαίους greater sinners than all the other Galileans Lk 13:2; (opp. δίκαιος as En 104:6) οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁ. Mt 9:13; Mk 2:17; Lk 5:32; 2 Cl 2:4; B 5:9; cp. Hs 3:2f; 4:2ff. W. ἀσεβής (En 5:6) 1 Ti 1:9; 1 Pt 4:18 (Pr 11:31); B 11:7 (Ps 1:5); w. πονηρός (Gen 13:13) 4:2; w. ἄπιστος Rv 21:8 v.l.; ἁ. εἰμι Hm 4, 2, 3. οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἁ. ἐστιν J 9:24; cp. vs. 25. ἁ. μετανοῶν a sinner who repents Lk 15:7, 10. μετάνοια τῶν ἁ. Hs 8, 6, 6. ἁμαρτωλοὺς προσδέχεσθαι Lk 15:2. ἁ. σῶσαι 1 Ti 1:15; ἐπιστρέφειν ἁ. Js 5:20; ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁ. Lk 18:13. ἁμαρτωλῶν οὐκ ἀκούει of God J 9:31. ἡ ἁμαρτωλός the sinful woman Lk 7:37, 39 (PJoüon, RSR 29, ’39, 615–19). In rhetorical address Js 4:8.

β. with focus on status of outsider—w. τελώνης (IAbrahams, Publicans and Sinners: Stud. in Pharisaism and the Gospels I 1917, 54ff; JJeremias, ZNW 30, ’31, 293–300; WRaney, JR 10, 1930, 578–91; Goodsp., Probs. 28f) irreligious, unobservant people, outsiders of those who did not observe the Law in detail and therefore were shunned by observers of traditional precepts Mt 9:10f; 11:19; Mk 2:15f; Lk 5:30; 7:34; 15:1.—Lk 6:32 has ἁ., whereas its parallel Mt 5:46 has τελώνης. W. ἔθνη Hs 4:4; more precisely ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἁμαρτωλοί, which means, in the usage of Judeans and Judean Christians, no ‘sinners’ of gentile descent Gal 2:15. Gener. a favorite term for non-Israelites (Is 14:5; Tob 13:8; 1 Macc 1:34 al.); hence the irony in ὁ υἱὸς τ. ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς (τὰς) χεῖρας (τῶν) ἁ. (the Israelite Jesus delivered to the ‘outsiders’, gentiles) Mt 26:45; Mk 14:41 (on χεῖρ. ἁ. cp. Ps 70:4; 81:4; 96:10); cp. Lk 6:32ff, whose parallel Mt 5:47 has ἐθνικός. (ἡ) ὁδὸς ἁμαρτωλῶν the way of sinners B 10:10 (Ps 1:1). Its adj. character is wholly lost in Jd 15, where it is itself modif. by ἀσεβεῖς (En 1:9).—Of the state of a person who is not yet reconciled ἔτι ἁ. ὄντων ἡμῶν Ro 5:8. ἁ. κατεστάθησαν οἱ πολλοί the many (i.e. ‘humanity’; opp., ‘the one’, Adam) were constituted sinners (=were exposed to being treated as sinners; s. καθίστημι 3) 5:19. ὡς ἁμαρτωλὸς κρίνομαι Ro 3:7. εὑρέθημεν ἁμαρτωλοί Gal 2:17. Opp. κεχωρισμένος ἀπὸ τῶν ἁ. separated from sinners of Jesus Hb 7:26. ὑπό τῶν ἁ. … ἀντιλογίαν 12:3.—ESjöberg, Gott u. die Sünder im paläst. Judentum ’38.—DELG s.v. ἁμαρτάνω. M-M. TW.