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.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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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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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
I love how you seek for the heart of God and then take the time to share it with us. Your writings have been life-changing for me and I love to share your insights with other people. You always point us to being in the presence of God where we can experience the fruit of the spirit. I may not always understand, or agree, but it does always cause me to dig deeper.
In reference to this writing, I appreciate your focus on Cain’s unintentional sin. I have been guilty of having the religion of sincerity. As long as I am sincere, I must be following the right path. That has brought much pain in my life. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. “ It seems to be Infecting our modern church.
To know him is to love him!
I am not sure if I am in total agreement with your definition of Pani. Doesn’t Pani means face ) presence. To me it is more appropriate to use face here with regards to Cain. Also with the offerings of Cain. If God rejected his offering because the ground was curse , why did He accept the same type of offerings later on from the said curse ground?
Hi John
Chaim is sharing his devotional In your devotion, you can use “face”. One word has many meanings and God designed it to be personal, and not one way so it’s fine to disagree and both be right. What seems to be more appropriate to you is just that, to you. It’s ok to disagree as neither is wrong, just a preference. This is how Biblical Hebrew works and you can’t use a Western mindset as you would with Greek.
I have learnt to first assess my sins before blaming the church.
That’s what a mature believer does and once they do, then they can discern what the truth is. Sometimes the answer is the Church.
We think that those who sing our praises love us the most, but often it’s those that challenge us that love us the most
I’m sorry that I don’t believe this has anything to do with cursed ground. If that is so wouldn’t Abel sheep be unacceptable because they ate grass from the cursed ground and why does God accept the sacrifices of the Jew’s both animals and products of the ground? No I believe that this has to with plain old jealously. Abel worked hard and gave his best. Cain just gave God stuff that wasn’t perfect.
The stories of brother against brother are many in the Bible and they have hints of the Messiah that will be killed because of jealously
I have noticed that “after some time” Cain made his offering of “some”.
Whereas Able gave his first and his best.(fat portion was best)
The secret place of the LORD. O how beautiful it is . Let us cherish it as a precious jewel .
Amen! Not feeling the presence of The Lord can make us sad and sometimes angry with ourselves that we are not worthy,intentionally or not. God’s presence or hiding place is a great place to seek to and to be at all times. May our living sacrifice be acceptable through Jesus Christ. Amen
:). Thinking of you and thankful. I said it once. I’ll say it again. Still looking forward for deception to be brought to the light in ways but I love how powerful Jesus/the Word is and the dimensions you highlight. In agreement with what you bring to the table/I see it.
Good Word!
The Lord told me the other day not to pray at Him. Meaning instead of abiding with Him, I was doing a quick “drive by.”
I ask for His presence, but then I’m too busy to give Him my time, and I miss out, just like Cain.
God is a relational God. He wants our best because He is the best! If we could grasp the love He has for us we would never push Him away. Like Moses, if His presence isn’t with me, I’m not moving.
Bro Chaim, could it be that Cain was self willed? I can’t believe that he was not instructed by Adam on a blood sacrifice only being acceptableto God. Perhaps God was warning Cain his ways was going to lead.him into a way that would not intentional but rather since he had chosen to lean to his own understanding ; sin is st the.door.
Beautiful!
This really resonates with me! I’d never realised how much we pray at God! Thank you, Emilie.