H5771 H5771
Iniquity, sin, wrongdoing; guilt, liability for sin; punishment or consequence of sin.
The Hebrew noun avon captures the entire lifecycle of sin: the crooked act itself, the guilt that clings to the offender, and the punishment that follows. When Cain cries 'my avon is greater than I can bear' (Gen 4:13), the word deliberately fuses all three meanings — his crime, his guilt, and his sentence all compressed into a single term. Arabic إثم (ithm) and Swahili uovu cover the wrongdoing sense, while Korean 벌 (beol) and Swahili adhabu surface only for the punishment sense, confirming that these are genuinely distinct semantic layers. The theological weight is immense: avon is what the servant bears vicariously in Isaiah 53:6 and what God 'passes over' in the great confession of Micah 7:18.
3. guilt, liability for sin — The state of objective guilt or culpability before God — the liability that attaches to the sinner. In 2 Sam 14:9 the wise woman says 'let the avon be on me and on my father's house,' meaning the guilt or legal liability, not the act or the punishment. Swahili hatia ('guilt'), French culpabilité, and contexts of guilt-transfer (1 Sam 25:24; 2 Sam 14:32) support this as a distinct semantic layer. 4×
AR["إثْمِهِمْ","إِثمٌ","الإثمُ","الإِثمُ-"]·ben["তাদের-অধর্মের","পাপ","সেই-অধর্ম"]·DE["der-guilt","guilt","ihr-Schuld"]·EN["guilt","the-guilt","their-guilt"]·FR["culpabilité","le-culpabilité","leur-iniquité"]·heb["ה-עוון","עוון","עוונם"]·HI["अपराध","दोष"]·ID["kesalahan","kesalahan-mereka"]·IT["colpa","il-colpa","iniquita'"]·jav["kalepatan","piawon-ipun","sang-dosa","sang-kalepatan"]·KO["그들-의-죄악-에","죄가","죄악이다"]·PT["a-iniquidade","iniquidade","sua-iniquidade"]·RU["-вина","вина","вине-их"]·ES["iniquidad","la-iniquidad","su-culpa"]·SW["hatia","uovu-wao"]·TR["-suç","suç","suçlarının"]·urd["اُن-کی-بدی","گناہ"]
▼ 4 more senses below
Senses
1. iniquity, sin, wrongdoing — The wrongful act itself: moral perversity, crookedness, transgression against God's standard. By far the dominant sense (222 occurrences), spanning every genre from Torah to Wisdom. In Exod 20:5 God 'visits the avon of the fathers upon the children,' and in Isa 53:6 the LORD 'laid on him the avon of us all.' Arabic إثم, Spanish 'iniquidad,' and German 'Missetat/Schuld' converge here. The root idea is something bent or twisted away from the straight path. 222×
AR["إثْم","إِثمَ","إِثْمَ","إِثْمُ","بِ-إِثْمِ"]·ben["অধর্ম","অন্যায়","অপরাধ","দোষ","পাপ"]·DE["Missetat-von","Schuld","Schuld-","Schuld-von","der-Missetat-von","der-Schuld-","die-Schuld"]·EN["iniquity-of","the-iniquity-of","when-iniquity-of"]·FR["iniquité","iniquité-de","le-iniquité-de"]·heb["עוון"]·HI["अधर्म","अपराध","पअप"]·ID["kejahatan","kesalahan","perempuan-itu"]·IT["il-iniquita-di","iniquita'","iniquita-di","iniquity-di","iniquità","iniquità-di"]·jav["dosa","kalepatan","kalepètan","kaluputan","kula-badhé-mbikak","panerak"]·KO["불의-를","불의를","죄","죄-의","죄가","죄를","죄악","죄악-","죄악-의","죄악-이","죄악을"]·PT["a-iniquidade-de","culpa-de","iniquidade-de","iniquidade-de-"]·RU["беззаконие","беззакония","вина","вину","грех"]·ES["iniquidad-de","iniquidad-de-","la-iniquidad-de"]·SW["dhambi-ya","jua","maovu-ya","uovu","uovu-wa","uovu-wa-"]·TR["günahı","günahını","suç","suçu","suçunu","suçunu-"]·urd["بدکاری","بدی","گناہ"]
2. punishment, consequence of sin — The punishment or penalty that falls upon the sinner as a consequence of avon. Cain's cry in Gen 4:13 — 'my avon is too great to bear' — is classically read as 'my punishment is too great,' and the context of 2 Kgs 7:9 ('avon will find us') points to retribution rather than the act itself. Korean 벌, Swahili adhabu ('punishment'), and Spanish castigo mark this sense distinctly from the wrongdoing itself. 5×
AR["إثمٌ","إِثْمٌ","إِثْمِي","الْآثَامِ"]·ben["অধর্ম","আমার-অধর্ম","আমার-অপরাধ","দোষ","পাপের"]·DE["Schuld","Schuld-mein","meine-Schuld","punishment"]·EN["brings-the-punishments-of","iniquity-my","punishment"]·FR["iniquité","iniquité-mon","punishment"]·heb["עוון","עוון-י","עוונות","עווני"]·HI["अधर्मों-का","आवोन","दोश","मेर-अप्रअध","मेरा-अपराध"]·ID["hukuman","kesalahan-kesalahan","kesalahanku"]·IT["iniquità","iniquità-mio","punishment"]·jav["dosa","kalepatan","kalepatan-kula"]·KO["나의-죄","나의-죄악이며","벌이","죄악들의"]·PT["a-minha-iniquidade","castigo","iniquidade","iniquidades","minha-iniquidade"]·RU["беззаконие-моё","вина","наказание","наказание-моё","наказаний"]·ES["castigo","de-las-iniquidades","iniquidad","iniquidad-mía","mi-iniquidad"]·SW["adhabu","adhabu-yangu","makosa","na-hatia","uovu-wangu"]·TR["günahım","suc","suç","suçları","suçum"]·urd["بدکاریوں-کا","سزا","میری-بدکاری","گناہ","گناہ-میرا"]
4. sense 4 — A text-critical question mark: in 1 Sam 18:9 the Masoretic text has Saul 'eyeing' (עוֹן) David, but this is almost certainly a different root (עין, 'to eye') rather than avon ('iniquity'). English glosses '[eyeing]' and Spanish 'mirando con recelo' confirm the semantic mismatch. This occurrence is best treated as a homographic collision rather than a true sense of avon. 1×
AR["[مُعادٍ]"]·ben["হিংসা-করছিল"]·DE["[eyeing]"]·EN["[eyeing]"]·FR["[eyeing]"]·heb["[עון]"]·HI["[दुशमन]"]·ID["[mata]"]·IT["[eyeing]"]·jav["nyurigani"]·KO["[원수]"]·PT["[olhando]"]·RU["[враждующий]"]·ES["mirando-con-recelo"]·SW["akiwa-macho"]·TR["[gözlüyor]"]·urd["[دشمنی-سے]"]
5. sense 5 — Another text-critical case: in 2 Sam 16:12, many manuscripts read be'onyi ('my affliction') from a different root (ענה/עני), not avon. The Qere and several ancient versions support 'affliction' rather than 'iniquity' here. English '[my affliction]' and Spanish '[aflicción mía]' reflect this reading. Like sense 4, this is a scribal or homographic issue rather than a genuine semantic extension of avon. 1×
AR["[بِبَليَّتي]"]·ben["[কষ্টে-আমার]"]·DE["[my-affliction]"]·EN["[my-affliction]"]·FR["[my-affliction]"]·heb["[בעוני]"]·HI["[मेरी-दुर्दशा]"]·ID["[kesengsaraanku]"]·IT["[my-affliction]"]·jav["[karibedan-kula]"]·KO["내-역경을"]·PT["[aflição-minha]"]·RU["[кетив]"]·ES["[aflicción-mía]"]·SW["mateso-yangu"]·TR["[acımı]"]·urd["[مصیبت-میری]"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† עָוֹן n.m. Is 22:14 iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity;—ע׳ abs. Ex 28:43 +; עָווֹן 2 K 7:9 ψ 51:7; cstr. עֲוֹן Gn 15:16 +; עֲווֹן 1 Ch 21:8; sf. עֲוֹנִי Gn 4:13 + (2 S 16:12 read בְּעָנְיִי), עֲוֹנְךָ Ho 9:7 +; עֲוֹנֵ֑כִי ψ 103:3; עֲוֹ֔נָהֿ Nu 15:31 (Ges§ 91 e), etc.; pl. עֲוֹנוֹת abs. ψ 130:3 +, cstr. Jb 13:26 +; עְוֹנֹת abs. ψ 65:4, cstr. Lv 16:21 +; sf. עֲוֹנֹתֶיךָ Is 43:24,…