He touched my mouth with it and said, See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. (Is 6:7)
וַיַּגַּ֣ע עַל־פִּ֔י וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הִנֵּ֛ה נָגַ֥ע זֶ֖ה עַל־שְׂפָתֶ֑יךָ וְסָ֣ר עֲוֹנֶ֔ךָ וְחַטָּאתְךָ֖ תְּכֻפָּֽר׃
et tetigit os meum et dixit ecce tetigit hoc labia tua et auferetur iniquitas tua et peccatum tuum mundabitur.
καὶ ἥψατο τοῦ στόματός μου καὶ εἶπεν Ἰδοὺ ἥψατο τοῦτο τῶν χειλέων σου καὶ ἀφελεῖ τὰς ἀνομίας σου καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου περικαθαριεῖ.
Sin (חַטָּאת ḥaṭṭ’āṯ) in biblical Hebrew, the root ḥṭ’ means “to miss the mark,” and the derived verb means “to fail, to make a mistake, to transgress, to sin, to be guilty.” The noun ḥaṭṭ’āṯ means both sin, guilt, transgression, and sin offering, atonement, just as the verb in the piel form also means to purify, to free from sin, to atone.
The first reading today, from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (Is 6:1-8), describes the prophet’s calling, linked to the experience of the encounter with YHWH. In His presence, Isaiah feels a “fatal” fear: Woe to me, I am undone! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts! (v. 5). The purification of Isaiah’s mouth is the gift that heals him from fear before God, making him capable of listening to His voice and accepting His mission.
The Hebrew word חַטָּאת [ḥaṭṭ’āṯ] in the Bible means sin / what is done wrong / sin offering / purification from sins. It symbolizes actions against God’s commandments that violate morality or God’s law. The word ḥaṭṭ’āṯ comes from the verb חָטָא [ḥāṭā’] which means to lose the way / to miss the target / to go astray / to purify from impurity / to bear the punishment for sin. The Greek equivalent of this word is ἁμαρτία [hamartia].