עָוֺן
avon · iniquity
Hebrew word · Strong’s number H5771 · appears 230 times in the Bible
What is the Strong number?
Strong’s number identifies this word: use it to find the same word in other study tools.What it means
avon (עָוֺן) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “iniquity”.
Wickedness, a serious wrong. The same word covers the wrong, the guilt it leaves and the punishment it brings.
How to say it
a·von
Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.
Its senses in the Bible
- A serious wrong.
- The burden of guilt that remains on the one who did wrong.
- The punishment that wrong brings on the one who did it.
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)
Word study
Iniquity: wickedness, a wrong. BDB defines it as perversity, moral evil. The same word covers the wrong, the guilt it leaves and the punishment it brings.
- The wrong and its punishment: “My iniquity is too great to bear” Genesis 4:13
- Iniquity that builds up Genesis 15:16
- God calls iniquity to account, and forgives it Exodus 20:5Exodus 34:7
- Bearing the iniquity of others Leviticus 16:21Leviticus 16:22Isaiah 53:6
- “The iniquity of the sanctuary”: the guilt for a fault in it Numbers 18:1
Historical and cultural background
Leviticus 16:21-22 describes the Day of Expiation: the priest confesses the iniquities of the people over a male goat, which carries them into the wilderness.
How we translate it
“Iniquity” 179 times, “iniquities” 49, “guilt” 2. This edition's glossary sets “iniquity”, kept apart from חַטָּאת, “sin”, and פֶּשַׁע, “transgression”. In Genesis 4:13 “iniquity” is kept with a note, because it can be understood as “my guilt” or “my punishment”.
How it is translated
The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.
- iniquity ×179
- iniquities ×49
- guilt ×2
Where it appears
- Genesis×4
- Exodus×6
- Leviticus×18
- Numbers×12
- Deuteronomy×2
- Joshua×2
- 1 Samuel×6
- 2 Samuel×6
- 1 Kings×1
- 2 Kings×1
- 1 Chronicles×1
- Ezra×3
- Nehemiah×2
- Job×15
- Psalms×31
- Proverbs×2
- Isaiah×25
- Jeremiah×24
- Lamentations×6
- Ezekiel×44
- Daniel×3
- Hosea×10
- Amos×1
- Micah×2
- Zechariah×2
- Malachi×1
- Genesis 4:13
And Cain said to YHWH, “My iniquity is too great to bear.
- Genesis 15:16
And in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
- Genesis 19:15
As the dawn came up, the messengers urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the iniquity of the city.”
- Genesis 44:16
Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? And how shall we declare ourselves righteous? Elohim has found out the iniquity of your servants. Here we are, slaves to my lord, both we and the one in whose hand the cup was found.”
- Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, YHWH your Elohim, am a jealous El, calling to account the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
- Exodus 28:38
It shall be on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate, in all their holy gifts; it shall be on his forehead continually, for their acceptance before YHWH.
- Exodus 28:43
They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not bear iniquity and die. It is a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.
- Exodus 34:7
keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, calling to account the iniquity of fathers on sons and on sons’ sons, to the third and to the fourth generation.”
- Exodus 34:9
And he said, “If, please, I have found favor in your eyes, Adonai, let Adonai go, please, in our midst; although it is a stubborn people, forgive our iniquity and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”
- Leviticus 5:1
If a person sins in that he hears the public call to testify under oath, and he is a witness, whether he has seen or known the matter, if he does not declare it, he shall bear his iniquity.
- Leviticus 5:17
And if a person sins and does any one of all the commandments of YHWH concerning things that should not be done, though he did not know it, he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.
- Leviticus 7:18
And if any of the flesh of his sacrifice of peace is ever eaten on the third day, it shall not be accepted; for the one who presents it, it shall not be credited to him; it shall be a repulsive thing, and the person who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.
- Leviticus 10:17
“Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is a most holy thing, and he has given it to you to bear the iniquity of the community, to make expiation for them before YHWH.
- Leviticus 16:21
And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions, for all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is ready.
- Leviticus 16:22
And the goat shall carry on itself all their iniquities to a land cut off; and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.
- Leviticus 17:16
But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, he shall bear his iniquity.”
- Leviticus 18:25
So the land became unclean, and I punished its iniquity on it, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
- Leviticus 19:8
And whoever eats it shall bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to YHWH; and that person shall be cut off from their people.
- Leviticus 20:17
And a man who takes his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off before the eyes of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
- Leviticus 20:19
And the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister you shall not uncover, for that is laying bare one’s own close relative; they shall bear their iniquity.
- Leviticus 22:16
and so cause them to bear iniquity of guilt when they eat their holy things; for I am YHWH, who sanctifies them.”
- Leviticus 26:39
And those who are left of you will waste away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also in the iniquities of their fathers with them they will waste away.
- Leviticus 26:40
But they will confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their unfaithfulness that they committed against me, and also that they walked with me in opposition,
- Leviticus 26:41
I also walked with them in opposition and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and then they accept the payment for their iniquity,
- Leviticus 26:43
But the land will be abandoned by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the payment for their iniquity, because, yes, because they rejected my rules and their soul loathed my statutes.
- Numbers 5:15
then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour; he shall not pour oil on it and not put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, bringing to remembrance iniquity.
- Numbers 5:31
And the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her iniquity.”
- Numbers 14:18
‘YHWH is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’
- Numbers 14:19
Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loyal love, and just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt and until now.”
- Numbers 14:34
According to the number of the days that you explored the land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, you shall bear your iniquities, forty years, and you shall know my opposition.
- Numbers 15:31
Because he has despised the word of YHWH and broken his commandment, that person shall certainly be cut off; their iniquity is on them.
- Numbers 18:1
And YHWH said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
- Numbers 18:23
But the Levites themselves shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and among the sons of Israel they shall not inherit an inheritance.
- Numbers 30:15
But if he does annul them after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”
- Deuteronomy 5:9
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, YHWH your Elohim, am a jealous El, calling to account the iniquity of fathers upon children, and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of those who hate me,
- Deuteronomy 19:15
A single witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he commits; on the word of two witnesses or on the word of three witnesses a matter shall stand.
- Joshua 22:17
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, and for which the plague came on the community of YHWH?
- Joshua 22:20
Did not Achan son of Zerah commit unfaithfulness with the things devoted to destruction, and anger came upon the whole community of Israel? And he, one man, did not expire alone in his iniquity.’”
- 1 Samuel 3:13
And I have told him that I am judging his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were bringing a curse on themselves, and he did not restrain them.
- 1 Samuel 3:14
Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli shall not be expiated by sacrifice or by offering forever.”
And 190 more times.