to sin
cha.ta denotes committing wrongdoing, often against the LORD, and in some forms causing others to do so or purifying an altar.
The prevailing use describes a person or people committing wrongdoing, frequently stated as against the LORD and sometimes paired with confession, forgiveness, judgment, or a specified wrongful act. A Hiphil use depicts causing others, or the land, to incur such wrongdoing; two Piel forms occur in altar-and-offering contexts where the APB presents purification and atonement.
Senses in use
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Committing wrongdoing against God or another · dominant
Qal forms describe direct culpability: in 1 Samuel 15:24, Saul's first-person perfect stands with his admission that he violated the LORD's command and Samuel's instructions. In 1 Kings 8:31 the imperfect concerns a man acting against his neighbor, while 1 Kings 8:33 and 1 Kings 8:50 place Israel's wrongdoing against God in a context of return and forgiveness. In 1 Samuel 19:5, the imperfect occurs in Jonathan's warning against shedding innocent blood without cause.
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Causing others or a land to incur wrongdoing · common
Hiphil forms place responsibility on an agent who brings others into wrongdoing. In 1 Kings 15:26 the king follows his father's way and causes Israel to do so; 1 Kings 16:2 similarly addresses a ruler who caused God's people Israel to do so. Exodus 23:33 warns that resident peoples may cause Israel to do so through serving their gods, and Deuteronomy 24:4 presents bringing sin upon the land.
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Purifying in an altar-and-offering setting · rare
Two Piel forms occur in ritual clauses rather than in admissions of wrongdoing. In Exodus 29:36 the APB renders the surrounding instruction as purifying the altar by making atonement upon it; in 2 Chronicles 29:24 it describes priests applying blood to the altar to make atonement for all Israel.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the Qal clauses, the APB commonly uses "sinned" or "sin" and sometimes identifies the act as violating a command or acting against another person. In Hiphil contexts it often says "caused Israel to sin," while the Piel altar contexts are rendered with "purify" and "make atonement".