Sinful
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Hamartolos is a Greek adjective meaning sinful and, when used as a substantive, a sinner or sinful person. New Testament passages may use it for people publicly regarded as morally disreputable, for humanity’s guilt before God, or for a speaker confessing personal sin.
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Full entry for ἁμαρτωλός (G268) · Open the biblical lexicon
Hamartolos is a Greek adjective meaning sinful and, when used as a substantive, a sinner or sinful person. New Testament passages may use it for people publicly regarded as morally disreputable, for humanity’s guilt before God, or for a speaker confessing personal sin.
The BSB source-word alignment has 47 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include sinners (25), a sinner (5), a sinful (4), sinful (3), sinner (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 9:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (18), Mark (6), Matthew (5), John (4).
Hamartolos is a Greek adjective meaning sinful and, when used as a substantive, a sinner or sinful person. New Testament passages may use it for people publicly regarded as morally disreputable, for humanity’s guilt before God, or for a speaker confessing personal sin. The term never licenses contempt. Jesus receives sinners and calls them to repentance; the tax collector names himself a sinner and asks for mercy; Paul says Christ died for us while we were sinners and came to save sinners.
Romans also places the many under Adam’s disobedience so that Christ’s obedient work, not moral superiority, grounds righteousness. Context must distinguish a social label, an accusation, a theological description, and humble self-confession. Hamartolos tells the truth that sin makes people guilty and needy, while the gospel tells the fuller truth that Christ seeks, welcomes, justifies, and transforms sinners who cannot save themselves.
Hamartolos can function adjectivally as sinful or substantivally as sinner. It appears in social labeling, confession, mission sayings, and doctrinal explanation. The word names real guilt but does not reduce a person to a slur. Jesus’ welcome aims at repentance, mercy answers confession, and salvation rests in Christ’s death and obedience.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus states His mission in response to complaints about fellowship with tax collectors. His welcome and His call to repentance belong together.
So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
The opponents’ complaint introduces parables of seeking, finding, repentance, and joy. Jesus’ reception of sinners reveals God’s saving pursuit.
But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
The tax collector confesses need without self-defense. Jesus contrasts his plea for mercy with the Pharisee’s comparative self-righteousness.
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s love is demonstrated toward the undeserving through Christ’s death. Sinner-language magnifies grace rather than creating a superior religious class.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Paul contrasts Adam’s disobedience with Christ’s obedience. The verse locates condemnation and righteousness within the larger representative argument.
This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
Paul’s self-description displays Christ’s mercy and patience. It is grateful testimony, not a denial that grace has changed his life and service.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Designates someone as wicked or estranged from God, not merely imperfect; often contrasts righteous persons
Designates someone as wicked or estranged from God, not merely imperfect; often contrasts righteous persons
(ἁμαρτάνω), [in LXX chiefly for רָשָׁע ;] sinful, a sinner: of all men, 1Ti.1:15; of those especially wicked, 1Ti.1:9, 1Pe.4:18; p1., Mat.9:10-13 11:19 26:45, al. (see MM, VGT, see word; Cremer, 102, 634)
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 47 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read versesinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 47 lexical occurrence verses.
ἁμαρτωλός is built from this root:
Identifies the object of Christ’s redemptive call.
Reveals human unworthiness before Christ’s holiness.
Identifies the objects of Christ’s redemptive mission.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sinner-language levels pride and directs hope to Christ. The Pharisee in Luke 18 can identify another person as a sinner while remaining blind to his own need; the tax collector speaks the same truth about himself and asks God for mercy. Jesus declares that the humbled man goes home justified. Elsewhere in Luke, religious opponents complain that Jesus welcomes sinners, but the surrounding parables show heaven’s joy when the lost repent.
Welcome is neither approval of sin nor guarded distance until people repair themselves. It is the saving pursuit of the One who calls sinners to repentance. Paul carries the truth into the cross: Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and His obedience answers Adam’s disobedience. The term therefore cannot become a weapon for insiders against outsiders.
Christians confess that salvation came to the guilty, including themselves. Faithful teaching names sin honestly, refuses flattering evasions, rejects dehumanizing contempt, and announces that Christ’s mercy is sufficient to justify and reshape sinners who come to Him.
Luke.18.13
Hamartolos is an adjective formed from the sin word-group. It may modify a noun as sinful or stand substantivally for a sinner. Articles, agreement, speaker, and discourse setting show the function. A social group label in a Gospel scene should not automatically be treated as a complete doctrinal definition of every individual.
The Old Testament names sin as rebellion against God and repeatedly joins confession with appeals to covenant mercy. Prophets expose both public evil and religious self-deception, while the sacrificial system teaches that guilt requires atonement. Jesus fulfills the pattern by seeking sinners and giving Himself for them. The Epistles explain His death and obedience as the ground of justification and transformed life.
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