First occurrence
“If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin couches at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Gen 4:7
The primitive root
Strong’s H2403, chatta’ath, a concrete noun meaning, “sin;” from Strong’s H2398 חטא chata, a primitive root meaning, “to miss the mark.” The ancient pictographs are chet + tet + aleph.
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
tet ט = the basket, thus surround, contain, hold, mud
aleph א = the ox head, thus strength, power, leader
The story the ancient pictographs are telling is of being outside (chet) that which contains (tet) strength, power, and wisdom (aleph, in the sense of that which is necessary to lead); i.e., to miss the mark, the target which Torah defines.
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