Is there any ancient or modern connection between the word "sin" and the sport of archery? I recently learned that in the Bible, the word "sin" comes from Hebrew and Greek words that mean "missing the mark".

In the Faith section of my local newspaper, a minister recently said:


  The word “sin” is an archery term in the ancient Greek. It means, “you missed”. It’s what a slave boy might have said to his master during target practise. “Sin” means we have missed the mark when it comes to making right moral choices in life.


I mildly enjoy word studies, and that one seemed cool, so I dug in a bit to find out more about that.

After digging through some of the mountain of blog posts written by Christians and Christian archers on the saying, I learned about the Greek word "hamartia" (means "to miss the mark"). However, although every blogger said something similar to what the pastor in my newspaper said, and there were a lot of cool stories, in all of the blogs I read I couldn't find any link or reference to the phrase ever having actually been used in archery anciently or modernly. It was just stated as if it was true. So I took a look at the Wikipedia article for Hamartia.

After reviewing that and a couple other sources, it seems that sin is not actually an archery term. But I can't get through the mountain of blog posts to confirm if I'm on track. There's too much information - I don't want to spend days on only a mildly interesting word study.

So I thought I'd ask here if anyone happens to know more or might happen to ask Google a better question. Is there actually a connection between the word "sin" and the sport of archery? Or did some excited Christian or Christian archers just connect these dots between the definition of the word and their sport, decide it was true, share it, and it caught on?

If this question is more appropriate for another site, I'm happy to move it there. The Sports SE just didn't seem like the right place, there is no Etymology SE, and beyond that the question's topic seems it might be at home in Christianity SE, History SE, and Linguistics SE fairly equally. I thought I'd ask here first since Christians are the ones that actually use the comment.
Idioms are notoriously difficult to translate, since they are specific to the language of origin and may cause confusion when translated literally. One example is the expression “to miss the mark” (from the meaning of the Greek word hamartia in Luke 1:77; John 1:29; 1 John 3:4). It is worth noting what 1 John 3:4 says about sin:  “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (NIV).  True, the Greek word ‘hamartia’ has been linked to the expression “to miss the mark”:

Strong's Concordance: hamartia: a sin, failure:
Original Word: ἁμαρτία, ας, ἡ
Definition: a sin, failure
Usage: prop: missing the mark; hence: (a) guilt, sin, (b) a fault, failure (in an ethical sense), sinful deed.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon: STRONGS NT 266: ἁμαρτία: ἁμαρτία, (ας, ἡ (from 2 aorist ἁμαρτεῖν, as ἀποτυχία from ἀποτύχειν), a failing to hit the mark (see ἁμαρτάνω. In Greek writings (from Aeschylus and Thucydides down). 1st, an error of the understanding (cf. Ackermann, Das Christl. im Plato, p. 59 Anm. 3 (English translation (S. R. Asbury, 1861), p. 57 n. 99)). 2nd, a bad action, evil deed. In the N. T. always in an ethical sense   https://biblehub.com/greek/266.htm

However, we do well to go further back in time and take a quick look at the Hebrew meaning of sin.  During the Greek Mycenean Period Moses was attributed as being the author/compiler of the Pentateuch, which includes the book of Genesis where the first mention of sin as a noun is recorded:

The first mention of sin as a noun is a zoomorphism, with sin (hattath) crouching at Cain's door (Genesis 4:7). The first as a verb is Abimelech being prevented from sinning (khata) against God in a dream.
Hebrew has several other words for sin beyond hata, each with its own specific meaning. The word pesha, or &quot;trespass&quot;, means a sin done out of rebelliousness. The word aveira means &quot;transgression&quot;. And the word avone, or &quot;iniquity&quot;, means a sin done out of moral failing. The word most commonly translated simply as &quot;sin&quot;, hata, literally means &quot;to go astray.&quot; Just as Jewish law, halakha, provides the proper &quot;way&quot; (or path) to live, sin involves straying from that path.  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_views_on_sin

The generic Hebrew word for any kind of sin is ‘avera’ which literally means “transgression.”  The article goes on to describe the three levels of sin and is well worth reading.
I mention this to emphasise the point that biblical sin means a transgression against the law of God.  The Greek idiom not only “misses the mark” but it doesn’t even get close to the target!  As a description of biblical sin, it is wholly inept.
Back to your question asking if the Greek word ‘hamartia’ can be linked to archery.  You have discovered that “Hamartia as it pertains to dramatic literature was first used by Aristotle in his Poetics.”   I have to agree with your conclusion that “it seems that sin is not actually an archery term.”  The Greek word may lend itself to “missing the mark” but not so with the Hebrew.  Interesting word search, though.