6563. 'I beg you, forgive - I beg you - the transgression of your brothers, and their sin' means supplication and repentance. This is clear from the meaning of 'I beg you, forgive, I beg you' as supplication; and the fact that repentance too is meant is evident from the confession that they had transgressed and sinned, and also from what follows, in their offer of themselves as slaves to Joseph. The expressions 'transgression' and also 'sin' are used because of the marriage of truth and goodness in every detail of the Word; for 'transgression' means evil opposed to truth, which is the lesser, and 'sin' evil opposed to good, which is the greater. This is the reason why both expressions are used, as they are in other places, such as Genesis 31,
Jacob said to Laban, What is my transgression, what is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? Gen 31:36.
In Isaiah,
I will blot out, like a cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Isa 44:22.
In Ezekiel,
In his transgression that he has committed,a and in his sin that he has committed,b in them he will die. Ezek 18:24.
In the same prophet,
When your transgressions are revealed, so that your sins in all your works appear. . . Ezek 21:24.
In David,
Blessed is he whose transgression has been forgiven, whose sin has been covered. Ps 32:1.
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church