Innocence; Innocency; Innocent

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

in´ō̇-sens, in´ō̇-sen-si, in´ō̇-sent (זכוּ, zākhū, נקּין, niḳḳāyōn, חנּם, ḥinnām, חף, ḥaph, נקי, nāḳī; ἀθῷος, athō̇os):

The King James Version and the American Standard Revised Version have innocency in Gen_20:5; Psa_26:6; Psa_73:13; Dan_6:22; Hos_8:5. In Daniel the Hebrew is zākhū, and the innocence expressed is the absence of the guilt of disloyalty to God. In all the other places the Hebrew is niḳḳāyōn, and the innocence expressed is the absence of pollution, Hosea having reference to the pollution of idolatry, and the other passages presenting the cleansing under the figure of washing hands. the King James Version has innocent not fewer than 40 times. In one place (1Ki_2:31) the Hebrew is ḥinnām, meaning “undeserved,” or “without cause,” and, accordingly, the American Standard Revised Version, instead of “innocent blood ... shed,” has “blood ... shed without cause.” In another place (Job_33:9) the Hebrew is ḥaph, meaning “scraped,” or “polished,” therefore “clean,” and refers to moral purity. In all the other places the Hebrew is nāḳī, or its cognates, and the idea is doubtless the absence of pollution. In more than half the passages “innocent” is connected with blood, as “blood of the innocent,” or simply “innocent blood.” In some places there is the idea of the Divine acquittal, or forgiveness, as in Job_9:28 : “I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent” (compare Job_10:14, where the same Hebrew word is used). The New Testament has “innocent” twice in connection with blood - “innocent blood,” and “innocent of the blood” (Mat_27:4, Mat_27:24).