The meaning of the word חטא is an act where the moral will has retreated, and the deed is done without thought, without moral or spiritual guidance; it is an act performed under the control of the senses.
חטא is an act that is removed from the fire of holiness, and חטאת (the sin-offering) is the symbolic rectification. The קרבן חטאת restores the חלב וכליות to the fire of the sacred, and thus rectifies the חטא.
Beraishis 13:13
pages 319-320
