Your sins have sins

[meliss]

Does it mean just "you have a lot of sins"?
Thank you

 

[BobK]

Probably... What's the context?

b

 

[meliss]

"...you probably fear the prime minister and the Patriarch equally. You live a very delicate life. Your sins have sins, and both
these gentlemen hold sway over you,”

 

[Rover_KE]

...and the source and author of the quotation are...?

 

[meliss]

Does it matter for understanding? It's all here.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Does it mean just "you have a lot of sins"?
Thank you

When I first read the phrase, the first thing I thought of is that the phrase was meant to intensify the person's faults, evil deeds, etc.

You are so evil that even your sins have sins.

This is similar to:

Your dog is so scruffy that even his fleas have fleas.
His acne is so bad that even his pimples have pimples.

 

[BobK]

Does it matter for understanding? It's all here.

Yes. Context is much more than just the surrounding words.

b

 

[Rover_KE]

Does it matter for understanding? It's all here.

Yes it does, and I'm not going to buy the book from Amazon to find out about it for myself.