1 John 5:16

1 John 5:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
• New International Version (NIV)If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.

Context of 1 John 5:16

14Also, we can trust God to help us when we turn to him. We know that he will hear us. When we ask for anything that he wants us to have, he listens to us. 15Since we know that, we also know that God will give to us the things that we ask for. It is like we have already received those things from him. If you see that another Christian is doing something bad, this is what you should do. If it is a sin that does not cause death, pray that God will help him. Then God will help that person to live for ever with him. That is for a sin which does not cause death. But there is a sin that causes death. If another Christian does that, I am not saying that you should pray for God to help that person. 17Any wrong thing that a person does is sin. But not all sins cause death. 18Nobody who has become a child of God continues to do wrong things. Instead, the Son of God keeps him safe. Satan cannot do anything against a child of God.

1 John 5:16 word by word

Ἐάν τις ἴδῃ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτάνοντα ἁμαρτίαν μὴ πρὸς θάνατον, αἰτήσει καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ζωήν, τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν μὴ πρὸς θάνατον.¶ Ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον· οὐ περὶ ἐκείνης λέγω ἵνα ἐρωτήσῃ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• any manτιςtis · oneG5100
• seeὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• brotherὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• brotherἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• sinἁμαρτάνωhamartanō · to sinG264
• a sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• notμήmē · notG3361
• untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• deathθάνατοςthanatos · deathG2288
• he shall askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• he shall giveδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
• lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• There isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• I doλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• notοὐou · noG3756
• sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• he shall prayἐρωτάωerōtaō · to askG2065
• forπερίperi · aboutG4012
• itἐκεῖνοςekeinos · thatG1565

Cross-references for 1 John 5:16

• Genesis 20:7You must now give her back to her husband. He is a prophet and he will pray for you. Because of that, you will not die. But if you do not give her back, you and all your people will surely die.’
• Exodus 32:10I am very angry with them and I will destroy them. Do not try to stop me. I will make your descendants into a great nation, instead of them.’
• Exodus 34:9He said, ‘Lord, my God, if you are pleased with me, please travel with us! It is true that these people are proud and they often do not obey you. But please forgive all our sins. Please accept us as your own people.’
• Numbers 12:13So Moses called loudly to the Lord, ‘Please God, make her well again!’
• Numbers 14:11The Lord said to Moses, ‘These people continue to turn away from me. I did great miracles to show them my power. But still they will not trust me.
• Deuteronomy 9:18Then I again fell down with my face on the ground, to pray to the Lord. I did that for 40 days and nights. I did not eat or drink anything. You had done an evil thing which caused the Lord to be very angry.
• 2 Chronicles 30:18Most of the people who came from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not made themselves properly clean. They should not have eaten the Passover meal, because God's law said that was wrong. But they still ate the meal. So Hezekiah prayed for them. He said, ‘Lord you are good. Please forgive everyone
• Job 42:7When the Lord had spoken to Job, he said this to Eliphaz, the man from Teman: ‘I am very angry with you and with your two friends. The things that my servant Job has said about me are true. But the things that you said were not right.
• Psalms 106:23So God said that he would destroy them. But God's servant, Moses, spoke on their behalf. He asked God not to be angry with his people, and God agreed.
• Ezekiel 22:30I looked among the people for a man who would make the land safe. He would make it a good, strong place again, with nothing bad in it. Then I would not destroy it. But I could not find anyone like that.
• Amos 7:1The Lord God showed a vision to me. I saw a crowd of locusts. The Lord was ready to send them to destroy the crops in the fields. They would come after we had taken the early crops to give to the king. Then the later crops were beginning to make grain.
• James 5:14Is anyone ill? They should ask the leaders of the church to come and to pray for them. The leaders should put some olive oil on the sick person. They should pray for him with the authority of the Lord Jesus.
• Numbers 15:30But a person might do something that he knows to be wrong. He does it because he wants to do it. That person is as bad as someone who insults the Lord. It does not matter whether he is an Israelite or a foreign person. You must make that person separate from all the people.
• Numbers 16:26Moses said to all the people, ‘Move away from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them. If you do not move away, God may destroy you together with them, because of all their sins.’
• 1 Samuel 2:25If you do something bad to another person, God can speak on your behalf. But if you do something bad against the Lord, nobody can speak on your behalf.’ Eli's sons did not listen to their father. The Lord had already decided to kill them.
• Jeremiah 15:1The Lord said to me, ‘Even if Moses and Samuel asked me not to punish these people, I would not agree. I still would not help them. Send them away! I do not want to see them again!

Commentaries on 1 John 5:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16A sin which is not unto death - This is an extremely difficult passage, and has been variously interpreted. What is the sin not unto death, for which we should ask, and life shall be given to him that commits it? And what is the sin unto death, for which we should not pray? I shall note three of the chief opinions on this subject: - It is supposed that there is here an allusion to a distinction in the Jewish law, where there was למיתה חטאה chattaah…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16If a man see his brother sin a sin … - From the general assurance that God hears prayer, the apostle turns to a particular case in which it may be benevolently and effectually employed, in rescuing a brother from death. There has been great diversity of opinion in regard to the meaning of this passage, and the views of expositors of the New Testament are by no means settled as to its true sense. It does not comport with the design of these notes to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-17Verses 13-17 Upon all this evidence, it is but right that we believe on the name of the Son of God. Believers have eternal life in the covenant of the gospel. Then let us thankfully receive the record of Scripture. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. The Lord Christ invites us to come to him in all circumstances, with our supplications and requests, notwithstanding the sin that besets us. Our…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16Sins that lead to death are sins of apostasy, which means turning away from the true faith and rejecting Christ (see Matthew 12:31–32; Hebrews 6:4–6). In the context of this letter, apostasy means leaving the teaching of the apostles and joining a false, anti-Christian group like the ones John warns about in his letters.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. If any ... see--on any particular occasion; Greek aorist. his brother--a fellow Christian. sin a sin--in the act of sinning, and continuing in the sin: present. not unto death--provided that it is not unto death. he shall give--The asker shall be the means, by his intercessory prayer, of God giving life to the sinning brother. Kindly reproof ought to accompany his intercessions. Life was in process of being forfeited by the sinning brother when the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 5:16

• Holy Spirit
• Intercession
• Reprobacy
• Sin
• Unpardonable Sin

In the dictionaries

• Idol
• Sin
• Blasphemy
• Forgiveness
• Hope
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of
• righteous, righteousness, unrighteous, unrighteousness, upright, uprightness

Commentaries on 1 John 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings