English Standard Version
1 John 5:16
16If 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.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.
Context of 1 John 5:16
14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 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. 17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 18We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
Read all of 1 John 51 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 20:7Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."
- Exodus 32:10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you."
- Exodus 34:9And he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."
- Numbers 12:13And Moses cried to the Lord, "O God, please heal her—please."
- Numbers 14:11And the Lord said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?
- Deuteronomy 9:18Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.
- 2 Chronicles 30:18For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon everyone
- Job 42:7After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
- Psalms 106:23Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
- Ezekiel 22:30And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
- Amos 7:1This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
- James 5:14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
- Numbers 15:30But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.
- Numbers 16:26And he spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins."
- 1 Samuel 2:25If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.
- Jeremiah 15:1Then the Lord said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!
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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries