New International Version
1 John 5:16
16If 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 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. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
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 return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
- Exodus 32:10Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Exodus 34:9“Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”
- Numbers 12:13So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
- Numbers 14:11The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?
- Deuteronomy 9:18Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger.
- 2 Chronicles 30:18Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone
- Job 42:7After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.
- Psalms 106:23So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.
- Ezekiel 22:30“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
- Amos 7:1This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up.
- James 5:14Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
- Numbers 15:30“ ‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel.
- Numbers 16:26He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- 1 Samuel 2:25If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.
- Jeremiah 15:1Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! 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
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