1 John 5:16

1Jn_5:16-17

There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it

The sin unto death

The sin mentioned here is not the same as the sin against the Holy Ghost.

The persons spoken of as respectively guilty are very different from each other. In the latter sin it is the Scribes and Pharisees, the malignant enemies of Christ; in the case before us it is a Christian brother that is the offender: If any man see his brother sin. This clears the way so far, or at least it narrows the ground, and so facilitates our inquiry. Much depends on the meaning of the expression, a sin unto death. Death may mean either temporal or eternal death; either the death of the soul or that of the body. In the passage before us it seems to mean such a sin as God would chastise with disease and death, though He would not exclude the doer of it from His kingdom. In the case of Moses, we have this paternal chastisement involving death. The most remarkable instance of the kind is in the Corinthian Church (1Co_11:30). Weakness, sickliness, and death were the three forms of chastisement with which the Corinthian Church was visited. These passages show the true meaning of our text. The sin unto death is a sin such as God chastises by the infliction of disease and death. What this sin is we do not know. It was not the same sin in all, but different in each. In the case of the Corinthian Church unworthy communicating was the sin unto death; but what it was in others is not recorded. But then the question would arise, How are we to know when a sin is unto death, and when it is not unto death, so that we may pray in faith? The last clause of the 16th verse answers this question. It admits that there is a sin unto death: which admission is thus put in the 17th verse: All unrighteousness is sin; but all sin is not unto death. But what does the apostle mean by saying, in the end of the 16th verse, I do not say that he shall pray for it? If we cannot know when a sin is unto death, and when not, what is the use of saying, I do not say that he shall pray for it? The word translated pray means also inquire, and is elsewhere translated so (Joh_1:19). (See also Joh_1:21; Joh_1:25; Joh_5:12; Joh_9:2; Joh_19:21) If thus rendered the meaning would be, I say he is to ask no questions about that. That is to say, if he sees a brother sick and ready to die, he is not to say, Has he committed a sin unto death, or has he not? He is just to pray, letting alone all such inquiries, and leaving the matter in the hands of God, who, in answer to prayer, will raise him up, if he have not committed the sin unto death. Let us now come to the lessons of our text.

1. Dont puzzle yourself with hard questions about the particular kind of sins committed. Be satisfied that it is sin, and deal with it as such. It is not the nature or the measure of its punishment that you have to consider, but its own exceeding sinfulness.

2. Be concerned about a brothers welfare.

3. Dont trifle with sin. Count no sin trivial, either in yourself or another. Do not extenuate guilt.

4. Take it at once to God. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

The sin unto death

Noble men and women have gone mad over this sentence. In the shadows of this mystery the gentle spirit of William Cowper wandered many a weary month, wounding itself with bitterest accusations--the noble intellect distraught, like sweet bells jangled out of tune, weaving the phantasies of despair--the burden of its sad song being, There is a sin unto death.

I. There are degrees in sin. Guilt has its gradations. There are sins of ignorance and of deliberation--of weakness and of wickedness: sins which show a lack of goodwill, and others that express intense malignity of will. There are the sins of a Peter, and there are the sins of a Judas.

II. Every one sin tends to others more guilty than itself. It gives the will a wrong bias. It breaks the prestige of virtue. Fact tries to become precedent. Acts become habits. Choice hardens into destiny. Sin becomes master and the sinner a slave.

III. This sad development reaches its climax in the sin unto death. Beyond this it cannot go. What then can it be? It is evidently not any one act or word. It .is a condition, a settled state of heart and mind--a state of opposition to and hatred of good as good, and God as God. The sin unto death is unbelief of heart and mind: rejection of the holy as holy.

IV. This is sin unto death. It hath no forgiveness under law or gospel. Why? How so? Because God will not? No. The way of return to God is closed against no one who does not close it against himself. The unholy cannot be saved.

V. Let us look at our relation to the sin unto death. With regard to ourselves let us not yield to morbid fears, nor sleep in over security. The door is never closed till we close it, and yet all sin tends to the sin unto death. Let us then beware of all sin. (J. M. Gibbon.)

The sin unto death

The leading thought which St. John had in his mind was not the distinction between different kinds of sin, but the efficacy of a Christians prayers. He shows it to be an immediate consequence of our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, that we should offer up our prayers in full confidence that those prayers will be heard, and that they will be answered, provided only that the petition is in accordance with Gods holy will; and then he applies it to the question of intercession one for another; he would have us to remember, that if we have the privilege of coming to Gods mercy seat, we ought not to use the privilege merely on our own behalf, but that we ought to pray for our brethren as well; and we may even pray for the forgiveness of their sins. But does this direction extend to all kinds of sins? Is there no limit to the power of intercession to obtain forgiveness of sin? St. John asserts that there is a limitation; he says that a Christian may obtain forgiveness for his brother by intercession, provided that the sin for which he prays has not been a deadly sin, a sin unto death. And though it may be very difficult to draw an exact line between the two kinds of sin of which the apostle speaks, yet we may sufficiently illustrate his meaning by taking two extreme cases. On the one hand, take the faults and failings which beset the very best amongst Christs disciples; or again, taking the great question of steadfastness in the faith, which in St. Johns day was a question of overwhelming importance to every Christian, one Christian might see his brother sinning a sin not unto death in this respect; then the faults of a weak brother such as this would be, as I conceive, a proper subject for the intercession of his brethren. But take the other extreme, suppose a man who has known what is right to have turned his back upon his convictions and to have wallowed in the filth of sin, or suppose you knew him to have committed any atrocious sin, would you have any reasonable ground to intercede for such a person at the throne of grace, and to expect to obtain forgiveness for him? Or suppose a person not merely to have shown some faltering and weakness concerning the faith, but to have openly and expressly denied the faith (which may have been the case that St. John had chiefly in his mind), then would a Christian have any right to ask for the forgiveness of this sin? It seems to me that in this case the very nature of the sin cuts off all possibility of intercession; for to intercede for pardon would be to plead those merits of Christ the virtue of which the apostate has himself expressly renounced. (Bp. Harvey Goodwin.)

The mortal sin

In very deed there is no sin that is not unto death, in a momentous sense of the words, although the inspired penman, when viewing the subject under another aspect, affirms that there is a sin which is not unto death. Alienation from God is the essence of sin; and since God is life, the slightest estrangement from Him is a tendency to death.

1. The sin unto death appears sometimes to be a single deed of extraordinary wickedness. It seems to extinguish conscience at a blast, and to rob the moral sense of all its energy and discernment. It breaks down the barriers which had hitherto restrained the vicious tendencies of nature; and forth they flow in a vast irrepressible torrent. In a moment it produces an impassable gulf between God and the soul. It turns the man into a bravo: it makes him desperate and reckless. He has taken the leap; he has made the plunge; and on he goes, wherever unbridled concupiscence or malignity may urge him, as a horse rusheth into the battle.

2. Still more common is that ruin of the soul which grows out of the long indulgence of comparatively small sins. When people go on sipping sin, although abstaining from a large draught; when, in spite of a reproving conscience, they persist in practices to which the lust of gain, or of pleasure, incites them, not pretending that these practices are altogether right, but only that they are not extremely wrong; when the protest of the inward monitor against this or the other misdeed is put aside with the base apology, But, is it not a little one; it may well be feared that the Holy Ghost, disgusted with such double dealing, will leave the heart a prey to its own deceitfulness.

3. Habitual carelessness in matters of religion is also a sin against the Holy Ghost, which, after a certain continuance, bringeth forth death. If absolute, irretrievable ruin is no rare fruit of careless indolence, in the business of this world, or, I should rather say, is its natural consequence, why should we deem it unlikely that everlasting ruin, in another world, will prove the consequence of having neglected in our lifetime religion and the interests of the soul? To slight the message, and hardly give it a thought, seems to me an outrage even more atrocious than that of rejecting it after examination.

4. Unprofitableness under means of grace, there is reason to suspect, becomes in numerous instances the sin unto death. A dull insensibility steals over the soul that has repeatedly been plied in vain with spiritual incentives, till at length a lethargy possesses it, invincible to human urgency, from which it will not awake till the day of judgment. (J. N. Pearson, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Jn 5:16-17. If any man, &c. — As if he had said, Yea, he hears us not only for ourselves, but others also; see his brother — That is, any child of man; sin a sin which is not unto death — That is, any sin but that which is marked out in the awful words of our Lord Jesus Christ as unpardonable, namely, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, of which see on Mat 12:31; Mar 3:29. Or, which may rather be intended, the sin of total apostacy from both the power and form of godliness; he shall ask, and God shall give him life — Repentance unto life, and, in consequence thereof, pardon and salvation for that sinner. There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it — That is, let him not pray for it. A sin unto death may likewise mean one which God has determined to punish with temporal death. All unrighteousness is sin — Every deviation from perfect holiness is sin; but all sin is not unpardonable, nor does God determine to punish every sin with temporal death.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:16 Sins that lead to death are those involving apostasy (see Matt 12:31-32; Heb 6:4-6). In the context of this letter, apostasy involves leaving the apostolic faith and joining a heretical, anti-Christian movement such as those denounced in John’s letters.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Jn 5:16. Ἐάν τις, if any one) The most important of all cases is added, that you are able to pray even for another, in a most serious matter: comp. ch. 1Jn 2:1.—ἴδῃ, shall see) This sin can therefore be known by the regenerate.—ἁμαρτάνοντα ἁμαρτίαν, μὴ πρὸς θάνατον, sinning a sin, not unto death) A sin of any kind, provided that it is not unto death.—μὴ, not) a form of excepting (Mat 19:9), has greater force than οὐ, not, 1Jn 5:17. As long as it is not evident that it is a sin unto death, it is lawful to pray.—θάνατον, death) Respecting the disease of which Lazarus died, but shortly afterwards was raised from the dead, it is said, It is not unto death, Joh 11:4, note: but Hezekiah was sick למות, unto death, Isa 38:1, had he not recovered by a miracle. But John is here speaking of death and life, as ch. 1Jn 3:14. Moreover what is meant by a sin unto death, is declared from the opposite, in 1Jn 5:17, where the subject is, all unrighteousness; the predicate consists of two members, sin, and that coming short of death. Therefore any unrighteousness, which is committed in common life, is a sin not unto death. But sin unto death is not an ordinary or sudden sin, but a state of the soul, in which faith, and love, and hope, in short, the new life, is extinguished: when any one knowingly and willingly embraces death, not from the allurements of the flesh, but from the love of sin, as sin. It is a deliberate rejection of grace. A man puts from him life, while he commits this sin: how then can others procure for him life? Yet there is also set forth [there is such a thing as] a sin that is to the death of the body; for instance, in the case of the people, for whom the prophet thrice made entreaty, he is forbidden to make entreaty: Jer 7:16; Jer 11:14; Jer 14:11; Jer 15:1-2. Yea, even Moses himself committed a sin unto death, of this nature; unto death, not to be made the subject of entreaty: Deu 3:26; comp. 1Sa 2:25; 1Sa 3:14, respecting the house of Eli; and, on the other hand, respecting the averting of sins and diseases by means of prayer, Jas 5:14-18.—αἰτήσει, he shall ask) namely, ὁ παῤῥησιαστής, he who has confidence.—δώσει.” He will give) namely, God, when entreated.—αὐτῷ, to him) the brother.—ζωὴν, life) Therefore he who sins unto death is in a state of death, and yet he sins further unto death.—τοῖς) ì, that is, as far as relates to those who sin not unto death.—ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον, there is a sin unto death) The chief commandment is faith and love. Therefore the chief sin is that by which faith and love are destroyed. In the former case is life; in the latter, death. The sin, however, which is here pointed out, is not such as we call mortal, as are all the sins of the unregenerate, ch. 1Jn 3:14, and some sins of the brethren who relapse: and these alone properly need that life should be given to them.—οὐ—λέγω, I do not—say) for I say—not. An expression full of character, and Attie. God does not wish that the righteous should pray in vain: Deu 3:26. If, therefore, he who has committed sin unto death is brought back to life, that proceeds entirely from the mercy [the mere prerogative] of God.—ἐκείνης, for it) The word here has the force of removing.—ἐρωτήσῃ) He just before used the word αἰτήσει. There is a difference between the two words:[25] Joh 11:22, note. Here we are enjoined not only not αἰτεῖν, but not even ἐρωτᾷν. Ἐρωτήσῃ is as it were the generic word: αἰτεῖν is the species, as it were, of a more humble kind. Not only αἰτεῖν is removed, but also the genus. This species, αἰτεῖν, does not occur in the prayers of Christ. Αἰτεῖν is suitable to the case of one who is as it were conquered, and a criminal.

[25] Αἰτέω, like ‘peto,’ is more submissive and suppliant, and expresses the seeking of the inferior from the superior. But ἐρωτάω, like ‘rogo,’ implies a certain equality or familiarity in the asker, with him from whom the favour is sought: therefore nowhere in the New Testament does it express the prayer of mere man to God; but is appropriated to Christ, who, on the other hand, never uses αἰτοῦμαι. Here 1Jn 5:16 may seem an exception; but its change from αἰτήσει of the earlier clause to ἐρωτήσῃ is a strong confirmation of it: “If any man see his brother sin a sin not unto death, he shall ask or beg, αἰτήσει, and He (God) shall give him (the petitioner) life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall request or intercede (authoritatively), ἐρωτήσῃ, for it.” The Christian is not to assume the authority which would be implied in making request for a sinner who has sinned the sin unto death; Mar 3:29; 1Sa 15:35; 1Sa 16:1. See Trench, Syn. N. T.—E.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Jn_5:16. The apostle applies the general thought expressed in 1Jn_5:15 to a particular case, namely, to a prayer for ones brother when one sees him committing sin.

ἐάν τις ἴδῃ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὑτοῦ] By ἐάν with the subjunctive the possibility is simply stated. By ἀδελφός we are to understand, according to the usus loquendi of the Epistle, not the neighbour in general (Calovius), but the Christian brother (αὑτοῦ), not exactly the regenerate (Düsterdieck); Ebrard erroneously: first of all members of the Christian Church, yet without excluding those who are not Christians.

ἁμαρτάνοντα ἁμαρτίαν μὴ πρὸς θάνατον] The phrase ἁμαρτάνειν ἁμαρτίαν is stronger and more expressive than ποιεῖν ἁμαρτίαν.

The sort of ἁμαρτία is more particularly defined by the addition μὴ πρὸς θάνατον. The negative μή (instead of which οὐ is used in 1Jn_5:17) is explained by the fact that the idea is regarded as dependent on ἐάν τις ἴδῃ (comp. Winer, p. 421). The apostle distinguishes between the ἁμαρτία οὐ πρὸς θάνατον and the ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον. What sin is to be understood by the latter? The idea חֵטְא לָמוּת, LXX.: ἁμαρτία θανατηφόρος, is found already in the O. T. Num_18:22, whence the Rabbis distinguish between חטאח למיתה and חטאה לא למיתה (Schoettgen, Hor. hebr.); in accordance with this, as Schoettgen also interprets, the ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον would be that sin to which the Mosaic law assigned the punishment of death, as idolatry, adultery, etc.; but even if that Old Testament definition is the basis of Johns expression, yet it does not follow that he used the idea in the same sense; θάνατος may here, as distinguished from ζωή (καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ζωήν), not mean bodily death. For this reason alone, therefore, the explanation of Morus and S. G. Lange is to be rejected, according to which that sort of sin is meant which is punished by the authorities with death or with other severe punishments (!), even apart from the fact that it makes the prayer of the Christian dependent on the penal decrees of civil law. But the opinion of Zachariae, Michaelis, and Linder (in the Zeitschrift für d. luth. Theol. of Rudelbach and Guericke, vol. IV. 1862), that here, as in Jam_5:14 ff., it is those who are in bodily sickness that are spoken of, and that such sin is meant as God punishes with deadly sickness or sudden death, is for the same reason unfounded.[319]

If θάνατος is not bodily death, then by πρὸς θάνατον the period to which the sin lasts cannot either be meant.

With reference to the ecclesiastical discipline exercised in the Church, the older Catholic theologians especially understood by the ἁμ. πρ. θάν., without further comment, all those sins which were punished by the punishment of excommunication. But even if the Church had always punished in that way the sin which John here has in view, yet that expression could not be explained by that practice.

As θάνατος is not bodily death, it is only spiritual death or damnation that can be meant by it; ἁμ. πρὸς θάνατον is therefore the sin which leads to damnation. But what sin is this? It is much too general to regard every grievous transgression as such. As Christ Himself refuses forgiveness absolutely only to one sin, the commentators who assent to the above view find themselves driven to an arbitrary weakening of πρὸς θάνατον; so Ambrosius (lib. de poenit.), when he says: quodvis peccatum gravissimum, quod vix remittitur; and still more strangely a Lapide: peccatum quodvis gravissimum, quod … juxta legem communem per gratiam, quam Deus ordinarie dare solet, est quasi immedicabile, incorrigibile et insanabile. It is more correct, indeed, to regard it as sin which is not repented of, and to find the characteristic of the ἁμ. πρ. θάν. in the impenitence of the sinner who will give heed to no exhortation (Grotius, Socinus, etc.); but even this cannot be the feature which John here has specially in view, because at the time of the commitment of a sin it cannot be decided whether it will be repented of or not. John must mean a ἁμαρτία, which in itself is characterized as a ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον. Many commentators accordingly fix the meaning of it on a single particular sin; thus Tertullian, who understands by it, moechia post baptismum commissa; Bede, who, following the precedent of Augustine,[320] understands by it the peccatum invidentiae, quo quis invidet fratri gratiam, virtutem et salutem; but then we do not see why John did not specifically and definitely mention this particular sin. We might therefore agree with those who take ἁμαρτία here as the description of a state, as Bengel, who thus interprets: talis status, in quo fides et amor et spes, in summa, vita nova exstincta est; but this is opposed by the apostles mode of expression, which plainly refers to a sinful deed, and not to a state. Though, on the one hand, a single sin cannot be meant (Calvin: non est partialis lapsus, nec praecepti unius transgressio), yet we must only think of a whole species of sins, or better, of such sinning as is characterized not by the object with which it is connected, but by the disposition from which it proceeds. For the further definition it is to be observed, as Lücke with justice points out, that it can only be a class of sins of Christians, and not of those who are not Christians, that is spoken of, and that the distinction between the sin unto death and sin that is not unto death must be capable of being known. It is true, every sin can be called a ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον, inasmuch as it tends in the direction of θάνατος, but every sin does not infallibly lead to θάνατος; so long as along with the ἁμαρτία there still exists an ἔχειν τὸν υἱόν (1Jn_5:11-12), the sinning Christian is still in fellowship with the αἷμα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ which cleanses him ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας (chap. 1Jn_1:7), and so long as he has a παράκλητος πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, namely, Jesus Christ the righteous (chap, 1Jn_2:1), sin does not deprive him of the ζωὴ αἰώνιος, and is not therefore ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον; this it only is when it involves an actual falling away from Christ; de Wette and Lücke therefore rightly say that the sin unto death is the sin by which the Christian falls back again from the Christians ζωή into the θάνατος (comp. also Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 340), only it is not exactly the falling away itself that is to be understood, for this is an internal act which, as such, is invisible,[321] but rather the sinful conduct by which the internal loss of life with Christ externally operates and reveals itself (so also Braune).[322] It is incorrect of Düsterdieck (and similarly Ebrard) to understand by the sin unto death the antichristian denial that Jesus is the Christ; for if John had meant this, he would have expressed it definitely, so much the more as in the Epistle he is carrying on a polemic against that antichristianity. Just as little has Myrberg arrived at the correct explanation when on ἜΣΤΙΝ ἉΜΑΡΤΊΑ ΠΡῸς ΘΆΝΑΤΟΝ he remarks: varia genera peccatorum, quae mortem in sensu loci nostri adferant, vide enumerata, Gal_5:18-21; for although Paul says: ὍΤΙ ΤᾺ ΤΟΙΑῦΤΑ ΠΡΆΣΣΟΝΤΕς ΒΑΣΙΛΕΊΑΝ ΘΕΟῦ Οὐ ΚΛΗΡΟΝΟΜΉΣΟΥΣΙΝ, yet it does not follow from this that no return is possible from such sins.

In the face of the apostles words the possibility of knowing the ἉΜΑΡΤΆΝΕΙΝ ΠΡΟς ΘΆΝ. cannot be denied, yet it is difficult to distinguish amongst the particular concrete manifestations; but, on the one hand, the Christian mind which is fitted for the ΚΡΊΣΙς will not decide without scrupulous examination; and, on the other hand, John himself shows by the ΜΉ that the decision can at any time be only a subjective one. The meaning of the sentence accordingly is: If any man see his brother sin in such a way that the sin which he commits does not involve absolute renunciation of Christ, and therefore does not necessarily bring condemnation with it, he shall pray for him.[323]

αἰτήσει is not to be understood of the united prayer of the Church as such (so Neander; Ewald also says: Christian prayer, especially in the consecrated bosom of the Church), but of every prayer of one for another. The future is not exactly used instead of the imperative; it rather expresses the certainty that, in the case stated, the Christian will pray, but in this there is certainly involved the injunction actually to do it. The substance of the prayer is indicated by the following.

καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ζωήν] denotes the result of the prayer; very many, perhaps most commentators (Socinus, a Lapide, Lorinus, Grotius, Spener, Lücke, Sander, Erdmann, etc.), supply with δώσει as subject ὁ Θεός or ὁ αἰτούμενος (so also Winer, p. 463; VII. p. 487; Al. Buttm. p. 116, Anm.); a similar change of subject occurs in Act_8:6; but considering the close connection of αἰτήσει and δώσει, along with which the similarity of the verbal form is also to be noticed, it is preferable, with Jerome, Sander, de Wette-Brückner,[324] Baumgarten-Crusius, Frommann (p. 674), Düsterdieck, Myrberg, Braune, etc., to assume the same subject with ΔΏΣΕΙ as with ΑἸΤΉΣΕΙ; then the sense is: he that prays gives the ΖΩΉ, inasmuch as God grants him his prayer. The idea finds its explanation in the fact that every sin brings with it a weakening of the ΖΩΉ; in order that he that sins may not remain in tins want, he requires a new infusion of life, and this is procured for him by the prayer of his believing brother. In addition to this, of course, the confession of his sin, with trust in the cleansing power of the blood of Christ (comp. chap. 1Jn_1:7), is necessary on his part; but it is just in this that the blessing of the prayer consists, that he receives as the result of it the needful inclination for this.[325]

τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι μὴ πρὸς θάνατον] apposition to αὐτῷ; the plural serves only for generalization (de Wette, Winer, etc.); Bornemann (Bibl. Studien der süchs. Geistlichen, I. p. 71; and Alex. Buttm. p. 156) erroneously explains τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι as the dative commodi, referring αὐτῷ to the person that prays himself. By the following words: ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον, the apostle brings out that there is really a sin unto death, with which he connects the observation: οὐ περὶ ἐκείνης λέγω ἵνα ἐρωτήσῃ. Most commentators find in this a prohibition, even though mildly expressed, of prayer in reference to the sin unto death; but this is not contained here, as Grotius, Hornejus, Besser, Myrberg, Ebrard, Brückner, etc., rightly observe; for the negative οὐ does not belong to ἐρωτήσῃ, but to λέγω; if the negative was to be referred to the former, it would have had to be μή. The sense is: My injunction does not mean (οὐ λέγω) that a man is to offer prayer (ἵνα ἐρωτήσῃ) in reference to (περί) the sin πρὸς θάνατον.[326]

The words do not express more than this, although it is admitted that in the emphasizing of Οὐ ΛΈΓΩ a warning is indicated (similarly Braune); John does not want to make a duty of a prayer, to which the certain assurance of being granted is wanting; he therefore adds this limitation to his exhortation to prayer (so also Besser): a formal prohibition would only he appropriate if the ἁμαρτάνειν πρ. θάν. was always cognizable as such. It is observable that John does not say here ΑἸΤΉΣῌ, but ἘΡΩΤΉΣῌ; ἘΡΩΤᾷΝ (lit. to ask) is a milder idea than ΑἸΤΕῖΝ (lit. to demand); the apostle warns against the ἘΡΩΤᾷΝ, and, of course, much more against the more urgent ΑἸΤΕῖΝ.[327]

[319] Linder, it is true, remarks against this that a new section begins with ver. 13, but even in that verse ζωή is used in the spiritual sense. The above view is also opposed by the fact that it assumes in John the opinion that deadly sickness or sudden death is always divine punishment for a special sin, which can neither be justified by Acts 5 nor by 1Co_11:30. The appeal to Jam_5:14 ff. is so much the more inappropriate, as John hero in no way suggests that he is speaking of those who are in bodily sickness. It is therefore quite arbitrary for Linder to interpret καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ζωήν: God will grant to him pardon and recovery.

[320] Augustine (de serm. Dei in monte Matt. lib. l. c. 22, § 73) says: Peccatum fratris ad mortem puto esse, cum post agnitionem Dei per gratiam.… Jesu Christi quisque oppugnat fraternitatem et adversus ipsam gratiam … invidentiae facibus agitatur. Yet Augustine is not consistent in his interpretation; in the Retractations he adds further: si in hac perversitate finierit vitam; in his work, de corrept. et gratia, c. 12, § 35, he explains the idea by: fidem, quae per dilectionem operatur, deserere usque ad mortem.

[321] This also contradicts Ebrards interpretation, according to which the ἁμ. πρ. θάν. is the act of inward rejection; although Ebrard is correct when he says: πρὸς θάν. is that sort of sinning which has resulted in a corruption of the soul, from which the return to πίστις and ζωή is no longer possible to him.

[322] Several commentators, as Calvin, Beza, Calovius, Heumann, Sander, etc., identify this sin with the sin against the Holy Ghost in Mat_12:31 ff.; certainly the ἁμαρτία meant here is not imaginable without a βλασφημία τοῦ πνεύματος; and the βλασφημία τ. τν. has θάνατος as its reward; but the ideas do not quite coincide, for (1) the βλασφημία τ. πν. may occur even on the part of non-Christians, but it is the sin of the Christian that is spoken of here; and (2) the former is completed in words (εἰπεῖν κατὰ τοῦ πνεόματος τ. ἁγ.), but the ἁμ. πρ. θάν. can only consist in further action.

[323] When Linder (as above quoted) remarks against this explanation that the decision whether a sin is a ἁμ. πρ. θ. or not is objectively made by God Himself, and must be cognizable in some outward manifestation, we may reply that even the occurrence of bodily death cannot be regarded as a certain proof; for even though God sometimes ordains it as a punishment of the sinner, yet it occurs also when it is not to be concluded that there is special guilt.

[324] Brückner seems, however, to be doubtful, as he remarks: if there were only an αὐτός, or a similar indication!

[325] It is to weaken the thought of the apostle if, with Rickli, we find the blessing of the prayer only in this, that he who prays is himself led thereby to a right relation toward his brother. According to the apostles view, the prayer rather brings blessing directly to the brother, for as James (1Jn_5:16) says: πολὺ ἰσχύει δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη.

[326] As Neander thinks that it is only Church prayer that is spoken of here, he interprets: one who sins πρὸς θάνατον is not to be included in the united prayer of the Church for sinners in general, so that he may not be confirmed in his sin and be led to a false trust in the prayer of others; but John in no way indicates that he is speaking only of Church prayer.

[327] Braune unsuitably says that αἰτεῖν implies conversation; ἐρωτᾷν, on the other hand, equalization of him who prays with him whom he addresses.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Jn 5:16 . After the grand assurance that prayer is always heard, never unanswered, the Apostle specifies one kind of prayer, viz. , Intercession, in the particular case of a “brother,” i.e. a fellow-believer, who has sinned. Prayer will avail for his restoration, with one reservation that his sin be “not unto death”. The reference is to those who had been led astray by the heresy, moral and intellectual, which had invaded the churches of Asia Minor (see Introd. pp. 156 f.) They had closed their ears to the voice of Conscience and their eyes to the light of the Truth, and they were exposed to the operation of that law of Degeneration which obtains in the physical, moral, intellectual, and spiritual domains. E.g. , a bodily faculty, if neglected, atrophis ( cf. note on 1Jn 2:11 ). So in the moral domain disregard of truth destroys veracity. Acts make habits, habits character. So also in the intellectual domain. Cf. Darwin to Sir J. D. Hooker, June 17, 1868: “I am glad you were at the Messiah , it is the one thing that I should like to hear again, but I daresay I should find my soul too dried up to appreciate it as in old days; and then I should feel very flat, for it is a horrid bore to feel as I constantly do, that I am a withered leaf for every subject except Science”. And so in the spiritual domain. There are two ways of killing the soul: (1) The benumbing and hardening practice of disregarding spiritual appeals and stifling spiritual impulses. Cf. Reliq. Baxter , I. i. 29 “Bridgnorth had made me resolve that I would never go among a People that had been hardened in unprofitableness under an awakening Ministry; but either to such as had never had any convincing Preacher, or to such as had profited by him”. (2) A decisive apostasy, a deliberate rejection. This was the case of those heretics. They had abcured Christ and followed Antichrist. This is what Jesus calls ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος βλασφημία (Mat 12:31-32 = Mar 3:28-30 ). It inflicts a mortal wound on the man’s spiritual nature. He can never be forgiven because he can never repent. He is “in the grip of an eternal sin ( ἔνοχος αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος )”. Cf. Heb 4:4-6 . This is “sin unto death”. Observe how tenderly St. John speaks: There is a fearful possibility of a man putting himself beyond the hope of restoration; but we can never tell when he has crossed the boundary. If we were sure that it was a case of “sin unto death,” then we should forbear praying; but, since we can never be sure, we should always keep on praying. So long as a man is capable of repentance, he has not sinned unto death. “Quamdiu enim veniæ relinquitur locus, mors prorsus imperium nondum occupat” (Calv.). δώσει , either (1) “he (the intercessor) will give to him (the brother),” τοῖς ἁμαρτ . being in apposition to αὐτῷ , “to him, i.e. to them that, etc.”; or (2) “He (God) will give to him (the intercessor) life for them that, etc.” The former avoids an abrupt change of subject, and the attribution to the intercessor of what God does through him is paralleled by Jas 5:20 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We have to make prayers not only for ourselves, but also for our brethren which do sin, that their sins be not unto them, to death: and yet he excepteth that sin, which is never forgiven, or the sin against the holy Ghost, that is to say, an universal and willful falling away from the known truth of the Gospel.

This is as much as if he said, Let him desire the Lord to forgive him, and he will forgive him being so desired.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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 believer's intercession obtained its restoration.

for them--resuming the proviso put forth in the beginning of the verse. "Provided that the sin is not unto death." "Shall give life," I say, to, that is, obtain life "for (in the case of) them that sin not unto death."

I do not say that he shall pray for it--The Greek for "pray" means a REQUEST as of one on an equality, or at least on terms of familiarity, with him from whom the favor is sought. "The Christian intercessor for his brethren, John declares, shall not assume the authority which would be implied in making request for a sinner who has sinned the sin unto death (Sa1 15:35; Sa1 16:1; Mar 3:29), that it might be forgiven him" [TRENCH, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament]. Compare Deu 3:26. Greek "ask" implies the humble petition of an inferior; so that our Lord never uses it, but always uses (Greek) "request." Martha, from ignorance, once uses "ask" in His case (Joh 11:22). "Asking" for a brother sinning not unto death, is a humble petition in consonance with God's will. To "request" for a sin unto death [intercede, as it were, authoritatively for it, as though we were more merciful than God] would savor of presumption; prescribing to God in a matter which lies out of the bounds of our brotherly yearning (because one sinning unto death would thereby be demonstrated not to be, nor ever to have been, truly a brother, Jo1 2:19), how He shall inflict and withhold His righteous judgments. Jesus Himself intercedes, not for the world which hardens itself in unbelief, but for those given to Him out of the world.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 16. A 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: -

1. It is supposed that there is here an allusion to a distinction in the Jewish law, where there was למיתה חטאה chattaah lemithah, "a sin unto death;" and למיתה לא חטאה chattaah lo lemithah, "a sin not unto death;" that is, 1. A sin, or transgression, to which the law had assigned the punishment of death; such as idolatry, incest, blasphemy, breach of the Sabbath, and the like. And 2. A sin not unto death, i.e. transgressions of ignorance, inadvertence, c., and such is, in their own nature, appear to be comparatively light and trivial. That such distinctions did exist in the Jewish synagogue both Schoettgen and Carpzovius have proved.

2. By the sin not unto death, for which intercession might be made, and unto death, for which prayer might not be made, we are to understand transgressions of the civil law of a particular place, some of which must be punished with death, according to the statutes, the crime admitting of no pardon: others might be punished with death, but the magistrate had the power of commuting the punishments, i.e. of changing death into banishment, c., for reasons that might appear to him satisfactory, or at the intercession of powerful friends. To intercede in the former case would be useless, because the law would not relax, therefore they need not pray for it but intercession in the latter case might be prevalent, therefore they might pray and if they did not, the person might suffer the punishment of death. This opinion, which has been advanced by Rosenmuller, intimates that men should feel for each other's distresses, and use their influence in behalf of the wretched, nor ever abandon the unfortunate but where the case is utterly hopeless.

3. The sin unto death means a case of transgression, particularly of grievous backsliding from the life and power of godliness, which God determines to punish with temporal death, while at the same time he extends mercy to the penitent soul. The disobedient prophet, 1Kgs 13:1-32, is, on this interpretation, a case in point: many others occur in the history of the Church, and of every religious community. The sin not unto death is any sin which God does not choose thus to punish. This view of the subject is that taken by the late Rev. J. Wesley, in a sermon entitled, A Call to Backsliders.-WORKS, vol ii. page 239.

I do not think the passage has any thing to do with what is termed the sin against the Holy Ghost; much less with the popish doctrine of purgatory; nor with sins committed before and after baptism, the former pardonable, the latter unpardonable, according to some of the fathers. Either of the last opinions (viz., 2 and 3) make a good sense; and the first (1) is not unlikely: the apostle may allude to some maxim or custom in the Jewish Church which is not now distinctly known. However, this we know, that any penitent may find mercy through Christ Jesus; for through him every kind of sin may be forgiven to man, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; which I have proved no man can now commit. See the note on Mat 12:31; Mat 12:39.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16 If any man The Apostle extends still further the benefits of that faith which he has mentioned, so that our prayers may also avail for our brethren. It is a great thing, that as soon as we are oppressed, God kindly invites us to himself, and is ready to give us help; but that he hears us asking for others, is no small confirmation to our faith in order that we may be fully assured that we shall never meet with a repulse in our own case.

The Apostle in the meantime exhorts us to be mutually solicitous for the salvation of one another; and he would also have us to regard the falls of the brethren as stimulants to prayer. And surely it is an iron hardness to be touched with no pity, when we see souls redeemed by Christ’s blood going to ruin. But he shews that there is at hand a remedy, by which brethren can aid brethren. He who will pray for the perishing, will, he says, restore life to him; though the words, “he shall give,” may be applied to God, as though it was said, God will grant to your prayers the life of a brother. But the sense will still be the same, that the prayers of the faithful so far avail as to rescue a brother from death. If we understand man to be intended, that he will give life to a brother, it is a hyperbolical expression; it however contains nothing inconsistent; for what is given to us by the gratuitous goodness of God, yea, what is granted to others for our sake, we are said to give to others. So great a benefit ought to stimulate us not a little to ask for our brethren the forgiveness of sins. And when the Apostle recommends sympathy to us, he at the same time reminds us how much we ought to avoid the cruelty of condemning our brethren, or an extreme rigor in despairing of their salvation.

A sin which is not unto death That we may not cast away all hope of the salvation of those who sin, he shews that God does not so grievously punish their falls as to repudiate them. It hence follows that we ought to deem them brethren, since God retains them in the number of his children. For he denies that sins are to death, not only those by which the saints daily offend, but even when it happens that God’s wrath is grievously provoked by them. For as long as room for pardon is left, death does not wholly retain its dominion.

The Apostle, however, does not here distinguish between venial and mortal sin, as it was afterwards commonly done. For altogether foolish is that distinction which prevails under the Papacy. The Sorbons acknowledge that there is hardly a mortal sin, except there be the grossest baseness, such as may be, as it were, tangible. Thus in venial sins they think that there may be the greatest filth, if hidden in the soul. In short, they suppose that all the fruits of original sin, provided they appear not outwardly, are washed away by the slight sprinkling of holy water! And what wonder is it, since they regard not as blasphemous sins, doubts respecting God’s grace, or any lusts or evil desires, except they are consented to? If the soul of man be assailed by unbelief, if impatience tempts him to rage against God, whatever monstrous lusts may allure him, all these are to the Papists lighter than to be deemed sins, at least after baptism. It is then no wonder, that they make venial offenses of the greatest crimes; for they weigh them in their own balance and not in the balance of God.

But among the faithful this ought to be an indubitable truth, that whatever is contrary to God’s law is sin, and in its nature mortal; for where there is a transgression of the law, there is sin and death.

What, then, is the meaning of the Apostle? He denies that sins are mortal, which, though worthy of death, are yet not thus punished by God. He therefore does not estimate sins in themselves, but forms a judgment of them according to the paternal kindness of God, which pardons the guilt, where yet the fault is. In short, God does not give over to death those whom he has restored to life, though it depends not on them that they are not alienated from life.

There is a sin unto death I have already said that the sin to which there is no hope of pardon left, is thus called. But it may be asked, what this is; for it must be very atrocious, when God thus so severely punishes it. It may be gathered from the context, that it is not, as they say, a partial fall, or a transgression of a single commandment, but apostasy, by which men wholly alienate themselves from God. For the Apostle afterwards adds, that the children of God do not sin, that is, that they do not forsake God, and wholly surrender themselves to Satan, to be his slaves. Such a defection, it is no wonder that it is mortal; for God never thus deprives his own people of the grace of the Spirit; but they ever retain some spark of true religion. They must then be reprobate and given up to destruction, who thus fall away so as to have no fear of God.

Were any one to ask, whether the door of salvation is closed against their repentance; the answer is obvious, that as they are given up to a reprobate mind, and are destitute of the Holy Spirit, they cannot do anything else, than with obstinate minds, become worse and worse, and add sins to sins. Moreover, as the sin and blasphemy against the Spirit ever brings with it a defection of this kind, there is no doubt but that it is here pointed out.

But it may be asked again, by what evidences can we know that a man’s fall is fatal; for except the knowledge of this was certain, in vain would the Apostle have made this exception, that they were not to pray for a sin of this kind. It is then right to determine sometimes, whether the fallen is without hope, or whether there is still a place for a remedy. This, indeed, is what I allow, and what is evident beyond dispute from this passage; but as this very seldom happens, and as God sets before us the infinite riches of his grace, and bids us to be merciful according to his own example, we ought not rashly to conclude that any one has brought on himself the judgment of eternal death; on the contrary, love should dispose us to hope well. But if the impiety of some appear to us not otherwise than hopeless, as though the Lord pointed it out by the finger, we ought not to contend with the just judgment of God, or seek to be more merciful than he is.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

16. ‘The prayer of faith’ is all-prevailing when it is in accordance with God’s will. This is the sole limit as regards prayer on our own behalf. Is there any other limit in the case of prayer on behalf of another? Yes, there is that other’s own will: this will prove a further limitation. Man’s will has been endowed by God with such royal freedom, that not even His will coerces it. Still less, therefore, can a brother’s prayer coerce it. If a human will has deliberately and obstinately resisted God, and persists in doing so, we are debarred from our usual certitude. Against a rebel will even the prayer of faith in accordance with God’s will (for of course God desires the submission of the rebel) may be offered in vain.—For exhortations to intercession elsewhere in N. T. see 1Th_5:25; Heb_13:18-19; Jas_5:14-20; comp. Php_1:4.

If any man see his brother] Here it is obvious that ‘brother’ must mean ‘fellow-Christian’, not any one whether Christian or not.

sin a sin] More accurately, as R.V., sinning a sin: the supposed case is one in which the sinner is seen in the very act. The phrase ‘to sin a sin’ occurs nowhere else in N.T. Comp. Lev_5:6; Lev_5:10; Lev_5:13; Eze_18:24.

he shall ask] Future for imperative; or, he will ask, i.e. a Christian in such a case is sure to pray for his erring brother. The latter seems preferable.

and he shall give him life] The Greek is ambiguous. ‘He’ may mean either God or the intercessor, and ‘him’ may mean either the intercessor or the sinner for whom he intercedes. If the latter alternatives be taken, we may compare ‘he shall save a soul from death’ (Jas_5:20). Commentators are much divided. On the one hand it is urged that throughout Scripture asking is man’s part and giving God’s: but, on the other hand, when two verbs are connected so closely as these, ‘will ask and will give’ (αἰτήσει καὶ δώσει), it seems rather violent to give them different nominatives; ‘he will ask and God will give’. It seems better to translate; he will ask and will give him life,—them that sin not unto death. ‘Them’ is in apposition to ‘him’, the clause being an explanation rather awkwardly added, similar to that at the end of 1Jn_5:13. If ‘God’ be inserted, ‘them’ is the dativus commodi; ‘God will grant the intercessor life for those who sin’. The change to the plural makes the statement more general: ‘sinning not unto death’ is not likely to be an isolated case. The Vulgate is here exceedingly free; petat, et dabitur ei vita peccanti non ad mortem. Tertullian also ignores the change of number; postulabit, et dabit ei vitam dominus qui non ad mortem delinquit.

There is a sin unto death] Or, There is sin unto death; we have no τις or μία in the Greek, a fact which is against the supposition that any act of sin is intended. In that case would not S. John have named it, that the faithful might avoid it, and also know when it had been committed? The following explanations of ‘sin unto death’ may be safely rejected. 1. Sin punished by the law with death. 2. Sin punished by Divine visitation with death or sickness. 3. Sin punished by the Church with excommunication. As a help to a right explanation we may get rid of the idea which some commentators assume, that ‘sin unto death’ is a sin which can be recognised by those among whom the one who commits it lives. S. John’s very guarded language points the other way. He implies that some sins may be known to be ‘not unto death’: he neither says nor implies that all ‘sin unto death’ can be known as such. As a further help we may remember that no sin, if repented of, can be too great for God’s mercy. Hence S. John does not speak even of this sin as ‘fatal’ or ‘mortal’, but as ‘unto death’ (πρὸς θάνατον). Death is its natural, but not its absolutely inevitable consequence. It is possible to close the heart against the influences of God’s Spirit so obstinately and persistently that repentance becomes a moral impossibility. Just as the body may starve itself to such an extent as to make the digestion, or even the reception, of food impossible; so the soul may go on refusing offers of grace until the very power to receive grace perishes. Such a condition is necessarily sin, and ‘sin unto death’. No passing over out of death into life (1Jn_3:14) is any longer (without a miracle of grace) possible. ‘Sin unto death’, therefore, is not any act of sin, however heinous, but a state or habit of sin wilfully chosen and persisted in: it is constant and consummate opposition to God. In the phraseology of this Epistle we might say that it is the deliberate preference of darkness to light, of falsehood to truth, of sin to righteousness, of the world to the Father, of spiritual death to eternal life.

I do not say that he shall pray for it] More accurately, not concerning that do I say that he should make request. This reproduces the telling order of the Greek; it avoids the ambiguity which lurks in ‘pray for it’; it preserves the emphatic ‘that’; and marks better the difference between the verb (αἰτεῖν) previously rendered ‘ask’ (1Jn_5:14-16) and the one (ἐρωτᾷν) here rendered ‘pray’. Of the two verbs the latter is the less suppliant (see on Joh_14:16), whereas ‘pray’ is more suppliant than ‘ask’. Two explanations of the change of verb are suggested. 1. The Apostle does not advise request, much less does he advise urgent supplication in such a case. 2. He uses the less humble word to express a request which seems to savour of presumption. See on 2Jn_1:5.

(1) Note carefully that S. John, even in this extreme case, does not forbid intercession: all he says is that he does not command it. For one who sins an ordinary sin we may intercede in faith with certainty that a prayer so fully in harmony with God’s will is heard. The sinner will receive grace to repent. But where the sinner has made repentance morally impossible S. John does not encourage us to intercede. Comp. Jer_7:16; Jer_14:11.

(2) Note also that, while distinguishing between deadly and not deadly sin, he gives us no criterion by which we may distinguish the one from the other. He thus condemns rather than sanctions those attempts which casuists have made to tabulate sins under the heads of ‘mortal’ and ‘venial’. Sins differ indefinitely in their intensity and effect on the soul, ending at one end of the scale in ‘sin unto death’; and the gradations depend not merely or chiefly on the sinful act, but on the motive which prompted it, and the feeling (whether of sorrow or delight) which the recollection of it evokes. Further than this it is not safe to define or dogmatize. This seems to be intimated by what is told us in the next verse. Two facts are to be borne in mind, and beyond them we need not pry.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If anyone see his brother sin,.... Those who have such an interest at the throne of grace, and such boldness and freedom there, should make use of it for others, as well as themselves, and particularly for fallen believers; for a "brother"; not in a natural or civil sense, but in a spiritual sense, one that is judged to be born again, and belongs to the family and household of God, and is a member of a Gospel church; and so is under the watch, inspection, and care of the saints; and is observed to sin, as the best of men are not without it, nor the commission of it, in thought, word, or deed: and this sin of his is

a sin which is not unto death; every sin, even the least sin, is in its own nature mortal, or deserving of death; the proper wages of sin is death, yea, death eternal; yet none of the sins of God's elect are unto death, or issue in death, in fact; which is owing not to any different nature there is in their sins, or to their good works which counterbalance them; but to the grace of God, and to the blood and righteousness of Christ, by which they are pardoned and justified, and freed from obligation to punishment, or eternal death, the just demerits of them: but how should another man know that a brother's sin is not unto death, when it is of the same nature and kind with another man's? it is known by this, that he does not continue in it; he does not live in the constant commission of it; his life is not a course of iniquity; that sin he sins is not a governing one in him; though he falls into it, he rises up out of it through divine grace, and abides not in it; and he has a sense of it, and is sorry for it, after a godly sort, loaths it, and himself for it; is ashamed of it, ingenuously confesses it, and mourns over it and forsakes it: now when any strong believer or spiritual man sees or knows that a brother has sinned, and this is his case,

he shall ask; he shall pray to God for him, that he would administer comfort to him, discover his love, and apply his pardoning grace to him, and indulge him with his presence and the light of his countenance:

and he shall give him life; that is, God shall give the sinning brother life; by which may be meant comfort, that which will revive his drooping spirits, and cause him to live cheerfully and comfortably, that so he may not be swallowed up with over much sorrow; or he shall grant a discovery of the pardon of his sin unto him, which will be as life from the dead, and will give him a comfortable hope of eternal life, of his right unto it, and meetness for it:

for them, or "to them"

that sin not unto death, as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; for this phrase is only descriptive of the persons to whom life is given by God, upon the prayers of saints for them, and not that this life is given to him that prays, and by him to be given to the sinning person. The Vulgate Latin version renders the whole thus, "and life shall be given to him that sins not unto death"; which leaves the words without any difficulty: the Ethiopic version indeed renders it, "and he that prays shall quicken him that sins a sin not unto death"; and this sense some interpreters incline to, and would have with this text compared Ti1 4:16.

There is a sin unto death; which is not only deserving of death, as every other sin is, but which certainly and inevitably issues in death in all that commit it, without exception; and that is the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is neither forgiven in this world nor in that to come, and therefore must be unto death; it is a sinning wilfully, not in a practical, but doctrinal way, after a man has received the knowledge of the truth; it is a wilful denial of the truth of the Gospel, particularly that peace, pardon, righteousness, eternal life, and salvation, are by Jesus Christ, contrary to the light of his mind, and this joined with malice and obstinacy; so that there is no more or other sacrifice for such a sin; there is nothing but a fearful looking for of wrath and fury to fall on such opposers of the way of life; and as the presumptuous sinners under Moses's law died without mercy, so must these despiteful ones under the Gospel; see Mat 12:31. Some think there is an allusion to one of the kinds of excommunication among the Jews, called "shammatha", the etymology of which, according to some Jewish writers, is , "there is death" (t).

I do not say that he shall pray for it; the apostle does not expressly forbid to pray for the forgiveness of this sin, yet what he says amounts unto it; he gives no encouragement to it, or any hopes of succeeding, but rather the reverse; and indeed where this sin is known, or can be known, it is not to be prayed for, because it is irremissible; but as it is a most difficult point to know when a man has sinned it, the apostle expresses himself with great caution.

(t) T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 17. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

16 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.

Ver. 16. A sin which is not unto death] When John Frith and Andrew Hewer were at the stake, Dr Cook openly admonished all the people that they should in no wise pray for them, no more than they would do for a dog at which words Frith, smiling, desired the Lord to forgive him. (Acts and Mon. fol. 946.) In its own nature all sin is mortal; but in a saint being tempered with faith and repentance, it is as quicksilver tempered with ointment and killed.

There is a sin unto death] That unpardonable sin of doing despite to the Spirit of grace. Rockwood, a chief persecutor at Calais in the days of Henry VIII, to his last breath, staring and raging, cried, He was utterly damned; and being willed to ask God mercy, he brayed and cried out, "All too late! for I have sought maliciously the deaths of a number of the most honest men in the town, whom I knew to be so; all too late, therefore, all too late." Another that had committed this sin to death, wished that his wife and children and all the world might be damned together with him. (Mr Burroughs’ Mos. Choice.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If 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 examine the opinions which have been held in detail. A bare reference, however, to some of them will show the difficulty of determining with certainty what the passage means, and the impropriety of any very great confidence in one’s own judgment in the case. Among these opinions are the following. Some have supposed that the sin against the Holy Spirit is intended; some that the phrase denotes any great and enormous sin, as murder, idolatry, adultery; some that it denotes some sin that was punishable by death by the laws of Moses; some that it denotes a sin that subjected the offender to excommunication from the synagogue or the church; some that it refers to sins which brought fatal disease upon the offender, as in the case of those who abused the Lord’s Supper at Corinth, (see the notes at 1Co 11:30); some that it refers to crimes committed against the laws, for which the offender was sentenced to death, meaning that when the charge alleged was false, and the condemnation unjust, they ought to pray for the one who was condemned to death, and that he would be spared; but that when the offence was one which had been really committed, and the offender deserved to die, they ought not to pray for him, or, in other words, that by “the sin unto death,” offences against the civil law are referred to, which the magistrate had no power to pardon, and the punishment of which he could not commute; and by the “sin not unto death,” offences are referred to which might be pardoned, and when the punishment might be commuted; some that it refers to sins “before” and “after” baptism, the former of which might be pardoned, but the latter of which might not be; and some, and perhaps this is the common opinion among the Roman Catholics, that it refers to sins that might or might not be pardoned after death, thus referring to the doctrine of purgatory.

These various opinions may be seen stated more at length in Rosenmuller, Lucke, Pool (Synopsis,) and Clarke, “in loc.” To go into an examination of all these opinions would require a volume by itself, and all that can be done here is to furnish what seems to me to be the fair exposition of the passage. The word “brother” may refer either to a member of the church, whether of the particular church to which one was attached or to another, or it may be used in the larger sense which is common as denoting a fellow-man, a member of the great family of mankind. There is nothing in the word which necessarily limits it to one in the church; there is nothing in the connection, or in the reason assigned, why what is said should be limited to such an one. The “duty” here enjoined would be the same whether the person referred to was in the church or not; for it is our duty to pray for those who sin, and to seek the salvation of those whom we see to be going astray, and to be in danger of ruin, wherever they are, or whoever they may be. At the same time, the correct interpretation of the passage does not depend on determining whether the word “brother” refers to one who is a professed Christian or not.

A sin which is not unto death - The great question in the interpretation of the whole passage is, what is meant by the “sin unto death.” The Greek (ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον hamartia pros thanaton) would mean properly a sin which “tends” to death; which would “terminate” in death; of which death was the penalty, or would be the result, unless it were arrested; a sin which, if it had its own course, would terminate thus, as we should speak of a disease “unto death.” Compare the notes at Joh 11:4. The word “death” is used in three significations in the New Testament, and as employed here might, so far as the word is concerned, be applied in any one of those senses. It is used to denote:

(a)Literally, the death of the body;

(b)Spiritual death, or death “in trespasses and sin,” Eph 2:1;

(c)The “second death,” death in the world of woe and despair.

If the sin here mentioned refers to “temporal” death, it means such a sin that temporal death must inevitably follow, either by the disease which it has produced, or by a judicial sentence where there was no hope of pardon or of a commutation of the punishment; if it refers to death in the future world, the second death, then it means such a sin as is unpardonable. That this last is the reference here seems to me to be probable, if not clear, from the following considerations:

There is such a sin referred to in the New Testament, a sin for which there is forgiveness “neither in this life nor the life to come.” See the notes at Mat 12:31-32. Compare Mar 3:29. If there is such a sin, there is no impropriety in supposing that John would refer to it here.

(2)This is the “obvious” interpretation. It is that which would occur to the mass of the readers of the New Testament, and which it is presumed they do adopt; and this, in general, is one of the best means of ascertaining the sense of a passage in the Bible.

(3)The other significations attached to the word “death,” would be quite inappropriate here.

(a) It cannot mean “unto spiritual death,” that is, to a continuance in sin, for how could that be known? and if such a case occurred, why would it be improper to pray for it? Besides, the phrase “a sin unto spiritual death,” or “unto continuance in sin,” is one that is unmeaning.

(b) It cannot be shown to refer to a disease that should be unto death, miraculously inflicted on account of sin, because, if such cases occurred, they were very rare, and even if a disease came upon a man miraculously in consequence of sin, it could not be certainly known whether it was, or was not, unto death. All who were visited in this way did not certainly die. Compare 1Co 5:4-5, with 2Co 2:6-7. See also 1Co 11:30.

(c) It cannot be shown that it refers to the case of those who were condenmed by the civil magistrate to death, and for whom there was no hope of reprieve or pardon, for it is not certain that there were such cases; and if there were, and the person condemned were innocent, there was every reason to pray that God would interpose and save them, even when there was no hope from man; and if they were guilty, and deserved to die, there was no reason why they should not pray that the sin might be forgiven, and that they might be prepared to die, unless it were a case where the sin was unpardonable. It seems probable, therefore, to me, that the reference here is to the sin against the Holy Spirit, and that John means here to illustrate the duty and the power of prayer, by showing that for any sin short of that, however aggravated, it was their duty to pray that a brother might be forgiven. Though it might not be easy to determine what was the unpardonable sin, and John does not say that those to whom he wrote could determine that with certainty, yet there were many sins which were manifestly not of that aggravated character, and for those sins it was proper to pray.

There was clearly but one sin that was unpardonable - “there is a sin unto death;” there might be many which were not of this description, and in relation to them there was ample scope for the exercise of the prayer of faith. The same thing is true now. It is not easy to define the unpardonable sin, and it is impossible for us to determine in any case with absolute certainty that a man has committed it. But there are multitudes of sins which people commit, which upon no proper interpretation of the passages respecting the sin which “hath never forgiveness,” can come under the description of that sin, and for which it is proper, therefore, to pray that they may be pardoned. We know of cases enough where sin “may” be forgiven; and, without allowing the mind to be disturbed about the question respecting the unpardonable sin, it is our duty to bear such cases on our hearts before God, and to plead with him that our erring brethren may be saved.

He shall ask - That is, he shall pray that the offender may be brought to true repentance, and may be saved.

And he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death - That is, God shall give life, and he shall be saved from the eternal death to which he was exposed. This, it is said, would be given to him who offers the prayer; that is, his prayer would be the means of saving the offending brother. What a motive is this to prayer! How faithful and constant should we be in pleading for our fellow-sinners, that we may be instrumental in saving their souls! What joy will await those in heaven who shall see there many who were rescued from ruin in answer to their prayers! Compare the notes at Jam 5:15, Jam 5:19-20.

There is a sin unto death - A sin which is of such a character that it throws the offender beyond the reach of mercy, and which is not to be pardoned. See Mar 3:28-29. The apostle does not here say what that sin is; nor how they might know what it is; nor even that in any case they could determine that it had been committed. He merely says that there is such a sin, and that he does not design that his remark about the efficacy of prayer should be understood as extending to that.

I do not say that he shall pray for it - “I do not intend that my remark shall be extended to all sin, or mean to affirm that all possible forms of guilt are the proper subjects of prayer, for I am aware that there is one sin which is an exception, and my remark is not to be applied to that.” He does not say that this sin was of common occurrence: or that they could know when it had been committed; or even that a case could ever occur in which they could determine that; he merely says that in respect to that sin he did not say that prayer should be offered. It is indeed implied in a most delicate way that it would not be proper to pray for the forgiveness of such a sin, but he does not say that a case would ever happen in which they would know certainly that the sin had been committed. There were instances in the times of the prophets in which the sin of the people became so universal and so aggravated, that they were forbidden to pray for them.

Isa 14:11, “then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good;” Isa 15:1, “Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people; cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.” Compare the notes at Isa 1:15. But these were cases in which the prophets were directly instructed by God not to pray for a people. We have no such instruction; and it may be said now with truth, that as we can never be certain respecting anyone that he has committed the unpardonable sin, there is no one for whom we may not with propriety pray. There may be those who are so far gone in sin that there may seem to be little, or almost no ground of hope. They may have cast off all the restraints of religion, of morality, of decency; they may disregard all the counsels of parents and friends; they may be sceptical, sensual, profane; they may be the companions of infidels and of mockers; they may have forsaken the sanctuary, and learned to despise the sabbath; they may have been professors of religion, and now may have renounced the faith of the gospel altogether, but still, while there is life it is our duty to pray for them, “if peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth,” 2Ti 2:25.

“All things are possible with God;” and he has reclaimed offenders more hardened, probably, than any that we have known, and has demonstrated that there is no form of depravity which he has not the power to subdue. Let us remember the cases of Manasseh, of Saul of Tarsus, of Augustine, of Bunyan, of Newton, of tens of thousands who have been reclaimed from the vilest forms of iniquity, and then let us never despair of the conversion of any, in answer to prayer, who may have gone astray, as long as they are in this world of probation and of hope. Let no parent despair who has an abandoned son; let no wife cease to pray who has a dissipated husband. How many a prodigal son has come back to fill with happiness an aged parent’s heart! How many a dissipated husband has been reformed to give joy again to the wife of his youth, and to make a paradise again of his miserable home!

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A sin which is not unto death....and life shall be given to him. It is hard to determine what St. John here calls a sin which is not unto death, and a sin which is unto death. The difference cannot be the same as betwixt sins that are called venial and mortal; for he says, that if a man pray for his brother who commits a sin that is not unto death, life shall be given to him: therefore such a one had before lost the life of grace, and been guilty of what is commonly called a mortal sin. And when he speaks of a sin that is unto death, and adds these words, I do not say that any one should ask for that sin, it cannot be supposed that St. John would say this of every mortal sin, but only of some heinous sins which are very seldom remitted, because such sinners very seldom repent. By a sin therefore which is not unto death, interpreters commonly understand a wilful apostacy from the faith, and from the know truth, when a sinner hardened by his own ingratitude becomes deaf to all admonitions, will do nothing for himself, but runs on to final impenitence. Nor yet does St. John say that such a sin is never remitted, or cannot be remitted, but only has these words, I don not say that any one should ask for the remission of that sin; that is, though we must pray for all sinners whatsoever, yet man cannot pray for such sinners with such confidence of obtaining always their petitions, as St. John said before, ver. 14. Whatever exposition we follow on this verse, our faith teaches us from the holy Scriptures, that God desires not the death of any sinner, but that he be converted and live. See Ezechiel xxxiii. 11. Though men’s "sins be as the scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow." (Isaias i. 18.) It is the will of God that every one come to the knowledge of truth and be save. See John vi. 40. There is no sin so great but which God is willing to forgive, and has left power in his Church to remit the most enormous sins; so that no sinner need despair of pardon, nor will any sinner perish buy by his own fault. (Witham) --- A sin unto death. Some understand this of final impenitence, or of dying in mortal sin, which is the only sin that never can be remitted; but, it is probable, he may also comprise under this name the sin of apostacy from the faith, and some other such henious sins as are seldom and hardly remitted: and therefore he gives little encouragement to such as pray for these sinners, to expect what they ask. (Challoner)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death; viz. that appears not obstinate and incurable;

he shall ask, i.e. with confidence, as 1Jo 5:14. But

there is a sin unto death, i.e. which doth not barely deserve death, as all sin doth, nor which argues a person to be probably in a present state of death or unregeneracy, which the sinful ways may do of many that never made profession; but of such as have apostatized from a former specious profession into heresy and debauchery, and continue obstinate therein, against all methods of recovery; that are, as Jud 1:12, even twice dead, & c.

I do not say that he shall pray for it; i.e. I do not give that encouragement to pray for such, with that hope and expectation of success, as for others; though he doth not simply forbid praying for them neither.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. If—A specific example of a prayer heard, with its possibility of apparent failure. Yet it is not only a specific instance, but it lies within the category of life, illustrating how the life may be conservative of life.

Sin… not unto death—And so the prayer accords with the divine will, 1Jn_5:14, as it would not in the case of a sin unto death.

But the much mooted question here encounters us, What is this sin unto death? The phrase was familiar to the Jews. Upon Num_18:22 the rabbies based a distinction of sins unto death and not unto death. But when the phrase is transferred to the New Testament it does not necessarily retain precisely the same import. Whitby assumes that the case supposed is that of a sick brother, smitten with a penal disease. The prayer of the faithful can raise him, unless the sin has been an irrevocably mortal one. To this Huther objects that the death must be the antithesis to the eternal life of this entire chapter, and therefore cannot be a bodily but an eternal death. To this objection it seems a fair reply to say, that death by divine penalty is truly a part of, and truly is, eternal death. The true refutation of Whitby, we think, is: 1. That the brother is not seen suffering the penalty of the sin, but actually committing it, or sinning a sin, as the Greek literally Isaiah , , 2. We can hardly imagine that so important a part of the condition of the brother as sickness would be left unmentioned: Huther (followed by Alford) maintains, that the sin unto death is such an apostasy that the brother passes from the condition of life eternal to that of the eternal death, which is its opposite, on earth. It would then seem to follow, that if we see one once a Christian actually denying Christ’s mission, he is not to be prayed for.

But before giving our own conclusion let us raise the query: Does our apostle assume that it is really known whether the sin of the brother is a sin unto death? We think clearly not. For John goes on to reaffirm, as a thing they need to fully learn, that there is such a distinction as unto death, and not. And he gives it as an explanation why in the case the prayer is not (according to 1Jn_5:15) granted; namely, because (according to 1Jn_5:14) it was not according to his will. We, therefore, hold that the sin unto death is the “unpardonable sin,” the sin against the Holy Ghost of Mat_12:31-32, where see our notes. He shall, if he pleases, ask; it shall be his divine privilege.

And he shall give him life—Grammatically this he, like the former, means the praying man, who gives by the power of prayer. But let him not charge God with unfaithfulness if the prayer fail of fulfilment, and the sinning brother prove hard and obdurate. His was then a sin unto death; and life for him was not according to his will, 1Jn_5:14.

There is—A deliberate reaffirmation of the actuality of such a sin. It is reaffirmed both as a most solemn fact and as a solution of ungranted prayer. Huther correctly says that I do not say is no absolute prohibition. It is only a declining to advise prayer if the deadly nature were known. Let him leave that to God, pray in hope, but be not disappointed, or discontented with God, if it prove the unpardonable sin.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

How does this position respecting God"s hearing our prayers affect the question of intercession for the salvation of others, and especially of an erring brother? If any prayer can be made with confidence of success, surely it is this. It is an unselfish prayer; a prayer of love. It is also a prayer in harmony with God"s will; a prayer for the extension of his kingdom. St. John points out that this reasonable expectation has limits. The prayer of one human being can never cancel another"s free-will. If God"s will does not override man"s will, neither can a fellow-man"s prayer. When a human will has been firmly and persistently set in opposition to the Divine will, our intercession will be of no avail. And this seems to be the meaning of "sin unto death; "willful and obstinate rejection of God"s grace and persistence in unrepented sin. "Death" corresponds to the life spoken of above; and if the one is eternal (verse 13), so is the other. Sins punished with loss of life in this world, whether by human law or by Divine retribution, cannot be meant. Christians have before now suffered agonies of mind, fearing that they have committed what they suppose to be the "sin unto death." Their fear is evidence that they have not committed any such sin. But if they despair of pardon, they may come near to it. There are certain statements made respecting this mysterious passage against which we must be on our guard. It is laid down as a canon of interpretation that the sin unto death is one which can be known, which can be recognized as such by the intercessor. St. John neither says nor implies this. He implies that some sins may be known to be not unto death. Again, it is asserted that he forbids us to pray concerning sin which is unto death. The apostle is much more reserved. lie encourages us to intercede for a sinning brother with full confidence of success. But there is a limit to this. The sinner may be sinning unto death; and in that case St. John cannot encourage us to pray. Casuistical classifications of sins under the heads of mortal and venial have been based upon this passage. It lends no authority to such attempts; and they have worked untold mischief in the Church. The apostle tells us that the distinction between mortal and venial exists; but he supplies us with no test by which one man can judge another in this respect. By pointedly abstaining from making any classification of sins into mortal and venial, he virtually condemns the making. What neither he nor St. Paul ventured to do we may well shrink from doing. The same overt act may be mortal sin in one case and not in another. It is the attitude of mind with which the sinner contemplates his act before and after commission that makes all the difference; and how seldom can this be known to his fellow-men! The change from aijtein to ejrwtan is noteworthy. The former is used in verses 14, 15, and the beginning of verse 16; the latter at the end of verse 16. The latter is the less humble word of the two, being often used ofequals or superiors requesting compliance with their wishes. Perhaps St. John uses it here to indicate that a prayer of this kind is not a humble one.

Vers. 16, 17.

The Christian"s prayer for his brethren.

any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death," etc. Having expressed his assurance as to the efficacy of the prayers of Christians generally (verses 14, 15), the apostle here brings forward a special case in which prayer may be beneficently exercised, viz. on behalf of an erring brother, Notice

I THE OCCASION OF PRAYER FOR THE BRETHREN. We do not mean that St. John would restrict our prayers to any one occasion, but he mentions one in which they may be profitably exercised. "If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask," etc.

1. The liability of a brother to sin. Whether we limit the term "brother" to those who are believers in Christ Christian brethren, or take it in its broadest signification of our fellow-men, it is true that they are liable to sin. Genuine Christians are so. (cf 1Jn_1:8, 1Jn_1:10) The grave fact of temptation to sin, the proneness of man to sin, the moral weakness in some respects of even good men, the history of the godly, the teachings of tile Bible, and our own experience, these show our liability to sin.

2. The knowledge of a brother"s sin. "If any man see his brother sinning a sin." The sin spoken of is not a secret one. The knowledge of it is not derived either from irresponsible rumour or from malignant slander. To these we should pay no heed. We should discredit them, and seek to extinguish them. But it is immediate, direct, and certain.

3. Prayer for a brother because of his sin. "If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask," etc. Without entering at present upon the inquiry of what is the "sin unto death," we may say, with Ebrard, that taking the statements and directions of the text as to "sin not unto death" "in their simple meaning, the only thing laid down and presupposed is this that a sin which is not unto death may be surely known as such. That any particular sin which another may commit, as also the general state in which he may be found, is not unto death that he may still repent and be converted this may be easily and with the utmost confidence known. And where this is known with certainty, where there is no necessity for thinking another to be hardened and past salvation, there must prayer be offered." We know a great many sins which men commit for which there is forgiveness with God, and in all such cases, unhindered by any question as to the "sin unto death," we should pray to God for the sinner. But more than this, is not Barnes right in saying, "It may be said now with truth, that as we can never be certain respecting any one that he has committed the unpardonable sin, there is no one for whom we may not with propriety pray"? Let us, then, learn from our text what our conduct should be towards a sinning brother. We are not to sit in judgment on him and condemn him, not to spread abroad the fact of his sin, not to turn away from him as if he were unclean and we holy, not, on the other hand, to make light of his sin. Such, alas! is the treatment very often dealt to a brother who has sinned. But so should not we do. As Christians, our duty is to pray for him. Such prayer is not optional, but obligatory; it is not a thing which we may do, but which we ought to do. "He shall ask." In this spirit St. Paul exhorted the Galatian Christians, "Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one," etc. (Gal_6:1)

II THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAY FOR THE BROTHER WHO HAS SINNED, "He shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death." How unspeakably great and precious is the blessing which by our prayers we may secure for our erring brother! As a result of our petitions on his behalf, God will grant him forgiveness of his sins and confer upon him spiritual life. How exalted and glorious a boon is this! The knowledge that we may obtain such a blessing for him should prove a powerful stimulus to us to pray for the brother who has sinned. How can we do other than pray for him when our prayers may have such a glorious issue? "My brethren, if any among you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins". (Jam_5:19, Jam_5:20)

III THE LIMITATION TO OUR PRAYERS FOR THE BROTHER WHO HAS SINNED. "There is a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request." What are we to understand by the "sin unto death"? With a view of ascertaining this, let us endeavour to fix upon the meaning of "death" here. There are three distinct uses of the word in the sacred Scriptures.

(1) The death of the body.

(2) That death of the spirit which is common to all men apart from the renewing grace of God. "Dead by reason of trespasses and sins.

(3) The eternal death, which is the antithesis of the "eternal life" which God gives through Jesus Christ (verses 11-13).

Now, "death" in the text cannot mean either

(1) the death of the body, for that is the lot of all men; or

(2) the spiritual death above mentioned, for every sin tends to such death. If we are right thus far, and in this also that the death must be the antithesis of the life, we conclude that it must be that death which is the just retribution of those who have deliberately and resolutely rejected the Christ. Such a sin involves the abiding loss of the life which is derived through him (verse 12). The rejection of the Christ necessarily involves the renunciation of the life. If a man deliberately and decidedly rejects the only Being through whom he can obtain eternal life, what remains for him hut to abide in the dark night of death? For such persons St. John does not encourage us to pray. He neither prohibits nor commands us to pray for them. The negation belongs to the "I say," not to the "he should make request." "Not concerning this do I say that he should make request." The encouragement to offer prayer for those whose sin is not unto death is withheld in respect to prayer for those who have committed the sin unto death.

CONCLUSION.

1. Let the fact that it is possible to commit a sin which is unto death lead usto watchfulness and prayer against every sin and all sin. Beware of beginnings in evil.

2. Let this gracious assurance as to the result of prayer for those who havesinned lead us to he often at the throne of grace on behalf of our brethren.

W.J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This extends to things of the greatest importance. If any one see his brother - That is. any man. Sin a sin which is not unto death - That is, any sin but total apostasy from both the power and form of godliness. Let him ask, and God will give him life - Pardon and spiritual life, for that sinner. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for that - That is, let him not pray for it. A sin unto death may likewise mean, one which God has determined to punish with death.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

sin

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23") .

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The obligations of divine sonship:

v. 16. 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.

v. 17. All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death.

v. 18. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that "Wicked One toucheth him not.

v. 19. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

v. 20. And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal Life.

v. 21. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Having given the assurance that every true prayer of a Christian is heard by God, the apostle now specifies one form of prayer, that of intercession: If anyone see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall pray, and to him will be given life, to them that do not sin unto death;—there is a sin to death, I do not say that he should pray concerning that. Our brethren are always in need of our most earnest intercession, but what they need most of all is that they be kept from sin. And should one of them fall into sin, transgressing some command of the Lord in such a way as to fall from grace, as to lose his hold on Christ for the time being, then we should not turn from him in disgust and self-righteousness, but earnestly admonish him and also pray with all fervor that God may turn him back from the error of his way. If we thus follow the will of God, we, on our part, will do our share in giving back to such fallen brethren or sisters that life which had for the time being slipped out of their grasp. Only one sin there is where prayer is futile and foolish, namely, the sin of willful rejection of the accepted truth of salvation, the sin against the Holy Ghost. This sin will only very seldom be identified with certainty, but when this is the case, intercession may as well cease, for this sin, by its peculiar nature, precludes forgiveness. See Mat 12:31; Mar 3:29; Luk 12:10; Heb 6:4-6.

At the same time we should remember: All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not unto death. Whenever our life does not measure up to the holy will of God, whenever we transgress His commandments, no matter whether the trespass seem ever so slight and insignificant in the eyes of men, yet such unrighteousness is sin. The apostle therefore sounds this warning: Resist the beginnings. Even the smallest failing must not be taken lightly, lest the habit of sinning grow on us and we finally become guilty of that one terrible blasphemy which is unto death, eternal death and damnation. Through the grace and power of God let us make the time between transgressions longer and longer, and let us arise from every fall with a firm trust in His mercy.

Lest we brood over our sins without aim, the apostle writes: We know that every one that is born of God does not sin; but he that has been born of God observes Him, and the Evil One does not touch him. See chap. 3:9. So far as our new spiritual nature is concerned which we have received by virtue of our regeneration, we Christians do not sin; we do not, according to the new man, commit any sin, we do not serve sin. Instead of that, all true children of God keep a watchful eye on Him, they observe His holy will very carefully. This attitude is the best form of defense against the attacks of the devil, who finds it impossible to make a successful attack under such circumstances. Even if he does succeed in placing a poisoned arrow and causing a Christian to fall, the latter will arise with undaunted spirit and hurry back to the true fellowship with God.

In addition to the security which we enjoy through the guardianship of Christ we have that of God’s embrace and fellowship: We know that we are of God, and the entire world is lying in evil. We Christians are of God, born of God, regenerated through His power in the Gospel. We are God’s dear children and mean to keep this relation toward Him, though the entire world, the great mass of unbelievers and enemies of God, is lying in wickedness and sin, is full of enmity toward God. We are secure under the protecting power of God as a child is in its mother’s arms.

And a final assurance and guarantee is ours: But we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding that we may get to know the True One; and we are in the True One, in His Son, Jesus Christ. If a thousand doubts should assail us with regard to our salvation, the certainty of our entering into the joy everlasting with our Savior, this knowledge will sustain us. The eternal Son of God was made flesh, and His incarnation is not only an overwhelming demonstration of God’s interest in us and His concern for our soul’s salvation, but He has also wrought in us the understanding of faith. Through His merciful power we know the true God as the God of all grace. The fellowship in which we stand with God and with Jesus Christ, His Son, is not a matter of our imagination, but it is a certainty which no man nor any other enemy can take from us. We are not trusting in a mere man, whose most serious attempt at gaining salvation for the world would have resulted in miserable failure, but: This Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal Life. He, our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, true man, is at the same time true God with the Father; and He is Himself eternal Life, the Life which came into this world to bring the world life and in whom we have perfect, glorious, unending life.

With a final affectionate appeal the apostle closes his letter: Little children, guard yourselves from the idols. His readers, with many of whom he was connected by the bonds of the closest affection, knew Jesus, Christ as the true God, as the one Savior in whom they were sure of eternal life. To Him, therefore, they should cleave, and not accept the anti-Christian substitutes which the false teachers were trying to introduce. While they should watch for dangers from without, they should be just as assiduously on their guard for perils from false brethren. It was not a matter to be taken lightly, since it involved their soul’s salvation. Thus we also, in these last hours of the world, must be vigilant and sober to reject all anti-Christian errors and to keep ourselves unspotted for the glorious revelation of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Summary.The apostle discusses the power, the testimony, and the substance of faith, and concludes with a summary showing the certainty of the Christian’s trust, the obligation, of his sonship, and the deity of Jesus Christ, his Savior.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Our apostle informed us in the foregoing verse of the comfort which believers have in their prayers for themselves, all that is requested by them is granted by God: now in the verse before us he relates the benefit which others receive by their prayers as well as themselves, assuring them, that if any of them did pray for an offending brother, they should be heard in what they desired, unless the person they prayed for had sinned the unpardonable sin, the sin unto death, by which we are to understand apostacy from the Christian religion unto idolatry, as appears from the following words, Keep yourselves from idols, which caution has no manner of dependence upon what went before, unless we understand the sin unto death in this sense; or if (with others) he call it the sin against the Holy Ghost, it comes to the same; for what is that sin but a renouncing of Christianity, denying the truth of the Christian faith, after illumination and conviction by the Holy Ghost, and maliciously persecuting the sincere professors of it?

Here note, 1. That a believer is not to hide his eyes from observing, but may and ought to take notice of the sins and miscarriages of his brethren: If any man see his brother sin, which he cannot do if he he neglect to observe him.

Note, 2. That a believer discerning and observing the sin of his brother, may and ought to pray for him. Let him ask, that is, importune God on his behalf.

Note, 3. That a believer’s prayers may prevail with God for us, when our own prayers will not prevail for ourselves. Let him ask, and he shall give him life, temporal life at least, and upon his repentance and faith eternal life also.

Note, 4. That the state of some wicked men may be such, that were it certainly known, it might be a Christian’s duty to cease praying for them. There is a sin unto death, that is, which doth not only deserve death, as all sin doth, and bespeak a person in a state of death, but a sin that argues a person to be twice dead, dead in respect of unregeneracy, and dead in respect of wilful and sinful apostacy. I do not say that ye shall pray for it, that is, for the person guilty of it, seing God never intends to forgive it.

Lord! how deplorable is the condition of those whose sins are past prayers, who give over praying for themselves, and others are stopt from praying for them! How sad is it, when the Lord shuts up the hearts of any of his from praying for us! It shews the sin of that man to be apprehended as being the sin unto death, when the faithful cease praying for him.

Yet note, 5. The apostle doth not here explicitly and simply forbid praying for such wretched persons, but only says, I do not say that ye shall pray for them; that is, I cannot give you any encouragement to pray for such, nor dare I promise you any good success in praying for them who have sinned unto death. I do not say; that is, I give you no warrant, I lay you under no command, I can give you no promise, that your prayers for such shall be heard and answered.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. If a man see his brother sin. Then a brother can be overtaken by sin. Not unto death. There is a sin not unto death, and one unto death. The sin described in Heb. 6:4–6 is evidently unto death; that described in Gal. 6:1 is one not unto death. In the latter case the sinners can be restored, and we may pray for them with the assurance that they will be. This implies both work and prayer.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

his brother

"fellow believer"

life

Here "life" stands for the right to live forever by God's grace and love. See how you translated this in 1 John 1:1-2. (See: Abstract Nouns)

death

This refers to eternal death, that is, eternity spent away from God's presence.

translationWords

sin

die

pray

righteous

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

16. ‘The prayer of faith’ is all-prevailing when it is in accordance with God’s will. This is the sole limit as regards prayer on our own behalf. Is there any other limit in the case of prayer on behalf of another? Yes, there is that other’s own will: this constitutes a further limitation. Man’s will has been endowed by God with such royal freedom, that not even His will coerces it. Still less, therefore, can a brother’s prayer coerce it. If a human will has deliberately and obstinately resisted God, and persists in doing so, we are debarred from our usual certitude. Against a rebel will even the prayer of faith in accordance with God’s will (for of course God desires the submission of the rebel) may be offered in vain.—For exhortations to intercession elsewhere in N.T. see 1Th 5:25; Heb 13:18-19; Jas 5:14-20; comp. Php 1:4.

τὸν ἀδελφόν. Here ‘brother’ must mean ‘fellow-Christian’, not any human being, whether Christian or not.

ἁμαρτάνοντα ἁμαρτίαν. As R.V., sinning a sin. The supposed case is one in which the sinner is seen in the very act. No earlier English Version marks the participle; neither does Luther, nor the Vulgate (peccare peccatum). Ἁμαρτάνειν ἁμαρτίαν occurs nowhere else in N.T.; but περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ ἦς ἥμαρτε occurs repeatedly in LXX. (Lev 5:6; Lev 5:10; Lev 5:13; Eze 18:24.)

αἰτήσει. Future equivalent to imperative; he shall ask, as A.V. and R.V.: or, he will ask; i.e. a Christian in such a case is sure to pray for his erring brother. The latter seems preferable. Comp. τότε νηστεύσουσιν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ (Mar 2:20); i.e. the children of the bridechamber not only can fast, but will fast, when the Bridegroom is taken away.

δώσει αὐτῷ ζωήν. Ambiguous. The nominative may be either God or the intercessor; and αὐτῷ may be either the intercessor or the sinner for whom he intercedes. If the latter alternatives be taken, we may compare ‘he shall save a soul from death’ (Jas 5:20). Commentators are much divided. On the one hand it is urged that throughout Scripture asking is man’s part and giving God’s: but, on the other hand, when two verbs are connected so closely as these, ‘will ask and will give’ (αἰτήσει καὶ δώσει), it seems rather violent to give them different nominatives; ‘he will ask and God will give’. It seems better to translate, he will ask and will give him life,—them that sin not unto death. ‘Them’ is in apposition to ‘him’, the clause being an explanation rather awkwardly added, similar to that at the end of 1Jn 5:13. If ‘God’ be inserted, ‘them’ is the dativus commodi; ‘God will grant the intercessor life for those who sin’. The change to the plural makes the statement more general: ‘sinning not unto death’ is not likely to be an isolated case. The New Vulgate is here exceedingly free; petat, et dabitur ei vita peccanti non ad mortem. Tertullian also ignores the change of number; postulabit, et dabit ei vitam dominus qui non ad mortem delinquit. The Old Vulgate has petit, et dabit ei vitam, peccantibus non ad mortem.

ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάν. There is sin unto death; we have no τις or μία, a fact which is against the supposition that any act of sin is intended. In that case would not S. John have named it, that the faithful might avoid it, and also know when it had been committed? The following explanations of ‘sin unto death’ may be safely rejected. 1. Sin punished by the law with death. 2. Sin punished by Divine visitation with death or sickness. 3. Sin punished by the Church with excommunication. As a help to a right explanation we may get rid of the idea which some commentators assume, that ‘sin unto death’ is a sin which can be recognised by those among whom the one who commits it lives. S. John’s very guarded language points the other way. He implies that some sins may be known to be ‘not unto death’: he neither says nor implies that all ‘sin unto death’ can be known as such. As a further help we may remember that no sin, if repented of, can be too great for God’s mercy. Hence S. John does not speak even of this sin as ‘fatal’ or ‘mortal’, but as ‘unto death’ (πρὸς θάνατον). Death is its natural, but not its absolutely inevitable consequence. It is possible to close the heart against the influences of God’s Spirit so obstinately and persistently that repentance becomes a moral impossibility. Just as the body may starve itself to such an extent as to make the digestion, or even the reception, of food impossible; so the soul may go on refusing offers of grace until the very power to receive grace perishes. Such a condition is necessarily sin, and ‘sin unto death’. No passing over out of death into life (1Jn 3:14) is any longer (without a miracle of grace) possible. ‘Sin unto death’, therefore, is not any act of sin, however heinous, but a state or habit of sin wilfully chosen and persisted in: it is constant and consummate opposition to God. In the phraseology of this Epistle we might say that it is the deliberate and persistent preference of darkness to light, of falsehood to truth, of sin to righteousness, of the world to the Father, of spiritual death to eternal life.

οὐ περὶ ἐκείνης λέγω ἵνα ἐρωτήσῃ. Not concerning that do I say that he should make request. This reproduces the telling order of the Greek; it avoids the ambiguity which lurks in ‘pray for it’; it preserves the emphatic ἐκείνης; and marks better the difference between the verb (αἰτεῖν) previously rendered ‘ask’ (1Jn 5:14-16) and the one (ἐρωτᾷν) here rendered in A.V. ‘pray’. Of the two verbs the latter is the less suppliant (see on Joh 14:16), whereas ‘pray’ is more suppliant than ‘ask’. Two explanations of the change of verb are suggested. 1. The Apostle does not advise request, much less does he advise urgent supplication in such a case. 2. He uses the less humble word to express a request which seems to savour of presumption. See on 2Jn 1:5. With ἐκείνης here, indicating something distinct, alien, and horrible, comp. ἐκεῖνος of Judas (Joh 13:27; Joh 13:30).

(1) Note carefully that S. John, even in this extreme case, does not forbid intercession: all he says is that he does not command it. For one who sins an ordinary sin we may intercede in faith with certainty that a prayer so fully in harmony with God’s will is heard. The sinner will receive grace to repent. But where the sinner has made repentance impossible S. John does not encourage us to intercede. Comp. Jer 7:16; Jer 14:11. Yet, as S. Bernard says, Fides aliquando recipit, quod oratio non praesumit, and he instances the sisters’ faith in ‘Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not died’.

(2) Note also that, whilst distinguishing between deadly and not deadly sin, he gives us no criterion by which we may distinguish the one from the other. He thus condemns rather than sanctions those attempts which casuists have made to tabulate sins under the heads of ‘mortal’ and ‘venial’. Sins differ indefinitely in their intensity and effect on the soul, ending at one end of the scale in ‘sin unto death’; and the gradations depend not merely or chiefly on the sinful act, but on the motive which prompted it, and the feeling (whether of sorrow or delight) which the recollection of it evokes. Further than this it is not safe to define or dogmatize. This seems to be intimated by what is told us in the next verse. Two facts are to be borne in mind, and beyond them we need not pry.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16, 17. Intercession naturally finds its most obvious sphere in the new society itself. The writer therefore goes on to state its possibilities and its limitations. If any member of the body sees that his brother is committing sin, so long as it be not of such a character as must inevitably lead to final separation from the life of God, it goes without saying that he will exercise his power of intercession for him. And such is the power of intercession that he will be able to gain for him life, in every case where the sin is of the character described. There is such a thing as sin unto death, which tends to final separation from God, and which if persisted in must inevitably lead to that result. It is not clear that in such a case appeal can be made to the Common Father on behalf of a fellow-Christian. For such an one it may be that prayer can only be offered as for one who has forfeited his Christian privileges. But all injustice, every failure to maintain in our action right relations with God or with man, is sin. There is sin which is not of the fatal and final character described above. So there is plenty of scope left for the exercise of brotherly intercession.

ἁμαρτάνοντα ἁμαρτίαν] cf. Lev 5:6, περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ ἧς ἥμαρτεν: Eze 18:24, ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις αὐτοῦ αἷς ἥμαρτεν. The accusative is added here because of the qualifying clause which succeeds (μὴ πρὸς θάνατον). It does not strengthen the verb. The present participle, “sinning a sin” (RV.), perhaps indicates seeing the sinner ἐπαυτοφώρῳ.

ἐάν τις ἴδη] The subjunctive with ἐάν simply states the possibility.

μὴ πρὸς θάνατον] The μή is naturally used after ἐάν; it can hardly be pressed to make the judgment subjective, that of the τις.

αἰτήσει] The future is used either for the imperative, or because it is assumed as a matter of course that the brother will intercede for the brother.

δώσει] The subject of the verb may be either God, or the man who intercedes. The abrupt change of subject which the former view would require is perhaps decisive against it. And in virtue of his intercession and its power the Christian may be said to “give” life. Cf. Jas 5:15, ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως σώσει τὸν κάμνοντα, and (ver. 20) σώσει ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκ θανάτου.

τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν] For the construction, cf. ver. 13.

ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον] The phrase is probably suggested by the Old Testament conception of sins ביד רמה (Num 15:30-31 (וְחַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁרְ תַּעֲשֶׂה בְּיָד רָמָה . . . וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהוא מקֶּרֶב עַמָּהּ Deliberate and wilful transgression as opposed to sins committed unwittingly, were punished by the cutting off of the sinner “from among his people.” We may also compare Num 18:22, where it is said that after the setting apart of the Levites for the service of the Tabernacle, any of the people who came near to the Tabernacle of the Congregation would be guilty of sin and die, וְלֹֽא־יִקְרְבוּ עוֹד בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לֵָ֥שׂאת ֵ֖חטְא לָמֽוּת, which is translated in the LXX, καὶ οὐ προσελεύσονται ἔτι οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου λαβεῖν ἁμαρτίαν θανατηφόρον, with which may be compared the Targum (Onk.) לְקַבַּלָא חוֹבָה לִמְמָת. It is probable that in Rabbinic thought the words חטא למות were taken closely together, though this is against the meaning and pointing of the Hebrew text. There may therefore be a direct connection between the verse and the words in Num 18:22. Cf. the note on ver. 17.The form of expression would seem to indicate that the author is not thinking of one particular sin, definite though unnamed. “There is such a thing as sin which leads to death.” Such a state of sin may find expression in different acts. In the author’s view any sin which involves a deliberate rejection of the claims of the Christ may be described as “unto death.” If persisted in it must lead to final separation from the Divine life. Πρὸς θάνατον must, of course, denote a tendency in the direction of death, and not an attained result. The whole phrase thus suggests a “kind of sinning” (if the phrase may be allowed) rather than any definite act of sin, which leads inevitably in a certain direction. Its only possible issue, if it is persisted in, must be spiritual death. Deliberate rejection of Christ and His claims was probably most prominent in the writer’s thought. It is, of course, possible that in connection with what he has said in the earlier part of this chapter about the witness of the Spirit, he may have had in view the saying of the Lord recorded in Mar 3:29 (Mat 12:32; Luk 12:10). But nothing in this passage offers any clear proof of such a connection.

οὐ περὶ ἐκείνης κ.τ.λ.] The writer does not forbid such intercession. He merely abstains from commanding it. Such cases lay outside the normal sphere of Christian intercession. They must be left to God alone. If the meaning often attributed to ἐρωτᾶν as distinguished from αἰτεῖν, “the request which is based upon fellowship, upon a likeness of position,” is to be pressed, the words contain their own justification. Prayer of “brother for brother, as such, addressed to the Common Father,” is out of the question where brotherhood has been practically renounced. But this interpretation, which emphasizes not that which the petitioner has in common with him to whom he makes his request, but rather with those on whose behalf he prays, is very doubtful. And the distinction itself between αἰτεῖν, the seeking of the inferior from the superior, and ἐρωτᾶν, which is said to imply a certain equality or familiarity between the parties (see Trench, Synonyms, § l.), is far from being certainly established. The distinction drawn by Dr. Ezra Abbott between αἰτεῖν, “to ask for something to be given (not done), the emphasis being on the thing asked,” and ἐρωτᾶν, “to request a person to do (rarely give) something, the emphasis being thus on the person requested,” is perhaps more naturally applicable here. We may hesitate to entreat God to act on behalf of one who has practically renounced his allegiance. But the difference in meaning and usage between αἰτεῖν and ἐρωτᾶν is not very clear. And the evidence of the papyri, while it shows clearly that ἐρωτᾶν was the natural word to use in invitations, and to that extent supports the former of the two distinctions which have been maintained, does not help much in settling the question.

ιδη] ειδη13 vg. Hil. Aug.: οιδεν Ia 175 (319) | αμαρτανοντα] αμαρτησαντα Ib δ368 (823) | μη 10] την Ia 552 (217) | αιτησει και δωσει] αιτησις και δωσις א *: petat (petet fu.: petit am. harl.) et dabitur vg. Cf. Tert. sah. cop.: petat pro eo et dabit … deus tol. | δωσει] dabunt boh | ζωην] + eternam boh-codd. | τοις αμαρτανουσιν μη προς θανατον] τοις μη αμαρτανουσιν αμαρτιαν μη προς θανατον A: peccanti non ad uitum vg.: sed non his qui usque ad mortem peccant tol. | αιτησει] + τον θν Ia 250f (133) | αυτω] post ζωην Ia 502 (116) Ib 396f (?? om. αυτω) 365-398 Ic 208, 116 (307) τοις … θανατον2:0] τω μη προς θανατον αμαρτανοντι Ic 364 (137) | αμαρτια] pr. η Ia 173 (156) | ου περι] υπερ Ic 364 (137) | ου] pr. και13 57lect 58lect | ερωτηση] ερωτησει K*: ερωτησης אc arm.: pr. τις15. 26. 36. 43. 98. 101 dscr vg. syr. Clem. Or. Tert.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If any man see [εαν τις ιδη] . A supposed case.

His brother. Christian brother.

Sin a sin [αμαρτανοντα αμαρτιαν] . Lit., as Rev., sinning a sin. There is no exact parallel to the phrase in the New Testament. Compare the promise which He promised, 1Jo 2:25.

Not unto death [μη προς θανατον] . Describing the nature of the sin. The preposition unto, signifies tendency toward, not necessarily involving death. See on ver. 17.

He shall ask [αιτησει] . In prayer. The future tense expresses not merely permission (it shall be permitted him to ask), but the certainty that, as a Christian brother, he will ask. An injunction to that effect is implied. He shall give. He may refer either to God or to the petitioner, as being the means of bestowing life through his intercession, as in Jas 5:20. The former explanation is the more natural. So Rev.

Him [αυτω] . The brother for whom intercession is made.

For them that sin [τοις αμαρτανουσιν] . In apposition with aujtw to him. God shall give life unto him (the erring brother), even unto them that sin. The plural generalizes the particular ease described by aJmartanonta aJmartian sinning a sin.

There is a sin [εστιν αμαρτια] . Rev., margin, better, sin. A sin would express a specific act as such. Sin describes the character of a class of acts. Unto death. The difficulty of the passage lies in the explanation of these words. It is impossible to determine their exact meaning with certainty. Some of the many explanations are as follows : Such sin as God punishes with deadly sickness or sudden death. All those sins punished with excommunication (so the older Catholic theologians). An unrepented sin. Envy. A sinful state or condition. The sin by which the Christian falls back from Christian life into death. The anti - Christian denial that Jesus is the Christ.

The phrase labein aJmartian qanhtoforon to incur a death - bearing sin (A. 5, bear sin and die), occurs Num 18:22, Sept., and the distinction between sins unto death and sins not unto death is common in Rabbinic writings. However John's expression may have been suggested by these, it cannot be assumed that they determine the sense in which he uses it. Life and death in the passage must correspond. Bodily death and spiritual life cannot be meant. The passage must be interpreted in the light of John's utterances elsewhere concerning life and death. In ver. 12, he says : He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. In 1Jo 3:14, 15, he says that he that loveth not abideth in death : that he that hateth his brother is a manslayer, and that no manslayer hath eternal life abiding in him. These canons of interpretation point to the explanation, in which some of the best authorities agree, that the sin unto death does not refer to a specific act, but to a class or species of sins, the tendency of which is to cut the bond of fellowship with Christ. Hence the passage is in the key - note of fellowship which pervades the Epistle. Whatever breaks the fellowship between the soul and Christ, and, by consequence, between the individual and the body of believers, is unto death, for there is no life apart from Christ. It is indeed true that this tendency inheres in all sin. Sin is essentially death. But a distinction is to be made, as Canon Westcott observes, between sins which flow from human imperfection and infirmity, and sins which are open manifestations of a character alien from God. "All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death." It must be carefully born in mind in the study of the passage, that John is speaking of sinful acts as revelations of character, and not simply in themselves. So Huther : "Such sinning as is characterized, not by the object with which it is connected, but by the disposition from which it proceeds." 68 I do not say that he shall pray for it [ου περι εκεινης λεγω ινα ερωτηση] . Lit., not concerning this do I say that he should make request. So Rev. Prayer even for this sin unto death is not forbidden, but John says that he does not enjoin it. Note the sharp distinctness with which that terrible sin is thrown out by the pronoun of remote reference and its emphatic position in the sentence. Note also the words make request [ερωτηση] , and compare aijtnsei he shall ask. On the distinction, see on Luk 11:9. Aijtew to ask, is used of the petition of an inferior, and is never used of Christ 's own requests to God. Hence it is properly used here of the humble and affectionate petition of a Christian to God on behalf of a sinning brother. Erwtaw is used of the request of an equal, or of one who asks on equal terms. Hence it may mark a request based upon fellowship with God through Christ, or it may hint at an element of presumption in a prayer for a sin unto death. Westcott cites a very early inscription in the Roman Catacombs as an illustration of the use of ejrwtan in the sense of Christian prayer for Christians : ejrwta uJper hJmwn pray for us.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.