1 John 5:16

Authorized King James Version (1611)

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.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

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

Transliteration

If anyone idē the adelphon of him hamartanonta hamartian not pros thanaton, he shall aitēsei, and he shall dōsei to him zōēn to those hamartanousin not pros thanaton. There estin hamartia pros thanaton: not concerning that I legō that he should erōtēsē.

Grammar Details

• *ean*: conditional conjunction - if
• *tis*: indefinite pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular - anyone
• *idē*: aorist active subjunctive, 3rd singular - he may see
• *adelphon*: accusative, masculine, singular - brother
• *autou*: genitive, masculine, singular - of him
• *hamartanonta*: present active participle, accusative, masculine, singular - sinning
• *hamartian*: accusative, feminine, singular - sin
• *mē*: negative particle - not
• *pros*: preposition with accusative - unto/toward
• *thanaton*: accusative, masculine, singular - death
• *aitēsei*: future active indicative, 3rd singular - he will ask
• *dōsei*: future active indicative, 3rd singular - he will give
• *autō*: personal pronoun, dative, masculine, singular - to him
• *zōēn*: accusative, feminine, singular - life
• *hamartanousin*: present active participle, dative, masculine, plural - sinning
• *estin*: present indicative, 3rd singular - is/there is
• *hamartia*: nominative, feminine, singular - sin
• *ekeinēs*: demonstrative pronoun, genitive, feminine, singular - that
• *legō*: present active indicative, 1st singular - I say
• *hina*: conjunction introducing purpose clause - that
• *erōtēsē*: aorist active subjunctive, 3rd singular - he should ask

Word Meanings

• *idē*: he may see/he may observe/he may perceive
• *adelphon*: brother/fellow believer/fellow member
• *hamartanonta*: sinning/erring/missing the mark
• *hamartian*: sin/error/missing the mark
• *thanaton*: death/end of life
• *aitēsei*: he will ask/he will request/he will petition
• *dōsei*: he will give/he will grant/he will bestow
• *zōēn*: life/existence/vitality
• *hamartanousin*: sinning/erring/missing the mark
• *hamartia*: sin/error/missing the mark
• *legō*: I say/I speak/I tell
• *erōtēsē*: he should ask/he should request/he should petition

Referenced Verses

• Heb 6:4-6 : 4 For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.
• 1 Sam 2:25 : 25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.
• Jer 7:16 : 16 ¶ Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
• Jer 11:14 : 14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear [them] in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
• Num 15:30 : 30 ¶ But the soul that doeth [ought] presumptuously, [whether he be] born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
• Matt 12:31-32 : 31 ‹Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy› [against] ‹the› [Holy] ‹Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.› 32 ‹And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the› [world] ‹to come.›
• Heb 10:26-31 : 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 [It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
• Jas 5:14-15 : 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
• 2 Pet 2:20-22 : 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known [it], to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog [is] turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
• Luke 12:10 : 10 ‹And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.›
• Jer 14:11 : 11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for [their] good.
• Jer 15:1-2 : 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. 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as [are] for death, to death; and such as [are] for the sword, to the sword; and such as [are] for the famine, to the famine; and such as [are] for the captivity, to the captivity.
• Jer 18:18-21 : 18 ¶ Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. 19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their [blood] by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and [be] widows; and let their men be put to death; [let] their young men [be] slain by the sword in battle.
• Ezek 22:30 : 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
• Amos 7:1-3 : 1 ¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, [it was] the latter growth after the king's mowings. 2 And it came to pass, [that] when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small. 3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
• Num 16:26-32 : 26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. 27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. 28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind. 29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; [then] the LORD hath not sent me. 30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them: 32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that [appertained] unto Korah, and all [their] goods.
• Deut 9:18-20 : 18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also. 20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
• 2 Chr 30:18-20 : 18 For a multitude of the people, [even] many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one 19 [That] prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though [he be] not [cleansed] according to the purification of the sanctuary. 20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
• Job 42:7-9 : 7 ¶ And it was [so], that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me [the thing that is] right, as my servant Job [hath]. 8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you [after your] folly, in that ye have not spoken of me [the thing which is] right, like my servant Job. 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite [and] Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
• Ps 106:23 : 23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy [them].
• Gen 20:7 : 7 Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine.
• Gen 20:17 : 17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare [children].
• Exod 32:10-14 : 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. 11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit [it] for ever. 14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
• Exod 32:31-32 : 31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
• Exod 34:9 : 9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it [is] a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
• Num 12:13 : 13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
• Num 14:11-21 : 11 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? 12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. 13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear [it], (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) 14 And they will tell [it] to the inhabitants of this land: [for] they have heard that thou LORD [art] among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and [that] thy cloud standeth over them, and [that] thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now [if] thou shalt kill [all] this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. 17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18 The LORD [is] longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation]. 19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. 20 ¶ And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: 21 But [as] truly [as] I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
• John 17:9 : 9 ‹I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.›
• 2 Tim 4:14 : 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
• Mark 3:28-30 : 28 ‹Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:› 29 ‹But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:› 30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.