1 John 5:16

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

If anyone sees his fellow Christian committing a sin not resulting in death, he should ask, and God will grant life to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death. There is a sin resulting in death. I do not say that he should ask about that.

📖 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 in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6 and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt.
• 1 Sam 2:25 : 25 If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him then?” But Eli’s sons would not listen to their father. Indeed the LORD had decided to kill them.
• Jer 7:16 : 16 “But as for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people! Do not raise a cry of prayer for them! Do not plead with me to save them, because I will not listen to you.
• Jer 11:14 : 14 But as for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not raise a cry of prayer for them. For I will not listen to them when they call out to me for help when disaster strikes them.”
• Num 15:30 : 30 Deliberate Sin“‘But the person who acts defiantly, whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults the LORD. That person must be cut off from among his people.
• Matt 12:31-32 : 31 For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
• Heb 10:26-31 : 26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, 27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. 28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said,“Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again,“The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
• Jas 5:14-15 : 14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up– and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
• 2 Pet 2:20-22 : 20 For if after they have escaped the filthy things of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again get entangled in them and succumb to them, their last state has become worse for them than their first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 22 They are illustrations of this true proverb:“A dog returns to its own vomit,” and“A sow, after washing herself, wallows in the mire.”
• Luke 12:10 : 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
• Jer 14:11 : 11 Judgment for Believing the Misleading Lies of the False Prophets Then the LORD said to me,“Do not pray for good to come to these people!
• Jer 15:1-2 : 1 Then the LORD said to me,“Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! 2 If they ask you,‘Where should we go?’ tell them the LORD says this:“Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease. Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war. Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation. Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.”
• Jer 18:18-21 : 18 Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him Then some people said,“Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.” 19 Then I said,“LORD, pay attention to me. Listen to what my enemies are saying. 20 Should good be paid back with evil? Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. Just remember how I stood before you pleading on their behalf to keep you from venting your anger on them. 21 So let their children die of starvation. Let them be cut down by the sword. Let their wives lose their husbands and children. Let the older men die of disease and the younger men die by the sword in battle.
• Ezek 22:30 : 30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.
• Amos 7:1-3 : 1 Symbolic Visions of Judgment The Sovereign LORD showed me this: I saw him making locusts just as the crops planted late were beginning to sprout.(The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest.) 2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,“Sovereign LORD, forgive Israel! How can Jacob survive? He is too weak!” 3 The LORD decided not to do this.“It will not happen,” the LORD said.
• Num 16:26-32 : 26 And he said to the community,“Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. 28 Then Moses said,“This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 29 If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD. 31 When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods.
• Deut 9:18-20 : 18 Then I again fell down before the LORD for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the LORD as to enrage him. 19 For I was terrified at the LORD’s intense anger that threatened to destroy you. But he listened to me this time as well. 20 The LORD was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him too.
• 2 Chr 30:18-20 : 18 The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover in violation of what is prescribed in the law. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying:“May the LORD, who is good, forgive 19 everyone who has determined to follow God, the LORD God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple.” 20 The LORD responded favorably to Hezekiah and forgave the people.
• Job 42:7-9 : 7 After the LORD had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite,“My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the LORD had told them; and the LORD had respect for Job.
• Ps 106:23 : 23 He threatened to destroy them, but Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him and turned back his destructive anger.
• Gen 20:7 : 7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”
• Gen 20:17 : 17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.
• Exod 32:10-14 : 10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God and said,“O LORD, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say,‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them,‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’” 14 Then the LORD relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
• Exod 32:31-32 : 31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said,“Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if you will forgive their sin…, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written.”
• Exod 34:9 : 9 and said,“If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
• Num 12:13 : 13 Then Moses cried to the LORD,“Heal her now, O God.”
• Num 14:11-21 : 11 The Punishment from God The LORD said to Moses,“How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!” 13 Moses said to the LORD,“When the Egyptians hear it– for you brought up this people by your power from among them– 14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, LORD, are among this people, that you, LORD, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, 18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ 19 Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.” 20 Then the LORD said,“I have forgiven them as you asked. 21 But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.
• John 17:9 : 9 I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you.
• 2 Tim 4:14 : 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds.
• Mark 3:28-30 : 28 I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin” 30 (because they said,“He has an unclean spirit”).