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.
Parallel translations
- WEB If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life for those who sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I don’t say that he should make a request concerning this.
- BSB If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin. There is a sin that leads to death; I am not saying he should ask regarding that sin.
- NKJV If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
- NASB If anyone sees his brother or sister committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that.
- NLT If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers should pray for a brother sinning in a way that does not lead to death, and God will grant him life; but there is a sin leading to death. Intercession for the erring is a vital duty.
Overview
John encourages prayer for fellow believers caught in sin, promising restoration to spiritual vitality. He distinguishes a 'sin not leading to death' from a 'sin leading to death,' which faithful interpreters understand in various ways, most commonly as the deliberate, final rejection of Christ by the false teachers who had left the church (apostasy). John does not forbid praying for such a person but does not command it, leaving the focus on ready intercession for struggling believers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 30
- Heb 6:4–6For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
- 1 Sam 2:25If 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 11:14Therefore 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.
- Mark 3:28–30Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
- Heb 10:26–31For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
- Luke 12:10And 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.
- Matt 12:31–32Wherefore 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.
- 2 Pet 2:20–22For 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.
- Jer 14:11Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
- Jer 7:16Therefore 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.
- Jas 5:14–15Is 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:
- Exod 34:9And 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.
- Exod 32:10–14Now 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.
- Num 15:30But 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.
- Jer 18:18–21Then 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.
- Gen 20:7Now 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 20:17So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
- Job 42:7–9And 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.
- Exod 32:31–32And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
- Jer 15:1–2Then 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 Chr 30:18–20For 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
- Amos 7:1–3Thus 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.
- Ps 106:23Therefore 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.
- John 17:9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
- Num 12:13And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
- Deut 9:18–20And 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.
- Num 14:11–21And 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?
- Num 16:26–32And 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.
- Ezek 22:30And 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.
- 2 Tim 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 5:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.
How traditions read this
Four faithful readings of a notoriously hard text.
The "sin that leads to death" is a true believer''s decisive apostasy — a deliberate, final abandonment of Christ — which other sins are not. Read by those who hold that the genuinely regenerate can fall away.
Key points · Sin unto death = apostasy of a believer; other sins forgivable; rejects unconditional eternal security.
I. Howard Marshall; Stephen Smalley; Ben Witherington III
Both the sinning "brother" and the one who sins unto death are nominal or unbelieving; the deadly sin is a settled, decisive rejection of Christ rather than any single act.
Key points · Both figures unbelieving/nominal; deadly sin = rejecting Christ; not a list of mortal acts.
John Stott; Irvin Busenitz
"Life" and "death" are physical: God may discipline an erring believer with bodily death (as with some at Corinth), without any loss of salvation. The passage concerns chastening, not damnation.
Key points · Death = physical discipline of a believer; salvation not lost; cf. 1 Cor 11:30.
B. B. Warfield; James Montgomery Boice
The non-deadly sin is any sin a believer commits (always forgivable in Christ); the "sin unto death" is any sin characteristic of an unbeliever, supremely the apostasy of leaving the community — the view this essay judges most likely.
Key points · Believer''s sin vs. unbeliever''s sin; apostasy in view; commended as the best reading.
Colin Kruse; Robert Yarbrough; Sam Storms · The Gospel Coalition
Each view is stated as that tradition would put it, with representative sources. Limitless Word presents them side by side and endorses none — see the methodology.