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1Jn_5:16. The apostle applies the general thought expressed in 1Jn_5:15 to a particular case, namely, to a prayer for one’s 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 çÅèÀà ìÈîåÌú , LXX.: ἁμαρτία θανατηφόρος , is found already in the O. T. Num_18:22, whence the Rabbis distinguish between çèàç ìîéúä and çèàä ìà ìîéúä (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 John’s 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 apostle’s 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 Christian’s 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 apostle’s 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 Ebrard’s 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 apostle’s 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.”