1 John 5 · Verse 17

1 John 5:17

All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

1 John 5:17, King James Version

1 John 5:17 in other translations

BSB	All unrighteousness is sin, yet there is sin that does not lead to death.
WEB	All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
ASV	All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
YLT	all unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not unto death.
DARBY	Every unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not to death.
BBE	All evil-doing is sin: but death is not the punishment for every sort of sin.
Webster	All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not to death.

What does 1 John 5:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

17. "Every unrighteousness (even that of believers, compare 1Jo 1:9; 3:4. Every coming short of right) is sin"; (but) not every sin is the sin unto death. and there is a sin not unto death--in the case of which, therefore, believers may intercede. Death and life stand in correlative opposition (1Jo 5:11-13). The sin unto death must be one tending "towards" (so the Greek), and so resulting in, death. Alford makes it to be an appreciable ACT of sin, namely, the denying Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God (in contrast to confess this truth, 1Jo 5:1, 5), 1Jo 2:19, 22; 4:2, 3; 5:10. Such wilful deniers of Christ are not to be received into one's house, or wished "God speed." Still, I think with Bengel, not merely the act, but also the state of apostasy accompanying the act, is included--a "state of soul in which faith, love, and hope, in short, the new life, is extinguished. 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. As long as it is not evident (see on 1Jo 5:16, on 'see') that it is a sin unto death, it is lawful to pray. But when it is deliberate rejection of grace, and the man puts from him life thereby, how can others procure for him life?" Contrast Jas 5:14-18. Compare Mt 12:31, 32 as to the wilful rejection of Christ, and resistance to the Holy Ghost's plain testimony to Him as the divine Messiah. Jesus, on the cross, pleaded only for those who KNEW NOT what they were doing in crucifying Him, not for those wilfully resisting grace and knowledge. If we pray for the impenitent, it must be with humble reference of the matter to God's will, not with the intercessory request which we should offer for a brother when erring.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 17. All unrighteousness is sin, etc. This seems to be thrown in to guard what he had just said, and there is one great and enormous sin, a sin which could not be forgiven. But he says also that there are many other forms and degrees of sin, sin for which prayer may be made. Everything, he says, which is unrighteous --αδικια-- everything which does not conform to the holy law of God, and which is not right in the view of that law, is to be regarded as sin; but we are not to suppose that all sin of that kind is of such a character that it cannot possibly be forgiven. There are many who commit sin who we may hope will be recovered, and for them it is proper to pray. Deeply affected as we may be in view of the fact that there is a sin which can never be pardoned, and much as we may pity one who has been guilty of such a sin, yet we should not hastily conclude in any case that it has been committed, and should bear constantly in mind that while there is one such sin, there are multitudes that may be pardoned, and that for them it is our duty unceasingly to pray.

(c) "unrighteousness" 1Jn 3:4

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 17 All unrighteousness is sin - Πασα αδικια, Every act contrary to justice is sin - is a transgression of the law which condemns all injustice.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 John 5:13-17

Upon all this evidence, it is but right that we believe on the name of the Son of God. Believers have eternal life in the covenant of the gospel. Then let us thankfully receive the record of Scripture. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. The Lord Christ invites us to come to him in all circumstances, with our supplications and requests, notwithstanding the…

Read the full comment on 1 John 5:13-17 →

1 John 5:17 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

πᾶσαpasaAllG3956

ἀδικίαadikiaunrighteousnessG93

ἁμαρτίαhamartiasinG266

ἐστίν,estinis,G1510

καὶkaiandG2532

ἔστινestinthere isG1510

ἁμαρτίαhamartiasinG266

οὐounotG3756

πρὸςprosuntoG4314

θάνατον.thanatondeath.G2288

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 John 5:17

1 John 3:4
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Ezekiel 18:26-32
When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? …
1 John 5:16
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.
James 4:7-10
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
1 John 2:1
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Deuteronomy 12:32
What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Deuteronomy 5:32
Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Romans 5:20-21
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

all.
3:4; De 5:32; 12:32
and.
16; Isa 1:18; Eze 18:26-32; Ro 5:20,21; Jas 1:15; 4:7-10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

1 John 5:16
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.
1 John 5:17
All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
1 John 5:18
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.

Read all of 1 John 5

1 John 5:17 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Toda maldad es pecado; mas hay pecado no de muerte.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Toute iniquité est péché, et il y a tel péché qui n’est pas à la mort.
German Elberfelder 1871	Jede Ungerechtigkeit ist Sünde; und es gibt Sünde, die nicht zum Tode ist.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Omnis iniquitas, peccatum est: et est peccatum ad mortem.