1 John 5:17 (KJV)

What does 1 John 5:17 mean?

1 John 5:17 says that every kind of wrongdoing counts as sin, even though John distinguishes between sin that leads to death and sin that does not. The distinction matters because, in the preceding verse, John has been talking about praying for someone who sins.

John addresses readers who believe in Jesus and calls the person who sins a “brother.” His phrase “not unto death” connects the wrongdoing to the question of death raised in verse 16. Christians understand that death in different ways, including physical death and separation from God.

The Greek behind 1 John 5:17

• “unrighteousness” — ἀδικία (adikia): This means wrongdoing or injustice. The word covers what is wrong, rather than naming one particular act.
• “unto” — πρός (pros): Here the Greek carries the sense of “toward.” In “not unto death,” the phrase points to death as the outcome John is discussing.

Why 1 John 5:17 matters

• The distinction in verse 16 does not make some wrongdoing harmless or right. John begins verse 17 with “All unrighteousness is sin.”
• John leaves the kinds of sin in the two categories unnamed. His focus is on the contrast between sin “unto death” and sin “not unto death,” not on a list of offenses.