James 5:20

5:19,20 It is no mark of a wise or holy man, to boast of being free from error, or to refuse to acknowledge an error. And there is some doctrinal mistake at the bottom of every practical mistake. There is no one habitually bad, but upon some bad principle. This is conversion; to turn a sinner from the error of his ways, not merely from one party to another, or from one notion and way of thinking to another. There is no way effectually and finally to hide sin, but forsaking it. Many sins are hindered in the party converted; many also may be so in others whom he may influence. The salvation of one soul is of infinitely greater importance than preserving the lives of multitudes, or promoting the welfare of a whole people. Let us in our several stations keep these things in mind, sparing no pains in God's service, and the event will prove that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. For six thousand years He has been multiplying pardons, and yet his free grace is not tired nor grown weary. Certainly Divine mercy is an ocean that is ever full and ever flowing. May the Lord give us a part in this abundant mercy, through the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit.

Let him know,.... And observe it for his encouragement: that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way; who is the instrument of restoring a backsliding professor, for such an one is meant by a sinner, and not a profane person; or of turning a poor bewildered believer, who is got out of the way of truth and holiness, into the right way again; or of convincing him of the error of his way, whether it be in point of doctrine, or of duty; and so of bringing him to the fold of Christ again, from whence he has strayed: shall save a soul from death; not efficiently, but instrumentally, as in 1 Timothy 4:16 for otherwise Christ is the only Saviour; and he will be the means of saving "a soul", which is of more worth than a world; and that from death, the second death which lies in the separation of the soul from God, and in a sense of his wrath; which apostasy threatens with, and leads unto, if grace prevents not.

Jam 5:20 . Γινωσκέτω , let him know ) both the one who converts another, that he may be more intent upon it, and the one who is converted, that he may be led to grateful obedience.— σώσει , he shall save ) The Future: it shall hereafter be evident.— ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ , his soul ) the sinner’s. A great work.— ἐκ θανάτου , from death ) which will destroy (swallow up) the sinners. The connection is: not only in diseases of the body, Jam 5:14 , do you succour one another, but also drive away the death of the soul.— καλύψει , shall hide ) impelled by that same love , under the influence of which he recalled him when in error; 1 Peter 4:8 , note.[77]— πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν , a multitude of sins ) either the sins which the person in error had committed, and which are known to him who converts him, or those which he was about to commit.[78] Steph. and Æthiop. read, of his sins . I know not why Steph . is inserted by Baumgarten. James concludes as though it were an ordinary book and not a letter.[79] [77] Shall in love charitably hide , not reveal to others, but intercede with God for, the sins of his neighbour whom he converts.—E. [78] And also the sins which either had been committed, or might still hereafter be committed, by the converter or others.—V. g. [79] Bengel, J. A. (1866). Vol. 5 : Gnomon of the New Testament (M. E. Bengel & J. C. F. Steudel, Ed.) (W. Fletcher, Trans.) (35–42). Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

20. Let him—the converted. know—for his comfort, and the encouragement of others to do likewise. shall save—future. The salvation of the one so converted shall be manifested hereafter. shall hide a multitude of sins—not his own, but the sins of the converted. The Greek verb in the middle voice requires this. Pr 10:12 refers to charity "covering" the sins of others before men; James to one's effecting by the conversion of another that that other's sins be covered before God, namely, with Christ's atonement. He effects this by making the convert partaker in the Christian covenant for the remission of all sins. Though this hiding of sins was included in the previous "shall save," James expresses it to mark in detail the greatness of the blessing conferred on the penitent through the converter's instrumentality, and to incite others to the same good deed.

Verse 20. - Let him know. So א , A, K, L, Latt., Syriac, B has γινώσκετε , "know ye." After ψυχὴν , א , A, and Vulgate add αὐτοῦ . B has it after θανάτου . And shall cover a multitude of sins ( καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν ). The same expression occurs in 1 Peter 4:8 , "Charity covereth a multitude of sins." It is founded on Proverbs 10:12 , תְּכַסֶּה אַהֲבָה וְעַל כָּל־פְשָׁעִים , "Love covereth all sins ," where the LXX. goes entirely astray: Πάντας δὲ τοὺς μὴ φιλονεικοῦντας καλύπτει φιλία : but cf. Psalm 31:1 ; Psalm 84:3 , in the LXX. It is difficult to believe that St. Peter and St. James independently hit upon the rendering πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν for the Hebrew כָּל־פְּשָׂעִים , as there was nothing to suggest it, the LXX. never rendering כֹּל by πλῆθος . Probably the one was consciously or unconsciously influenced by the other. The striking position which the words occupy here , as those with which the Epistle closes, would make them linger in the memory; and there is nothing to militate against the conclusion, which appeared probable on the occasion of previous coincidences between the two writers, that St. James is the earlier of the two (comp. on James 4:6).

The expression used by the apostle leaves it undetermined whose sins are thus "covered," whether (1) those of the man who is " converted from the error of his way," or (2) those of the man who wins him back, and through this good action obtains, by the grace of God, pardon for his own "multitude of sins." It has been well noticed that " there is a studied generality in the form of the teaching which seems to emphasize the wide blessedness of love. In the very act of seeking to convert one for whom we care we must turn to God ourselves, and in covering the past sins of another our own also are covered. In such an act love reaches its highest point, and that love includes the faith in God which is the condition of forgiveness" (Plumptre). The Epistle ends abruptly, with no salutation and no doxology. In this it stands almost by itself in the New Testament; the First Epistle of St. John alone approaching it in the abruptness of its conclusion. James 5:20

Of his way; of his life and actions, which is contrary to the way which God hath prescribed. Shall save; men are said to save in the same way as to convert, viz. instrumentally. A soul; the soul of him that is thus converted, 1 Timothy 4:16 : soul for person, as Jam 1:21 . From death: eternal death, unto which he was hastening while he continued in the error of his way, which led him toward destruction. And shall hide a multitude of sins; in the same sense as before he is said to convert and save his soul, viz. in being instrumental to bring him to faith and repentance, upon which God pardons, i.e. hides his sins, {Psalm 32:1} though not from the eye of his omniscience, yet from the eye of his vindictive justice, and so as not to bring them forth in judgment against him.

(20) Let him know. —Or, as it rather seems to be, Know ye ; be absolutely sure of this, in a knowledge better than all the Gnostic and Agnostic learning of the day. He which turneth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death —the means thereto being given him by the Saviour of all— and shall hide a multitude of sins; not, of course, his own, but those of the penitent, brought back by this good servant into the fold. So is it possible to be a fellow-worker with Christ ( 2Corinthians 6:1 ), and a sharer in His work of salvation, as, in another sense, we too vicariously suffer for the sins and faults of others. (Comp. Colossians 1:24 , and Butler’s Analogy, part 2, chap. 5) What St. James was in word that also was he in deed; for he “prayed fervently” for the pardon and conversion of those who killed him. “Hold,” said some of the by-standers. when the martyr sank upon the stones, “the Just is praying for you!” Stephen’s prayer won Saul for the infant Church: it can hardly be that James’s last breathings of pity were unanswered of God.

20 . from the error of his way ] The noun always involves the idea of being deceived as well as erring. Comp. 2 Peter 2:18 ; 2 Peter 3:17 ; 1 John 4:6 . shall save a soul from death ] The soul is obviously that of the sinner who is converted. Death, bodily and spiritual, would be the outcome of the error if he were left alone, and in being rescued from the error he is therefore saved also from death. and shall hide a multitude of sins ] The phrase is one of those which St James has in common with St Peter ( 1 Peter 4:8 ). It occurs also in the LXX. of Psalm 85:2 , and in a nearly identical form in Psalm 32:1 . The Hebrew, and English version, of Proverbs 10:12 present a still closer parallel, but the LXX. seems to have followed a different text, and gives “Friendship covers all those that are not contentious.” The context leaves hardly any room for doubt that the “sins” which are thought of as covered are primarily those of the man converted, and not those of the converter. There is, however, a studied generality in the form of the teaching, which seems to emphasise the wide blessedness of love. In the very act of seeking to convert one for whom we care we must turn to God ourselves, and in covering the past sins of another our own also are covered. In such an act love reaches its highest point, and that love includes the faith in God which is the condition of forgiveness. The absence of any formal close to the Epistle is in many ways remarkable.

In this respect it stands absolutely alone in the New Testament, the nearest approach to it being found in 1 John 5:21 . It is a possible explanation of this peculiarity, that we have lost the conclusion of the Epistle. It is, however, more probable that the abruptness is that of emphasis. The writer had given utterance to a truth which he desired above all things to impress on the minds of his readers, and he could not do this more effectually than by making it the last word he wrote to them.

Jam 5:20 . γινώσκετε : taking this as an indicative one may regard the words that follow as a quotation, a course which commends itself owing to the comparatively large number of quotations with which the Epistle abounds; at the same time it must be remembered that the weight of MS. evidence is in favour of γινωσκέτε .— καλύψει … (Hebrew כפר ) cf. 1 Peter 4:8 , one of the strongest of the many marks of Jewish authorship which the Epistle contains; according to Jewish doctrine good works balance evil ones; the good work of converting a sinner is reckoned here as one of the most efficacious in obliterating evil deeds; on the whole subject see Introduction IV., § 2.