16Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “confess” in English in the context of these verses is translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:
Huastec: “to take aim at one’s sin” (“an idiom which is derived from the action of a hunter taking aim at a bird or animal”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Tabasco Chontal: “say, It is true, I’ve done evil” (source: Larson 1998, p. 204)
Central Pame: “pull out the heart” (“so that it may be clearly seen — not just by men, but by God”) (source: Nida 1952, p. 155)
Shipibo-Conibo: “say, It is true I have sinned” (source: Nida 1964, p. 228)
Obolo: itutumu ijo isibi: “speak out sin” (source: Enene Enene).
Tagbanwa: “testify that one would now drop/give-up sin” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated as “sin” in English has a wide variety of translations.
The Greek ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) carries the original verbatim meaning of “miss the mark” and likewise, many translations contain the “connotation of moral responsibility.”
Loma: “leaving the road” (which “implies a definite standard, the transgression of which is sin”)
Navajo (Dinė): “that which is off to the side” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Toraja-Sa’dan: kasalan, originally meaning “transgression of a religious or moral rule” and in the context of the Bible “transgression of God’s commandments” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21ff. )
Bariai: “bad behavior” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Sandawe: “miss the mark” (like the original meaning of the Greek term) (source for this and above: Ursula Wiesemann in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 36ff., 43)
In Shipibo-Conibo the term is hocha. Nida (1952, p. 149) tells the story of its choosing: “In some instances a native expression for sin includes many connotations, and its full meaning must be completely understood before one ever attempts to use it. This was true, for example, of the term hocha first proposed by Shipibo-Conibo natives as an equivalent for ‘sin.’ The term seemed quite all right until one day the translator heard a girl say after having broken a little pottery jar that she was guilty of ‘hocha.’ Breaking such a little jar scarcely seemed to be sin. However, the Shipibos insisted that hocha was really sin, and they explained more fully the meaning of the word. It could be used of breaking a jar, but only if the jar belonged to someone else. Hocha was nothing more nor less than destroying the possessions of another, but the meaning did not stop with purely material possessions. In their belief God owns the world and all that is in it. Anyone who destroys the work and plan of God is guilty of hocha. Hence the murderer is of all men most guilty of hocha, for he has destroyed God’s most important possession in the world, namely, man. Any destructive and malevolent spirit is hocha, for it is antagonistic and harmful to God’s creation. Rather than being a feeble word for some accidental event, this word for sin turned out to be exceedingly rich in meaning and laid a foundation for the full presentation of the redemptive act of God.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “We would explain terms, such that e.g. sin often became ‘doing what God does not want’ or ‘breaking God’s law’, ‘letting God down’, ‘disrespecting God’, ‘doing evil’, ‘acting stupidly’, ‘becoming guilty’. Now why couldn’t we just use the word sin? Well, sin in contemporary Danish, outside of the church, is mostly used about things such as delicious but unhealthy foods. Exquisite cakes and chocolates are what a sin is today.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of James 5:16:
Uma: “That is why we must admit/confess our wrongs and pray for each other, so that we will be healed. The prayers of people whose hearts are upright are very potent.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then, confess your sins to your fellow trusters in Isa Almasi, and pray-to God one for the other, so that you will be well. A straight/righteous person if he prays-to/asks-of God really whole-heartedly/with his liver entirely, his asking/praying has power.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because of that, it is necessary that you tell each other your sins so that each one may pray for his companion and so that the sick people might be cured. The praying of a righteous person is very powerful.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore if you have sinned, confess to your fellow believers so that they will pray for you so that you will get-well. Because the prayer of a righteous person, it is strong because it has results.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore if there is sin you have done to your fellowman, you must confess it to him and ask forgiveness. And then you are to pray for one another so that the Lord will make you well. For good results really will come from the prayer of a person who is righteous in the sight of God, very much being able to be done by this prayer.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Therefore when a sick person has sin, he should tell in order that you each pray to God. Then the sick person will get well from his sickness. Now the good person, when he earnestly from the heart prays to God, will be helped by God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “upright(ness)” and “just(ice)”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)
Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:
Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
(San Mateo del Mar Huave: “completely good” (the translation does not imply sinless perfection)
Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
This verse continues the themes of prayer and healing. In verse 15 it is the elders who are to pray for the sick, and here in verse 16 it is the members of the community who are encouraged to pray for each other and confess to each other.
Therefore: the conjunction connects the thought of verse 16 with that of verse 15. It suggests that the discussion of the restoration of physical health and the forgiveness of sin that started in verse 15 is continued in verse 16. This particle may also be rendered “So then…” (Good News Translation). Its function is to provide a formal link between what the author has said and what he is going to say. This link may also be rendered as “Consequently….” As far as the theme is concerned, the link is in the power of prayer. If we wish to express this link, we may render the conjunction as “Since prayer has such power…” or “Because God answers prayer….” Following an inferior text, King James Version does not have this connective. The adopted text, which has the connective, makes better sense as it is drawing out an important consequence here.
Confess your sins to one another: the imperative confess is in the present tense, suggesting that continual or habitual practice may be meant. If so, it may be rendered “You should get into the habit of admitting your sins to each other” (Phillips). It is not exactly clear what kind of sins are to be confessed. It is equally unclear who the confession of sin is to be made to. The end of the sentence, where the reference is to healing, makes it probable that the sins may be related to those that have caused the sickness. The phrase to one another certainly does not suggest that the confession is to be addressed to the elders, as the role of the elders is not mentioned in this verse. It may be a confession made to the person against whom sin has been committed. It is perhaps best understood as a confession addressed to God in the presence of other Christians in the Christian community, as this is a practice known to the early church (compare Mark 1.5; Matt 3.6; Acts 19.18). In any case it is unlikely to affect the translation in any significant way if we stay close to the literal rendering.
James also encourages his readers to pray for one another. We note again that the church members, not only the elders, are encouraged to take part in the ministry of intercession. The object of mutual confession and intercession is that you may be healed. The verb “to heal” is most often used in the sense of physical healing, and that may be understood to be the primary meaning intended here. Yet in the present context, where confession of sins is encouraged, the sense of restoring the spiritual health of the Christian community cannot be ruled out. The one who does the healing is God, and it may be desirable to make this clear in some languages; for example, “so that God may heal you.”
The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effect: James emphasizes the power of prayer. This sentence can be taken as a final comment on the prayer of intercession in the first part of this verse. In this case we may wish to link it to the previous statement; for example, “… and pray for one another to be cured; the heartfelt prayer of someone upright works very powerfully” (New Jerusalem Bible). However, most other translations see this sentence as introducing a new line of thought about the power of prayer, as seen in the example of Elijah, and have therefore structured the relationship differently. They place a full stop at the end of the previous sentence, making a complete break. The new sentence then serves as a transition to what is to follow. The French Jerusalem Bible (La Bible de Jérusalem) and Phillips have in fact chosen to make the new sentence the beginning of a new paragraph. In any case it is desirable to show a break between verse 16a and the new sentence.
In Greek the word for prayer used here is from a different root than that of the verb “to pray” used in the previous sentence, but it is difficult to see if any difference in meaning is intended. A righteous man is not to be understood as a special type of person whose prayer is more effective than others. Rather, this person is someone who is faithful to God and living in harmony with God’s will, and therefore his prayer is indeed effective. See the discussion in 5.6. In this context the phrase may simply be rendered as “an upright person” (similarly Goodspeed, New Jerusalem Bible), “a good person” (Good News Translation; similarly Barclay, Revised English Bible), or “an innocent person” (Contemporary English Version).
To underline the power of prayer, James uses two qualifiers to modify the verb has … power, which is literally “is strong” or “is powerful.” The first qualifier is “much” and the second “working” or “being effective.” The second is a participle that can be taken as passive or as middle voice. If it is passive we can translate the sentence as “the prayer is powerful when it is put into effect.” Making it clear that God is the one who puts prayer into effect, Translator’s New Testament has rendered the sentence as “The good man’s prayer is very powerful because God is at work in it.” If the qualifier is a middle, the sentence is normally rendered as “the prayer is powerful when it is exercised” or “the prayer is powerful in its effect.” More scholars and translations appear to favor the second possibility. Yet another possibility is to take the participle as an adjective modifying prayer, resulting in renderings like “Tremendous power is made available through a good man’s earnest prayer” (Phillips) or “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (New American Bible). On the whole it is probably best to follow the majority of scholars. The meaning of this sentence, then, may be most effectively brought out by rendering it as:
• The prayer of a good person is very [or, most] powerful and effective.
• The prayer of a good person has a [very] powerful effect (Good News Translation).
• The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot (Contemporary English Version).
Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Therefore: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Therefore here introduces a command to do something based on what James had just written. God heals sick people in answer to prayer, even if they have sinned (5:15). So people who are sick should seek to be healed by confessing their sins. For example:
So (God’s Word)
-or-
For this reason
-or-
Because of that
-or-
On the basis of what I have just said
confess: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as confess means “openly admit” to another person that one has disobeyed God. In this context, it does not mean praying silently to God.
Some other ways to translate this word are:
admit (God’s Word)
-or-
you should tell each other what you have done (Contemporary English Version)
your sins: The word sins here refers to anything that a person has done that is contrary to God’s will and desire for his people. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
the things that you have done wrong
-or-
your evil thoughts and deeds
-or-
your wrongs
to each other: The phrase to each other refers to other members of the church. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
to one another
-or-
to your fellow believers
5:16b
and pray for each other: The word pray means “ask God.” In this context of a person confessing that he has sinned, the topic of the prayer is clear. Here pray for implies that they will ask God to forgive and heal this member of the church. Some other ways to translate this are:
and pray to God for one another
-or-
and ask Godto heal and forgive you and your fellow believers
5:16c
so that you may be healed: The purpose of the prayer is so that you may be healed. It is a passive clause. There are at least two ways to translate it:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
so that you will be healed (Good News Translation)
• Use an active verb. For example:
so God can heal you (New Century Version)
-or-
so that the Lord may heal you
5:16d
The prayer: In some languages, it is more natural to translate the noun prayer as a verb. For example:
When a believing person prays (New Century Version)
a righteous man: The phrase a righteous man means “a person who lives in the way that God requires.” Some other ways to translate this word are:
a person who does what is right/just
-or-
a person who follows/keeps God’s laws
-or-
a straight person
This same word occurs in 5:6a where the New International Version (2011 Revision) translates it as “innocent men.”
5:16e
has great power to prevail: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as power to prevail indicates that when a righteous person prays, it causes great things to happen.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
has great power and produces wonderful results (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
is powerful, and it can help a lot (Contemporary English Version)
In some languages, it will be natural to translate power to prevail as one phrase that is emphasized. For example:
has great effectiveness (NET Bible)
-or-
does great things
-or-
accomplishes a lot
-or-
is very powerful
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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