What Does James 5:20 Mean?
Let him know that the one who turns back one of those who miss the mark from the wandering of his way will deliver a living soul from death, and will cover a multitude of shortcomings.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.THE KEY
A single turn back from wandering reaches beyond the wanderer: it delivers a living soul from death and covers a multitude of misses.
THE MEANING
When someone turns another from a wandering course, a living soul is delivered from death and many misses are covered. The reader stands inside both sides of the movement: the one whose turn can affect another life, and the one whose own path can still be turned.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that wandering has already made return impossible is undone: the path can still be turned, and death is not its only end.
THE ROOT
ἐπιστρέψας
epistrepsas
GROWS FROM
στρέφω
strephō
Turn, twist, or change direction
The word translated “converteth” describes turning someone back. Its core, στρέφω (strephō, “turn”), makes the return a change of direction, not merely a change of opinion.
ALSO GROWS
epistrephō: Turn back, return
ἐπιστρέφω
This is the verb’s fuller form and keeps the verse’s sense of a person being turned back onto a different course.
apostrephō: Turn away, turn aside
ἀποστρέφω
The same turn can move a person away from a course; here, the turn carries someone away from wandering.
πλάνης
planēs
GROWS FROM
πλανάω
planaō
Wander or lead astray
“the wandering of his way” in this verse is planēs. The word translated “error” also carries the sense of wandering. Paired with “way,” it pictures a path that has gone off course, so the return changes the direction of the whole journey.
ALSO GROWS
planaō: Wander, go astray, or lead astray
πλανάω
This verb shows the movement contained in “error”: the person is straying from a way.
planētēs: Wanderer
πλανήτης
This related word names one who wanders, echoing the person whose course can be turned back.
καλύψει
kalypsei
GROWS FROM
καλύπτω
kalyptō
Cover or conceal
“cover a multitude of shortcomings” in this verse is kalypsei. Here “hide” is καλύπτω (kalyptō, “cover”), a word family that also forms ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalyptō, “uncover, reveal”). The image is of covering what has accumulated, and the verse names its scale: a multitude of misses.
ALSO GROWS
apokalyptō: Uncover, reveal
ἀποκαλύπτω
The same word family can describe uncovering, making the contrast between what is covered and what is revealed visible.
kalymma: Covering, veil
κάλυμμα
This related noun makes the covering image concrete: what is hidden lies beneath a covering.
THE PATTERN
A turn away from wandering carries life, while faithful love covers the misses gathered along the way.
Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each according to his ways, says the Lord LORD. Turn, and turn yourselves from all your rebellions; so crookedness shall not be your stumbling block.Hatred wakes strife, but love covers all rebellions.And above all, hold love stretched out among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of missed marks.THE THREAD
Turn around, then, and turn back, so that your shortcomings may be wiped away, and the times of breathing again may come from the face of the LORD.Acts 3:19 uses the same Greek verb ἐπιστρέφω (epistrephō, “turn back”) in “be converted,” and joins that turn to sins being blotted out. James makes the stakes stark: the turn redirects a living soul from death while a multitude of misses is covered.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us