What Does James 5:20 Mean?

(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. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. Bible Hub