Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, on Jas 5:20

“He must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.”

“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. Pro 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. Next: 1 Peter Introduction”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.