James 5:20

Concealing Sins

The primary meaning of καλύπτω is lost in previous translations, which give the sense of an atonement-kind of "covering." That is not the word used, nor its meaning. 

καλύπτω is very physical and concrete in Greek: it primarily means “to cover, envelop, shroud, overlay, or hide.” Classical examples from Homer show it covering objects, bodies, night, grief, sleep, or death.

It does not carry a moral or ritual sense of atoning for, forgiving, or “covering over sins” in the sense required for ἐξομολογέομαι/ἐξομολογέω contexts. Using καλύπτω for “sins” is a literalizing metaphor at best and not attested in Greek texts for moral/ethical concealment or reconciliation.

In other words, it’s excellent for physical coverage but not for spiritual or ethical “covering” of wrongdoing. The semantic range of καλύπτω is concrete, while ἐξομολογέω (or cognates like ἐξομολογία) deals with acknowledgment, confession, or verbal articulation of one’s errors.

(cf. LSJ, Bailley, Cuniliffe-Homer, etc)