Bible Strands
John 8:34
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus answers the Jews who just declared (v. 33) that they have never been slaves to anyone and challenge his claim to set them free. He is not debating their lineage; he is redefining the slave-master relationship in terms of sin.
The words — ἀμὴν ἀμὴν (amēn amēn), "truly, truly," a doubled oath formula that marks what follows as a solemn, non-negotiable declaration rather than a rhetorical point.
The thread — Romans 6:16 states the principle in terms of obedience (you are slaves to the one you obey); 2 Peter 2:19 adds that a person is a slave to whatever has mastered them; Proverbs 5:22 describes sin's cords as entangling the wicked.
Why it lands — The verse is a present-tense diagnosis, not a warning: if you sin, you are already in bondage, and the question is not whether you will be but whether you recognize it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Cross-references
- Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?
- 2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
- Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- 1 John 3:8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
- Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.
- Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
- Titus 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Romans 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
- Ephesians 2:2 in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
- 1 Kings 21:25 (Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.