“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”
Parallel translations
- WEB They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
- KJV They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
- NKJV They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
- NASB They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”
- NLT “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The hearers object that as Abraham's descendants they have never been enslaved, so they need no freeing. They misunderstand Jesus by thinking only of political or physical bondage.
Overview
Proud of their lineage, they overlook both Israel's history of bondage and, more importantly, their slavery to sin. Their reply exposes a reliance on ancestry rather than on God's grace. It sets the stage for Jesus to redefine true freedom in terms of deliverance from sin rather than ethnic or national status.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Matt 3:9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- John 8:39“Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.
- Neh 9:27–28So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.
- Gen 15:13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
- John 8:37I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you.
- Neh 5:4–8Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
- Luke 16:24–26So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’
- John 19:25Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.
- Neh 9:36–37So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves!
- Exod 1:13–14They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
- Judg 2:18Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.
- Judg 3:8Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.
- Lev 25:42Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
- Ezra 9:9Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
- Judg 4:3Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 8:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.