A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
Parallel translations
- WEB A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever.
- KJV And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
- NKJV And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
- NASB Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.
- NLT A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.
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
A slave has no permanent place in the household, but a son belongs forever. Jesus contrasts the insecure standing of a slave with the secure standing of a son.
Overview
Using a household image, Jesus distinguishes between slaves of sin and sons who abide permanently. The point anticipates that only through the Son can one gain the lasting status of belonging to God's family. It hints at the gospel privilege of adoption, whereby believers are made sons and daughters who remain forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Gal 4:4–7But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Luke 15:31‘Son, you are always with me,’ the father said, ‘and all that is mine is yours.
- Gen 21:10and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
- Rom 8:15–17For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
- Gal 4:30–31But what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”
- Ezek 46:17But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will belong to that servant until the year of freedom; then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs only to his sons; it shall be theirs.
- Heb 3:5–6Now Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be spoken later.
- 1 Pet 1:2–5according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
- John 14:19–20In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
- Matt 21:41–43“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
- Rom 8:29–30For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
- Col 3:3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
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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 8:35 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.