Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin Better, Everyone who continues to commit sin is the bond-servant of sin. -Committeth sin" is too weak for the Greek: Christ does not say that a single act of sin enslaves. -To commit(poiein) sin" is the opposite of -to dothe Truth" (John 3:21). Again, -servant," though often a good translation where nothing degrading is implied, is not strong enough, where, as here, the degradation is the main point. Moreover, the connexion with John 8:33 must be kept up. The words for -bondage" and -servant" are cognate; therefore either -bondage" and -bond-servant," or -slavery" and -slave," must be our renderings.

Some have thought that we have here an echo of Romans 6:16, which of course S. John may have seen. But why may not both passages be original? The idea that vice is slavery is common in all literature: frequent in the classics. 2 Peter 2:19 is probably an echo either of this passage or of Romans 6:16. Comp. Matthew 6:24.

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