[[They went each to his own house, 1but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]] John 7:53-8:11
“These verses are not present in some Greek manuscripts, and in others they appear at different locations, such as after 7:36 or elsewhere in John, or even in Luke. This diversity makes it uncertain that this incident with the adulterous woman and her accusers appeared at this or any point in John’s original document, but its presentation of Jesus is consistent with the rest of the Gospels and it may preserve an authentic tradition of an event in Jesus’s life.”[1] John Calvin wrote concerning these verses as follows: “But as it has always been received by the Latin Churches, and is found in many old Greek manuscripts, and contains nothing unworthy of an Apostolic Spirit, there is no reason why we should refuse to apply it to our advantage.”[2]
Scholars cannot now either prove or disprove the inclusion of vv. 7:53-8:11 in John’s gospel. It seems that Papias, a disciple of John, knew of such an incident in Jesus’ ministry and Augustine seems to believe that this passage may have been removed from certain codices.[3]
It is the belief of the author of this article that even though scholars have not been able to prove or disprove whether this passage was actually a part of the original manuscript of the Gospel of John, Christians should nevertheless study it as a real event in the ministry of Jesus. This passage of Scripture is consistent with the teaching and work of Christ, and it does not contradict or in any way conflict with the teachings of the New Testament.
BIBLICAL STONING
Stoning was the most common form of capital punishment found in the Bible. We find a description of the procedure for stoning in Deuteronomy 17:6, 7. A minimum of two competent witnesses to the offense were necessary and the witnesses were required to cast the first stones followed by the rest of the people present. These witnesses also had to be present at the time of the offense and must have personally seen the offense but not participated in it.
We are aware of several offenses found in Scripture that brought upon the offender the sentence of death. Those capital offenses were 1) divination and necromancy[4] (Lev. 20:27); 2) blasphemy (Lev. 24:11-16); 3) breaking the sabbath (Nu. 15:32-36); 4) enticing others to worship other gods (Dt. 13:6-10); 5) worshipping other gods (Dt. 17:2-7); 6) sacrificing children to Molech (Lev. 20:1-5); 7) disobedient son (Dt. 21:18-21); 8) adultery (Dt. 22:20-24); and 9) violation of the Herem[5] (Josh. 7:25). Stoning was specifically prescribed for some of these capital crimes but not for others. Nevertheless, stoning was commonly used in capital punishment.
In biblical times, stoning was a punishment prescribed for certain crimes. But this punishment could only be administered after specific prerequisites were satisfied as described above. Nevertheless, there are cases in the Bible where crowds or mobs sought to effectuate the stoning of individuals, even Jesus and Paul, without the proper legal requirements for stoning (John 10:31-39, 11:8; Acts 14:5). In fact, one winter of Jesus’ ministry, at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles while He was walking in the Temple at the colonnade of Solomon, Jesus was approached by some Jews who questioned Him about His being the Christ. After Jesus told them “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), thus admitting that He was one with God, the crowd of Jews picked up stones with the intent to stone Him for blasphemy. Jesus ultimately vacated the premises and prevented the stoning. The apostle Paul, however, was actually stoned in Lystra by crowds aroused by the Jews from Antioch and Iconium (C.f., Acts 14:5). Paul was left for dead but he survived by the grace of God.
CONTEXT
At about the middle of the Feast of Booths, Jesus began teaching in the Temple. The chief priests and Pharisees of the Sanhedrin heard of this and sent officers to arrest Him but they failed in their efforts. The crowd that had been listening to Jesus left the Temple and Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives. The next morning Jesus returned to the Temple and continued His teaching to the assembled group of people. It was at this point that the chief priests and Pharisees made another attempt to trick Jesus into violating Mosaic law.
THE INCIDENT CONCERNING AN ADULTEROUS WOMAN
The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus whom they claimed had been caught in the act of adultery. They then pointed out to Jesus that the Law of Moses required stoning of the woman and asked Jesus to give them His decision regarding the punishment of the adulterous woman. Again, the scribes and Pharisees were testing Jesus regarding the Law of Moses.
After a lengthy delay, Jesus responded by saying “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Upon hearing Jesus’ response, the scribes and Pharisees as well as the gathered crowd of Jews one-by-one left the woman and Jesus. Jesus, when alone with the woman, said to her “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” And the woman responded “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.
There is much misunderstanding regarding this episode in Jesus’ ministry. Some say Jesus is teaching that all are sinners and thus no one has the right to address the sins of another person. But if this were so, then Jesus would be forbidding all witnesses and judges who exercise their biblical duty to address sins in others, which He surely is not doing here (C.f., Gal. 6:1, 2; 1 Tim. 5:20; James 5:19, 20; Luke 17:3). Jesus is also not forbidding hypocritical, self-serving, and self-righteous judgments of others, though He has addressed this elsewhere in Scripture (Matt. 7:1).
Jesus is pointing out the error of the scribes and Pharisees who have not in this case complied with the very Law of Moses that they are testing Jesus with. Under the Law, the accusation of adultery requires at least two witnesses who actually saw the act and were not a participant in it. Therefore, Jesus is pointing out that the competent witnesses to such a crime must be “without sin” as to the crime to which they are witnessing. A further requirement regarding stoning in particular was that the witnesses must be the first to cast a stone at the convicted person.
Therefore, what Jesus is showing in this episode is that the scribes and Pharisees had not presented the competent witnesses as required by the Law of Moses. And since only these competent witnesses, which were not present, could begin the stoning, then this woman had not been properly charged and convicted and thus no stoning could be effected in this particular case.
Having successfully procedurally challenged the charges against her thus blocking those who had condemned her, Jesus tells her to go and sin no more. Jesus did not address her guilt or innocence of adultery. Jesus knew whether she was guilty or not but knew that what the scribes and Pharisees were doing was a violation of Mosaic Law and thus the woman was improperly charged. Nevertheless, Jesus did not ignore the sin in the woman’s life. He just graciously tells her not to sin (in any way) anymore.
[1] R.C. Sproul, gen. ed., The Reformation Study Bible, John, n. 7:53-8:11, (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2015 (ESV)), 1870.
[2] John Calvin, John Calvin’s Complete Commentaries: The Gospel of John, Trans. William Pringle, Kindle (1847-1850).
[3] William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Gospel According to John, vol. II. (Baker Academic 1953), 35.
[4] Summoning and communication with spirits of the dead for the purpose of divination.
[5] Herem in the Old Testament book of Joshua refers to the systematic destruction of all people who oppose God and their livestock and their villages are laid waste.
