Note on authenticity of this passage (textual criticism)

Your Bible or app may have a note at the beginning of this passage indicating that the earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11. Here’s a bit of background on what this means.

The New Testament did not come to us as a complete book dropped from heaven. The various gospels and letters were circulated as Greek manuscripts among the churches, along with other writings, and eventually the writings that proved their lasting worth became what we now know as the New Testament. The New Testament is by far the best-attested body of ancient literature, with thousands of manuscripts or manuscript fragments having been discovered. By comparing and studying the manuscripts, their ages and origins, scholars attempt to establish the most reliable text. This field of study is known as textual criticism. There is a very high degree of agreement among New Testament manuscripts, but some differences among manuscripts have crept in. Most of these differences are very minor, often the result of nothing more than copying errors. However, occasionally the differences are more substantial, and scholars must make a decision as to what is the most authentic or best reading for a given passage.

The passage we are looking at today is one of the best known in the New Testament. It’s a well-loved story about Jesus and a woman caught in the act of adultery. However, scholars have determined that it probably didn’t come from the pen of the Apostle John. The most ancient manuscripts of John don’t have this passage, and it’s not written in the same style as the rest of John. The Greek is more like that of Luke, and in some manuscripts it actually appears as part of the Gospel of Luke.

So what do we make of this? Remember that the Bible is the church’s book. It doesn’t belong to any individual. What probably happened was something like this. Before the gospels were written down and had become accepted records of Jesus’ life and ministry, many stories about him circulated among Christians. This is what is known as oral tradition. Ancient peoples had excellent oral memory. Of course these stories were known to the Gospel writers. The ones that were included in the four gospels of the New Testament were those considered most reliable and most valuable for the purpose of imparting the faith to the particular group that each gospel writer was trying to reach. As they were deciding what to include in their account, each of the gospel writers used a somewhat different set of these stories. This story about Jesus and the woman caught in the act of adultery didn’t make it into any of the original gospels, but sometime after John’s death, some scribe or editor decided it was too good to leave out, and they added it to the text of the Gospel of John. So what we have here is a story about Jesus that bears all the marks of authenticity but probably wasn’t written by John. Does that make it less valuable or authoritative? Not from my perspective. Over time, the early church leaders decided in their wisdom that this account belonged in the New Testament. I’m glad they did.

John 7:53-8:6 The Scribes and Pharisees lay a snare for Jesus

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

This 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.

Discussion

• caught in the act of adultery – how do you catch someone in the act of adultery unless you have some prior knowledge of the relationship? This suggests an inside job. These men were probably not innocent.
• Moses commanded us to stone such women –  In Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 the command was to stone both the man and the woman. In fact, in both passages the wording suggests that the initiative in the adulterous relationship is assumed to lie with the man. Why did the Scribes and Pharisees only bring the woman for judgement?
• This they said to test him – Although they asked Jesus his opinion, their question was a setup. They didn’t really want to know what Jesus thought. Their willingness to shame and even potentially kill this woman – who must have been known to one or more or their number – shows that they had no concern for her, and no real interest in what Jesus had to say. They were simply trying to trap him, as John tells us in the next section of the narrative. The woman was completely expendable.
• Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  See Exodus 31:18.  In his online commentary on John’s gospel, William Hall Harris writes,

[T]he first set of tablets were inscribed by the finger of God. The first time Jesus stooped to write, it is specifically mentioned that he wrote with his finger. This may well constitute a symbolic allusion to the person of Messiah: he writes with the same authority as God, because he is God. 

We don’t know what Jesus was writing but perhaps it was something like what is recorded in Matthew 5:27-28

John 8:7-9 – Jesus’ response to the Scribes and Pharisees

And 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.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But 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.

Discussion

• Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.  Jesus offered them not only a rebuke but also an opportunity to examine themselves and repent.
• They went away one by one, beginning with the older ones. What do you suppose may have been in their thoughts as they left?

John 8:10-11 Jesus’ dialogue with the woman

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Discussion

• Has no one condemned you? Do you think Jesus was surprised by this? Do you think the woman was surprised?
• Neither do I condemn you. Why did Jesus show mercy on this woman? Was he lowering the standard of righteousness by doing this?
• Go, and from now on sin no more. Is this attainable? See 1 John 3:4-10.

Personal reflection

• Do you apply the same standard to yourself as you do to others?
• Are you quick to show mercy?