The Woman Caught in Adultery: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, John 7:53-8:11, by Dr. Terry Harman

"Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Terry Harman © 2007

The Rehearsal

The other night in rehearsals for the play, Jesus of Nazareth, the Assistant Director said, “We need an accuser to fill in for the actor tonight.” Arrayed in the wardrobe of the High Priest Caiaphas, I stepped up close to the actor portraying Jesus, with a bony finger in his face and said, “This woman was caught in the act of adultery. What do you say we do - Jesus?” In the background one of the chief priests boldly broadcasts, “The Law says to stone her.”

Enter a crowd of eight men yielding rocks above their heads ready to pummel to woman to death. To which the actor portraying Jesus turns to those with hoisted rocks and says, “You without sin cast the first stone.” Slowly, one by one, the eight accusers turn, drop their rocks, and disappear into the crowd. Jesus is the only one left standing with the woman. (1)

The Woman

We do not know the name of the woman in this story. We are told nothing about her family.

Scripture is silent about her pain. John does not record her thoughts. We never hear her side of the story. There is no mention of how she came to this lifestyle or even if it is a lifestyle. Was her promiscuity due to parental rejection, inadequate parenting, or faulty discipline? Was it her way of rebelling against the restriction of the moral code of her day? Was she merely gratifying her sexual desires without shame? Was she just a casual pick-up? Had her husband turned her out?  Was she scorned and given a writ of divorce, left alone to fend for herself? Was she a nameless victim who had been beaten down by a male-dominated society, a society that saw her as an object, a piece of flesh to satisfy the sexual cravings of others? Has this woman with no name experienced some type of trauma, which drove her to this point? Were her wanderings due to marital dissatisfaction?

We do not have the answer to any of these questions.  All of us have a story. Like many of us, she has a history and is between a rock and a hard place.  That is - - - until she meets Jesus.

The Context (vv. 1-2)

The seventh chapter of John closes with verse fifty-three, “And every man went unto his own house.” Then the story of the adulterous woman follows. Luke informs us that Jesus customarily went to the temple courts to teach during the day and then returned to the Mount of Olives to sleep. The next morning, he would return to the Temple courts to resume his teaching (Luke 21:37-38). The incident of the adulterous woman begins on one such morning.

"Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them."

After a day of teaching at the Temple, Jesus retires for the night and then early in the morning  (dawn) he returns to the same place in the Temple to resume teaching where he left off the day before. Jesus appeared publically (paraginomai) (2) in the Temple court teach the people. Since it was "early in the morning," we can assume this was before the first of the daily Tamid offerings at 9:00 AM.

The early morning crowd gathered around him as students or disciples before a Rabbi or teacher. Jesus was the focal point not the rituals of the day. This was a large crowd that continually grew in numbers as Jesus continued his teachings. (3) Jesus sits down to instruct his audience. Sitting was the normal posture for a teacher in those times. Standing would have been unusual except to approach the bimah to read from one of the scrolls. The modern-day pulpit or lectern is an implement of the early Roman church.

The Accusers (v. 3)

Jesus arrived to continue his teaching from the day before.  He is somewhere in the Temple courts.  He has been sitting and teaching for a short period. People are talking all over the area about the one “over there” who teaches like no one they have heard.  Enthusiasm builds.  People continually gather around Jesus.  Jesus is the center of attention.  All eyes are upon him.  All ears are listening to his words. 

"And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst." 

THEN, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees bring in the woman.  The “scribes" are understood as the experts in the Law. It is their life occupation to know the rules of Jewish law inside and out. Their expertise is in the logic surrounding how one must adhere to the Law of Moses. Scribes are proficient in reading and writing. They are learned men, scholars, and specialists in Torah! The scribes are the strict fundamentalists of their day. Not all scribes were Pharisees.

The Pharisees were assigned to religious leadership within the Temple. Being "observant," the Pharisees are wholeheartedly concerned with the way God should be served. Like the scribes, they know the Law but focus more on how one lives out the traditions, approaches a holy God, and remains a holy people chosen by God.

John is descriptive in his portrayal of how the indicters bring this woman to the feet of Jesus for judgment. Verse three reveals she was manhandled when the religious leaders (scribes and Pharisees) "brought" (agousin from the root ago -"to lead" or "to drive" ) her in forcefully to Jesus.

"Angry men attempting to stone the woman taken in adultery" (4)

Picture them dragging her along through the streets forcefully pushing and dragging her at times. Now a different crowd is gathering. The mob psychology intensifies as the number of the crowd falls alongside them to see what all the excitement is about. As the mob bursts in on Jesus’ teaching the men fling her before Jesus.

They continued to "set her"(histemi, to stand in aorist active participle) or make her stand trial before Jesus. All eyes and ears of the kangaroo court wait in anticipation from Judge Jesus. The religious leaders knew he was prone to offer forgiveness and healing.

Did they wait until the crowd was built up before they brought her in?  Were they on the sidelines plotting and talking about this religious “troublemaker”?  Had this woman been caught in the very act of committing adultery? Just who is confronting Jesus and accusing the adulterous woman? In this case, those condemning the woman are neither her family nor close friends which is so often the case. The religious elite have brought the accusations against this woman.

The Accusation (vv. 4-5)

 "They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act." Jesus is referred to as "Master" (didaskalos) in the King James which is often translated as “teacher,” “instructor," or “doctor.”

 The accusers are not approaching him and addressing him as "Master" out of respect but as a verbal tactic of calling attention to the crowd, this man Jesus claims to be an authentic authority about the Law of Moses.

The Law

As teachers of the Law, they did not require the opinion of Jesus to fulfill the Law of Moses in cases of adultery (5). They knew well that the Law required both the man and the woman to be put to death in cases of adultery (Leviticus 20:10). John does not specify whether this "woman"(gune - can mean wife or woman) is unmarried or married. (6) Leviticus does not specify the mode of execution.

Regardless of her marital status, the spiritual guides of the people have made up their minds. She was caught red-handed in the "very act." This statement implies she was either setting the scene to commit a sexual offense by seducing the man or caught in the act of sexual intercourse. This day, the details of the Law are of no concern to the scribes and Pharisees. The accusers have predetermined the mode of execution to be stoning (v.5).

Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

The Man

Either way, Where is the man? If she was just seducing him he could be a witness to her licentious ways. If intercourse was observed, then the religious leaders should have brought him to stand trial along with "this woman." Where is he? Was this just a setup for Jesus? Did the man slip away down some alley? Maybe the religious leaders knew him and decided to let him off the hook. We do not know these details because these facts are not important.

The Trap (v.6)

John makes sure we know the true motive behind this street scene (v.6). The religious leaders are there for Jesus, not the woman and they have brought their jury with them - the crowd listening to Jesus and the mob that brought the adulterous woman to the street court.

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.

The entire street scene was an attempt to "temp" (peirazo - to trap) or snare Jesus into a no-win situation. The religious leaders brought the woman with the intent of putting Jesus between a rock and a hard place. If Jesus insisted on stoning, he may have been criticized as being too severe or cruel by requiring punishment Leviticus did not specify. If he does not insist on the death penalty for a case of adultery, he could be accused of encouraging the breaking of the law of the Torah. To recommend death would have also brought him into conflict with Roman law, which forbade capital punishment by Jews.

"The Accusation of the Adulterous Woman" (7)

The Judgment (vv. 6-8)

Jesus peers into the hearts of the men before him. He knows a snare when he sees it. He knows the true intentions of the accusers and does not fall for the trap. His response must have shocked everyone. He says nothing! But his gesture sent shockwaves through the crowd. Note: see footnote for italicized wording in the next verse. (8)

But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

The Writing on the Ground

Jesus' lack of response infuriates the crowd to the point he is asked over and over to offer a ruling or a judgment on this adulterous woman. He remains silent. Once again John clarifies the scene. The religious rulers are not simply asking for Jesus' opinion on the matter of the woman, they are not simply questioning Jesus, but interrogating him (eratao – “to interrogate”) before the crowd of witnesses. Now Jesus is on trial! The prosecution will not rest and is now posed to accuse Jesus of sin.

What Jesus doodled, scribbled, or wrote on the ground has been the subject and debate of many commentaries and sermons. We simply do not know. The Greek word translated "wrote" in verse eight is interesting. Grapho can simply mean to write. The reason for so much speculation is grapho is often used when biblical writers refer to the scriptures of the Hebrew Bible (Torah, Tannach). It appears similar to our English word "graph."

"Jesus Writes on the Ground with His Finger" (9)

Whether Jesus was doodling as a delay tactic while he dismissed their charges or scribbling their names on the ground or writing scripture on the ground, hearts were convicted in that moment as Jesus rose and invited the sinless to cast the first stone. We do not know whether Jesus is referring to a specific "sin"(anamartetos) because this word is only used one time in the New Testament. In the context of this story, Thayer's Greek Lexicon suggests that Jesus is offering anyone present who is "sinless, both one who has not sinned, and one who cannot sin"(10) cast the first stone!

The Guilty Conscience (vv.9-10)

The scribes and Pharisees brought the adulterous woman to Jesus to render judgment, not on the woman but for judgment on Jesus. When he silently refused to respond to their tactics, he became the accused. The roles will be switched a third time as Jesus invites the blameless to carry out judgment.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 

Those who heard the words "without sin" were convicted by their own guilty "conscience" (suneidésis). They knew in their own heart they were spiritually in no place to be judging another person of sin. The text does not make it clear who had a guilty conscience and walked away. Was it the men who brought the woman to Jesus who walked or some of the people who had gathered to hear Jesus teach?

We do not know who left but we know how they left, slowly "one by one“ conviction moved through the crowd and individuals began to go away one at a time.” "The older ones first.”

At one point the accusations faded away and the crowd disappeared “until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there.”  

Jesus Kneels with the Adulterous Woman (11)

The Verdit (v.11)

Can you imagine how this lady felt? Everyone who gathered to judge and condemn her disappeared in the courts of the Temple. She feels the hand of someone who has reached out to her. As she lifts her gaze she sees Jesus is the only one left. Jesus encourages her to look around as he asks her where are her accusers.

When Jesus had lifted himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

The only one left was someone without sin but he had no stone to cast. He also had no desire to criticize, condem,n or judge (katakrino) her. Jesus never calls her out for adultery or any other sin but he does offer wisdom, "go, and sin no more." What is her sin (hamartano - present tense of continuous action "to miss the mark")? Like an archer haphazardly aiming for the bullseye she continually "misses the mark" and falls short of the life God wants her to practice.

Conclusion

You be the judge. Examine your spiritual life. Sin no more.

References

(1)   This story should be stricken from the Gospel of John! You may find this statement to be absurd. After all, this is a famous story that has been retold countless times. Yet, in some modern translations of the New Testament, the story of the woman caught in adultery is omitted and the reader is left with a footnote as to the reason. I think this story is in keeping with the teachings of Jesus. However, In more contemporary translations of the New Testament, specifically in versions like the New International Version (NIV), Revised Version of 1881 (RV), American Standard Version of 1901, Revised Standard Version of 1947 (RSV), and Today’s English Version (the Good News Bible) of 1966, you may notice the absence or relegation to footnotes of John 7:53-8:11.

However, these verses are present in older English translations, notably the King James Version (KJV). The decision to exclude or annotate these verses in modern translations is rooted in doubts about their originality. For readers unfamiliar with biblical textual criticism, the exclusion is a result of scholarly examination and evidence pointing towards the likelihood that these passages were added at a later time and not part of the original text. KJV-only adherents criticize these translations for omitting John 7:53-8:11.

(2) “appeared” – paraginomai. “to appear publicly” / “to arrive” e.g. Matthew 2:1  “Magi

came to Jerusalem…”

(3) “gathered” erchomai (version = “were coming”). The imperfect indicates continuous action. This

depicts the people continuing to come over quite a time to gather "around him.”

(4) It is important for me to give honor to those with creative gifts. This picture of the woman caught in

adultery being driven to Jesus is not my creation. I do not own the rights but use it with

permission for non-commercial use. It is posted on many Christian sites but the original is found at

Woman Taken in Adultery (churchofjesuschrist.org).

(5) “adultery” here is the Greek word moicheiaa meaning “to commit adultery.” Possibly,

this is a specific, technical term for a certain type of sexual sin. We do not know for

certain.

(6) Leviticus 20:10 – Death for both parties, but doesn’t prescribe the mode of death. Deuteronomy

22:12-22 – Prescribes stoning for a bride found at marriage to have had immoral relations with a man

at some earlier time.  But it does not specify stoning in the case of a married woman caught

committing adultery.

(7) I do not own the rights but use it with permission for non-commercial use. It is posted on many

Christian sites but the original is found at  Woman Taken in Adultery churchofjesuschrist.org.

(8) The KJV translators' inclusion of italicized words reflects their commitment to transparency and

integrity to the Greek manuscripts being used to produce a translation in the language of the

people. These additions, known as interpolations, were introduced in the English text to enhance

grammatical clarity and understanding. While most serve the purpose of improving linguistic

coherence, it is important to carefully scrutinize italicized words in our Bibles, regardless of the

version, as a few places may alter the original meanings of the passages. You be the judge.

(9) I do not own the rights but use with permission for non-commercial use. It is posted on many

     Christian sites but the original is found at  Woman Taken in Adultery churchofjesuschrist.org

(10) ἀναμάρτητος, (from ἄν, the alpha privative, and the form ἁμαρτέω), sinless, both one who has not

sinned, and one who cannot sin. In the former sense in John 8:7; Deuteronomy 29:19; 2 Macc. 8:4

2 Macc. 12:42; (Test. xii. Patr. test. Benj. § 3). On the use of this word from Herodotus down, cf.

Ullmann, Sündlosigkeit Jesu, p. 91f ((abridged in) English translation, p. 99; Cremer, under the word).

THAYER'S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft,

Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

(11) I do not own the rights but use it with permission for non-commercial use. It is posted on many

     Christian sites but the original is found at  Woman Taken in Adultery churchofjesuschrist.org.