A Study of John 7:53-8:11

“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. 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. 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.””

John 7:53–8:11 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

Jesus spent the night at the  Mount of Olives, and then went back to the Jerusalem temple the next morning where He taught the people who came to hear Him. While Jesus taught, the Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught committing adultery and placed her before Jesus in the middle of the crowd of people. Then they referred to the law of Moses which stated those caught in the act of adultery were to be stoned to death, and asked Jesus what should be done with her. Notably, even though she had been caught in the act, they did not bring the man who had been caught with her. They did all of this to test Jesus to see how He would respond, hoping to embarrass Him or find some reason to charge Him with illegal conduct of some kind.

Next, Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger as they continued to ask Him what He thought should be done. Jesus then stood up and said whoever among them that was without sin should throw the first stone, and then He went back to writing on the ground. After hearing this, everyone left, and Jesus was alone with the woman. At this point He stood up and asked her where her accusers had gone and if anyone had condemned her. The woman replied, “No one, Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

There is good reason to believe John 7:53-8:11 was a real event, but also that it was not an original part of John’s gospel account. The earliest manuscripts of John do not include this event, and early writings from the church fathers do not mention this in their commentaries on John. Later manuscripts that include this account mark it with an asterisk and others place it either in different parts of John or in Luke. With this said, there is good reason to believe this story is an authentic account of Jesus’ life because early sources such as Papias and Eusebius report this event with minor variations in some of the precise details (Source: D.A. Carson’s commentary titled, “The Gospel According To John”). Because there is good reason to believe this account of Jesus’ life is authentic, it is well worth our time to examine, as there is much to be learned about the beautiful, gracious character of Jesus.

After the events of John chapter 7 where the opponents of Jesus were frustrated in their attempts to find a reason to arrest Him as He taught in the Jerusalem temple, the crowd dispersed, people went to their homes, and Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives located on the eastern border of Jerusalem.

Next, early in the morning, Jesus returned to the temple to teach, the people came back to hear Him, and He sat down and taught them. The outer courtyard of the temple was a common place for Jewish rabbis and teachers to teach groups of students. This speaks to the boldness of Jesus, and His obedience to the will of the Father. He and all the people of Jerusalem knew the religious leaders were looking for a reason to arrest and kill Him (John 7:1, 13, 25), but still, Jesus returned to teach in the temple because He was obedient to the will of God the Father. And He was able to do so because He could not be arrested until the appointed time.

As Jesus taught, the scribes and Pharisees enacted another scheme to try to trap Him. In verses 3-4 we read that they brought a woman, who they said was caught in the act of adultery, to Jesus and presented her to Him in the middle of the watching crowd. The scribes, most of whom were Pharisees, were students and teachers of the law of Moses who acted as lawyers, jurists and theologians. The law of Moses, or at least their version of it, was central to the life of 1st century Palestinian Jews, and the scribes held a lot of sway over the people. For this reason in the synoptic gospels the scribes and Pharisees are often referred together. It is clear by their public confrontation of Jesus, as they hauled this poor woman before Him in public, that they did so to confound and entrap Him. They did not need His help to adjudicate a legal matter.

In verse 5 the scribes and Pharisees said, “Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”. And in the first part of verse 6 John also tells us they did this to test Jesus. Now, the law of Moses did say the punishment for adultery was death, but this was a sentence rarely carried out because it required strong evidence, meaning, the testimony of multiple witnesses to the act itself. And as the act of adultery is one perpetrated in private, such evidence was rarely available. Notably, if they had such evidence, the fact that they did not bring the man who was involved in the adultery is further evidence of their insincerity in regard to care for upholding the law, and also to the fact that they likely orchestrated this entire event to first entrap the woman and then trap Jesus with what they thought was an unsolvable legal and societal conundrum.

There are a few reasons why this was a tricky situation for Jesus. If Jesus simply said to let her go, they could charge Him with inciting people to disregard the Law of Moses. But if Jesus said to stone her, He would have upset the people who had come to know Him as one who had compassion for the lost and outcast. Such a pronouncement would have run contrary to His message of reconciliation through repentance and faith. Also, because the authority for capital punishment was held only by the Romans at this time, this would have landed Jesus in trouble with the Roman authorities in Judea. For these reasons the scribes and Pharisees thought they had Jesus in a tight legal bind.

Initially, Jesus refused to respond to their inquiry, but instead, bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. There has been much speculation over what Jesus may have written on the ground, but the fact is we do not know what He wrote. But we do know that instead of responding with outrage and words of condemnation toward the accusers or the woman, Jesus stooped down low to the ground.

As we picture this poor woman, likely crumpled up in shame on the ground, I think one thing we can notice here in literary terms is the theme of Jesus, Yahweh incarnate, graciously descending from higher up to identify with a sinner down low in the dirt. In John 3 Jesus explained to the Pharisee Nicodemus that He had come from heaven not to condemn mankind, but to save mankind from the condemnation we all are already under for our sin. Importantly, Jesus will come again to judge sin and evil, but in His first coming He brought salvation. So, here, in what was an orchestrated event to shame Jesus, He decided to stoop down lower than even the scribes and Pharisees thought He could, and quietly write some unknown words in the dirt as He crouched next to a poor sinner facing shame, humiliation and threat of execution, just as He came down from heaven to live with us in the dirt, die the death we deserve, and rise again, paving the way to restored relationship with Him, citizenship in His kingdom, and eternal life through faith in Him.

Next, in verses 7-8, as they continued to question Jesus, He stood back up and said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”, and then He bent down again and continued writing on the ground. After bending down low and identifying with the woman, Jesus stood back up, but instead of passing judgement on the woman, He stood face to face with the accusers and leveled this statement at them. With this statement, Jesus did not deny or excuse the sin of the woman. He spoke of a more complete justice as He indirectly spoke of the sin of her accusers. These men had the greater sin because they had devised this plot to trap the woman in sin, let her male counterpart in the adultery go free, and trap Jesus. So, Jesus refused to play their rigged game and instead spoke to their greater guilt before stooping back down again to continue writing on the ground. In so doing, Jesus removed the tension in the situation by forcing all who were present to take a good look at themselves and reflect on their own sin instead of the sin of another.

In verse 9 we read that, stunned by the words of Jesus, and shamed by what they had intended to shame Jesus with, the accusers left one by one, and so too did the watching crowd, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. While our English translation says she was standing, the original Greek wording doesn’t necessarily mean she was standing on her feet. The phrase is used elsewhere of people who were clearly sitting, so with this in mind and with the context of this passage, it can be understood in a figurative sense to describe the physical location of the woman rather than her physical posture.

Lastly for this passage, in verses 10-11, Jesus addressed the woman and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”. The woman then responded, “No one, Lord.” to which Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” In the same way Jesus addressed His mother in John 2:4 and the woman of Samaria in John 4:21, Jesus addressed this woman as “Woman” using the Greek word “gynai,” which was a respectful form of address. We could compare it to the English words “Ma’am,” or “Madam.” The woman then responded to Him using the word “kyrie”, which is translated as “Lord.” “Kyrie” can mean either “sir”, or “Lord” as in “Lord God.” Here it is most probably used in the sense of “sir.”

In regard to the charges brought against her, Jesus affirmed her guilt in verse 11 when He told her to go and sin no more, but also did not condemn her. All of this is in keeping with what He told Nicodemus in John 3:17 when He said He did not come to condemn the world, but rather, to save the world from the condemnation the world is already under for sin. This response from Jesus to this woman and her sin points to a fact repeatedly explicated in the synoptic gospels which is, Jesus is God, and therefore has the right to forgive sin (Matthew 9:1-8). Also, Jesus’ directive to this woman tells us what the proper response to merciful forgiveness should be: gratitude and a pursuit of purity.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage reveals some important and wonderful things about the identity and character of Jesus. Jesus is the friend of sinners. He came to earth to come alongside humanity in our sorrowful state to cleanse, redeem and lift us up. While He does not excuse sin, He loves sinners and He desires to forgive and offer us all a path to a new way of life, free from the power, penalty and eventually even the presence of sin. When we confess our sin, and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He forgives us and raises us from death to life in Him, thus enabling us to begin living for Him as we slowly begin to shed our old sinful ways, little by little, with each passing day as He transforms our hearts and minds.

When we come to Jesus in faith, repenting of our old sinful ways and receiving His merciful forgiveness, we should endeavor to “go and sin no more.” Now, we who have trusted Jesus do still stumble and sin, but as John also tells us in 1 John 1:8-9, even though we still sin, if we confess our sin, Jesus will always forgive us. This does not mean we abuse the grace of Jesus. This means that because of our gratitude to Him, and believing love and loyalty, we want to live righteous lives for Him. So, even though we will not be able to live perfectly sinless lives until we pass on from this world, we can live for Him, and rest in His gracious, merciful forgiveness when we stumble and sin. Jesus is our Lord God who became fully human to pay our penalty for sin, and He delights to forgive us, pick us up from the ground and enable us to, “go and sin no more.”

Self Reflection:

1. What does this passage tell me about the wisdom and compassion of Jesus based on how He responded to this woman’s accusers?

2. What does this passage tell me about how Jesus looks at me when I sin?

3. How does this passage motivate me to respond to Jesus when I sin?

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage (Source: Logos Exegetical Guide and Blue Letter Bible Interlinear):

-Jesus: “Ἰησοῦς”, “Iēsous”; noun, nominative, singular, masculine | proper name – Jesus = “Jehovah is salvation”; the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, God incarnate.

-Mount: “ὄρος”, “oros”; noun, accusative, singular, neuter | prepositional object – a mountain, rise, hill.

-[of] Olives: “Ἐλαιῶν”, “Elaiōn”; noun, genitive, plural, feminine | descriptive genitive – olive tree, olive.

-Temple: “ἱερόν”, “hieron”; noun, accusative, singular, neuter | prepositional object – temple, sacred place; used of the temple at Jerusalem.

-Scribes: “γραμματεῖς”, “grammateis”; noun, nominative, plural, masculine | subject – a clerk, scribe, a public servant, secretary, recorder, whose office and influence differed in different states; in the Bible, a man learned in the Mosaic law and in the sacred writings, an interpreter, teacher. Scribes examined the more difficult and subtle questions of the law; added to the Mosaic law decisions of various kinds thought to elucidate its meaning and scope, and did this to the detriment of religion. Since the advice of men skilled in the law was needed in the examination in the causes and the solution of the difficult questions, they were enrolled in the Sanhedrin; and are mentioned in connection with the priests and elders of the people. See a Bible Dictionary for more information on the scribes.

-Pharisees: “Φαρισαῖοι”, “Pharisaioi”; noun, nominative, plural, masculine | proper name – A sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile. In addition to OT books the Pharisees recognised in oral tradition a standard of belief and life. They sought for distinction and praise by outward observance of external rites and by outward forms of piety, and such as ceremonial washings, fastings, prayers, and alms giving; and, comparatively negligent of genuine piety, they prided themselves on their fancied good works. They held strenuously to a belief in the existence of good and evil angels, and to the expectation of a Messiah; and they cherished the hope that the dead, after a preliminary experience either of reward or of penalty in Hades, would be recalled to life by him, and be requited each according to his individual deeds. In opposition to the usurped dominion of the Herods and the rule of the Romans, they stoutly upheld the theocracy and their country’s cause, and possessed great influence with the common people. According to Josephus they numbered more than 6000. They were bitter enemies of Jesus and his cause; and were in turn severely rebuked by him for their avarice, ambition, hollow reliance on outward works, and affection of piety in order to gain popularity.

-Adultery: “μοιχείᾳ”, “moicheia”; noun, dative, singular, feminine | prepositional object – adultery.

-Law: “νόμῳ”, “nomō”; noun, dative, singular, masculine | prepositional object – the Mosaic law, and referring, according to the context, either to the volume of the law or to its contents.

-Moses: “Μωσῆς”, “Mōsēs”; noun, nominative, singular, masculine | proper name – Moses = “drawing out”; the legislator of the Jewish people and in a certain sense the founder of the Jewish religion. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, commonly referred to as the Books of Moses.

-To Stone: “λιθοβολεῖσθαι”, “lithoboleisthai”; verb, present, passive, infinitive | substantival infinitive – to overwhelm or pelt with stones; a Jewish mode of punishment; to pelt one with stones, in order either to wound or kill them.

-To Test: “πειράζοντες”, “peirazontes”; verb, present, active, participle, plural, nominative, masculine | adverbial participle – put to the test; in a bad sense: to test one maliciously.

-Wrote: “ἔγραφεν”, “egraphen”; verb, imperfect, active, indicative, third person, singular | finite verb – write, to express in written characters.

-Ground: “γῆν”, “gēn”; noun, accusative, singular, feminine | prepositional object – earth, land, the ground.

-Standing Before Him (v.11): “ἐν μέσῳ οὖσα”, “en mesō ousa”;

-en: preposition | preposition of location – position, in at.

-mesō: adjective, dative, singular, neuter | prepositional object – middle, among, before.

-ousa: verb, present, active, participle, singular, nominative, feminine | participle – am, have been, was.

-Has [no one] Condemned: “κατέκρινεν”, “katekrinen”; verb, aorist, active, indicative, third person, singular | finite verb – pronounce sentence on, to condemn.
-Sin: “ἁμάρτανε”, “hamartane”; verb, present, active, imperative, second person, singular | finite verb – sin, err, to miss the mark, to violate God’s law.