Jesus & the adulterous woman, Text

Jesus and the woman taken in adultery

The story of the Adulterous Woman is quite different to the rest of the material in John’s gospel. It is more like the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) which tell fairly straightforward stories to illustrate Jesus‘ teaching.

John uses a different writing technique. He wants to show that in Jesus, God is united with humanity, and his gospel is full of speeches, ideas, and profound theology.

Because the story of the adulterous woman is so straightforward and visual, many biblical scholars believe it was a later insertion and did not form part of John’s original gospel.

They suggest that it was a particularly popular story about Jesus that for some reason had not been included in the first three gospels, but was placed in the fourth gospel some time after John had completed writing it, by popular demand.

The Adulterous Woman in John 8:2-11

2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?”

6 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.

7 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.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

9 But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

10 Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”