John 8:1-11
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 8
Jesus, Savior of Sinners
A Woman Caught in Adultery.[a] [7:53Then each of them returned home. 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At daybreak he entered the temple courts, and all the people gathered around him. He sat down and began to teach them.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in adultery. Forcing her to stand in their midst, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.[b] 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.[c] What do you have to say?”
6 They asked him this question as a test so that they could bring a charge against him. Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they continued to persist in their question, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”[d] 8 Then he again bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 When they heard his response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She replied, “No one, sir.” “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus said. “Go on your way, and sin no more.”]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 8:1 This story is missing in a number of ancient manuscripts and is inserted at other points in others; it does not seem to be from the author of the fourth Gospel, for it is written in quite a different style. However, it has been accepted by the Church as the work of an inspired author.
We are struck by the portrait of Jesus found herein: his silence, his sober gesture, his refusal to use religion as a pretext to spy on and judge others, and his courage to proclaim his own truth. It is pointless to ask what he wrote on the ground. Let us dwell on what he considered the Law to be: it condemns sin not so that people may judge one another but so that they may feel the need to be saved by God. And it is to this salvation that he bears witness. - John 8:4 Caught in the very act of adultery: Jewish law required witnesses to have seen the act.
- John 8:5 Stone such women: stoning was required only if the woman was a betrothed virgin (Deut 22:23-24). The Law also demanded the execution of both parties (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22).
- John 8:7 The Law stipulated that the first stones were to be cast by the witnesses (Deut 17:7).
