Passage

John 7.53-8.11

Book: John · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Verse

The pericope adulterae: Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, where Jesus invites let him who is without sin cast the first stone and tells the woman neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.

Immediate context

ASV (ASV)

"53. [And they went every man unto his own house: 8:1. but Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 8:2. 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. 8:3. And the scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman taken in adultery; and having set her in the midst, 8:4. they say unto him, Teacher, this woman hath been taken in adultery, in the very act. 8:5. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such: what then sayest thou of her? 8:6. And this they said, trying him, that they might have whereof to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. 8:7. But 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. 8:8. And again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. 8:9. And they, when they heard it, went out one by one, beginning from the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst. 8:10. And Jesus lifted up himself, and said unto her, Woman, where are they? did no man condemn thee? 8:11. And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth sin no more.]" (John 7:53-8:11, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"53. [Everyone went to his own house, 8:1. but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 8:2. Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down and taught them. 8:3. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle, 8:4. they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. 8:5. Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?” 8:6. They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. 8:7. But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” 8:8. Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. 8:9. They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. 8:10. Jesus, standing up, saw her and said, “Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?” 8:11. She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more.”]" (John 7:53-8:11, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"53. And every man went unto his own house. 8:1. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 8:2. 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. 8:3. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 8:4. They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 8:5. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 8:6. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 8:7. 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. 8:8. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 8:9. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own 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. 8:10. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 8:11. She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (John 7:53-8:11, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"53. [and each one went on to his house, but Jesus went on to the mount of the Olives. 8:1. And at dawn he came again to the temple, 8:2. and all the people were coming unto him, and having sat down, he was teaching them; 8:3. and the scribes and the Pharisees bring unto him a woman having been taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst, 8:4. they say to him, 'Teacher, this woman was taken in the very crime, committing adultery, 8:5. and in the law, Moses did command us that such be stoned; thou, therefore, what dost thou say?' 8:6. and this they said, trying him, that they might have to accuse him. And Jesus, having stooped down, with the finger he was writing on the ground, 8:7. and when they continued asking him, having bent himself back, he said unto them, 'The sinless of you, let him first cast the stone at her;' 8:8. and again having stooped down, he was writing on the ground, 8:9. and they having heard, and by the conscience being convicted, were going forth one by one, having begun from the elders, unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 8:10. And Jesus having bent himself back, and having seen no one but the woman, said to her, 'Woman, where are those, thine accusers? did no one pass sentence upon thee?' 8:11. and she said, 'No one, Sir;' and Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I pass sentence on thee; be going on, and no more sin.']" (John 7:53-8:11, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: John the Apostle (traditionally) / narrator + Jesus's direct teaching + the scribes and Pharisees
Audience: the Jerusalem temple crowd (immediate); the late-first-century mixed Christian readership (composition)
Location: the Jerusalem temple; Mount of Olives
Time period: events c. AD 30; the gospel proper composed c. AD 85-95. The pericope adulterae itself is a textually-disputed insertion likely traditional in origin (possibly preserved by Papias and originally circulating independently before being incorporated into John in the early Byzantine period).

Theological reading

This is one of the two most-cited textually disputed passages in the New Testament (alongside the longer ending of Mark at Mark 16:9-20). The pericope adulterae is absent from the earliest and best Greek manuscripts (P66, P75, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, the Bodmer papyri), is unknown to the earliest Greek patristic commentators on John (Origen, Chrysostom), and shows manuscript-tradition mobility (some manuscripts that include it place it after Luke 21:38 or at the end of John). The earliest Greek manuscript including it is the 5th-century Codex Bezae. Modern critical editions bracket or footnote the passage; modern scholarly translations include it but mark it as textually disputed.

The apologetic point (paralleling Mark 16:9-20): the disputed passages are openly marked by modern translations, have been known to the Christian tradition for centuries, and no load-bearing Christian doctrine depends on a textually disputed reading. The story itself, while textually disputed at the manuscript-level, is widely held by patristic and modern commentators to preserve genuine tradition about Jesus (Augustine, Jerome, and many modern commentators argue for its historical authenticity even while granting its manuscript-level textual instability, the so-called floating logion tradition). See Bible Manuscript Reliability.

Key words

No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches yet recorded for this passage.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.