John 8:4

4 And putting her forward, they said to him, Master, this woman has been taken in the very act of sinning against the married relation.

John 8:4 Meaning and Commentary

John 8:4

They say unto him, Master
They applied to him in a handsome and respectful manner, the better to cover their ill design:

this woman was taken in adultery;
by two persons at least, who could be witnesses of it; otherwise the accusation was not legal; see ( Deuteronomy 19:15 ) ; though in the case of a wife suspected of adultery, they admitted a single witness as valid ^F6:

in the very act;
or "in the theft itself", for adultery is a theft; it is an unlawful use of another's property; see this word used in the same sense, in Heliodor, l. 1. sect. 11.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Maimon. Hilchot Eduth, c. 5. sect. 2.

John 8:4 In-Context

2 And early in the morning he came again into the Temple and all the people came to him and he was seated teaching them.

3 Now the scribes and Pharisees came, with a woman who had been taken in the act of sinning against the married relation;

4 And putting her forward, they said to him, Master, this woman has been taken in the very act of sinning against the married relation.

5 Now in the law Moses gave directions that such women were to be stoned; what do you say about it?

6 They said this, testing him, so that they might have something against him. But Jesus, with his head bent down, made letters on the floor with his finger.