John 8:4

4 they told him, "Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act.

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 At early dawn, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them.

3 The Sofrim and the Perushim brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the midst,

4 they told him, "Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now in our law, Moshe commanded us to stone such. What then do you say about her?"

6 They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Yeshua stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger.