And they which heard it
Not all, not the disciples of Christ, nor the multitude, but the Scribes and Pharisees:
being convicted by their own conscience;
that they were not without sin, nor free from this; they had a beam in their own eye, who were so forward to observe the mote in another's; and oftentimes so it is, that those who are most forward to reprove, and bear hardest on others for their sins, are as culpable in another way, if not in the same; when sin lies at the door, and conscience is awakened and open, it is as good as a thousand witnesses; and lets in, and owns the sin which lies heavy, and makes sad work; and fills with anguish, confusion, and shame, as it did these men: who
went out one by one;
from the temple, in as private a manner, and as unobserved as they could:
beginning at the eldest:
who might have been most culpable, or however soonest took the hint; being more wise and sagacious:
unto the last;
this is wanting in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions, and in two of Beza's copies, and the Basil edition:
and Jesus was left alone;
not by his disciples, nor the multitude, but his antagonists, who came to tempt and ensnare him: for it follows,
and the woman standing in the midst;
that is, of the company as before.