John 8:1-11

A Woman Caught in Adultery

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Now early in the morning he came again to the temple [courts]. And all the people were coming, and he sat down [and] began to teach them.

3 Now the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And standing her in [their] midst,

4 they said to him, testing [him], "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery!

5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?"

6 (Now they were saying this to test him, so that they would have [an occasion] to bring charges against him.) But Jesus, bending down, began to write with [his] finger on the ground, taking no notice.

7 And when they persisted in asking him, straightening up he said to them, "The [one] of you without sin, let him throw the first stone at her!"

8 And bending down again, he wrote on the ground.

9 Now [when they] heard [it], being convicted by their conscience, they began to depart, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone--and the woman who was in [their] midst.

10 So Jesus, straightening up and seeing no one except the woman, said to her, "Where are those accusers of yours? Does no one condemn you?"

11 And she said, "No one, Lord." So Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more."]]

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[courts]" is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
• [b]. Some manuscripts have "were coming to him"
• [c]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("sat down") has been translated as a finite verb
• [d]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to teach")
• [e]. Some manuscripts have "brought a woman"
• [f]. Some manuscripts omit "testing [him]"
• [g]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [h]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to write")
• [i]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
• [j]. Some manuscripts omit "taking no notice"
• [k]. Some manuscripts have "he straightened up and said"
• [l]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("heard") which is understood as temporal
• [m]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [n]. Some manuscripts omit "being convicted by their conscience"
• [o]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to depart")
• [p]. Some manuscripts have "he"
• [q]. Some manuscripts omit "and seeing no one except the woman"
• [r]. Some manuscripts have "said to her, 'Woman, where are they?"
• [s]. Some manuscripts have "and from now on"
• [t]. John 7:53-8:11 is not found in the earliest and best manuscripts and was almost certainly not an original part of the Gospel of John; one significant group of Greek manuscripts places it after Luke 21:38