John 8:4

4 and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

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 Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them.

3 The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them

4 and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?”

6 They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.