John 8:4

4 and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed 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 but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.

3 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone

4 and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery.

5 Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?"

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.