The
scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle, they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?”
John 8:3-5
John 7 [53.] Everyone went to his own house.
John 8 [1.] but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle, they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?”
John 8 [6.] They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.
Meaning:
Early in the morning Jesus had come into the temple, and “all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them” (John 8:1-2). His teaching was interrupted by a group of scribes and Pharisees pushing a woman into the middle of the crowd. These verses describe the accusation and the question they put to Jesus. John adds in the next verse that “they said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of” (John 8:6).
This account (John 7:53–8:11) is missing from many of the earliest Greek manuscripts of John and appears in different places in others, so many Bibles mark it with brackets or a note. Some scholars regard it as a genuine story of Jesus preserved outside John’s original text; others defend its place in John. The PIB text includes it, and it is read here as it stands (see John 7:52-53 for a fuller note).
- “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery”
The scribes were experts in the Law, and the Pharisees were known for strict observance. They came not to seek justice quietly but to make a public case. One person is conspicuously missing. Adultery cannot be committed alone, and the Law said, “the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10). If she was caught “in the very act”, the man was caught too. His absence suggests that the accusers were not concerned to apply the Law fairly.
- “Having set her in the middle”
The woman was made to stand before the crowd that had gathered to hear Jesus. Whatever her guilt, she was being used as an object in a dispute, her shame displayed in the most public place in Jerusalem. The leaders showed no concern for her soul or for the wrong done to anyone else.
- “We found this woman in adultery, in the very act”
The Law took adultery seriously: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) was one of the Ten Commandments. A death sentence also required solid testimony: “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death” (Deuteronomy 17:6). The accusers claim to have such evidence. The phrase “in the very act” has led many readers to wonder whether the woman had been watched, or even trapped, in order to provide a test case.
- “Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?”
They appeal to Moses, then challenge Jesus to contradict him. The question was a trap. If Jesus said, “Let her go,” they could accuse him of setting aside the Law of Moses. If he said, “Stone her,” he would contradict his reputation as one who “welcomes sinners, and eats with them” (Luke 15:2), and could be reported to the Romans, who did not allow the Jewish council to carry out executions: “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18:31).
The same tactic was used later over taxes, when leaders sent men “that they might trap him with words” (Mark 12:13). In both cases Jesus’ answer would turn the trap back on those who set it (John 8:7).
The Significance of John 8:3-5
- People are not tools for argument
The leaders used a sinful woman as a pawn to win a debate. It is possible to be zealous for truth while treating people with contempt. Jesus never did that.
- Justice must be impartial
By bringing only the woman, the accusers showed that their concern was not even-handed justice. God’s law says, “You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness” (Leviticus 19:15).
- Scripture is not a weapon to trap others
The scribes quoted Moses correctly but used his words to catch Jesus rather than to obey God. Scripture is given to lead us to repentance and life, not to win arguments.
Cross-References:
Leviticus 20:10: "the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." The Law named both parties.
Deuteronomy 17:6: "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death." The requirement of witnesses.
Mark 12:13: "that they might trap him with words." Another attempt to trap Jesus.
Luke 15:2: "This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them." Jesus’ known compassion for sinners.
Conclusion: The scribes and Pharisees dragged a woman caught in adultery before Jesus and the crowd, quoted Moses, and demanded his verdict, hoping to trap him whichever way he answered. Their concern was not justice, since the man was missing, nor the woman’s good, but a charge against Jesus. The passage warns against using people and Scripture as weapons, and prepares us for Jesus’ answer, which exposed the accusers and offered the woman mercy.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible