John 7:53–8:11
The woman taken in adultery stands in its place in John in the great majority of Greek manuscripts and in Codex Bezae of the fifth century, in the Old Latin, and in Jerome’s Vulgate. Jerome writes that it was found in many Greek and Latin copies; Pacian and Augustine quote it in the fourth century, and Augustine tells why some removed it: they feared it would give their wives leave to sin.
The King James Bible
53
And every man went unto his own house.
8:1
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
8:2
And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
8:3
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
8:4
They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
8:5
Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
8:6
This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
8:7
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8:8
And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
8:9
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
8:10
When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
8:11
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Read John 7
Greek Manuscripts
-
Scholz counted 290 cursives with the passage and no mark of doubt, and others since him 41 more; with the uncials F G H K U Γ.Checked against: Scrivener 1894
-
Codex Bezae D 05Checked against: CNTR transcription
Early Translations
-
Old Latin itThe Old Latin manuscripts c, e, ff², g, and j.Checked against: Scrivener 1894
-
Even its oldest manuscripts, Codex Amiatinus and Codex Fuldensis.Checked against: Scrivener 1894
-
Old Church Slavonic slavChecked against: Scrivener 1894
Church Fathers
-
Alludes to it
“Will you not read in the Gospel that the Lord spared even the adulteress who confessed, whom no man had condemned?”
“Nolite in Evangelio legere quod pepercerit Dominus etiam adulterae confitenti, quam nemo damnarat?” Our translation of the Latin as Burgon prints it.Checked against: Burgon 1896 -
Alludes to it
“And when the elders had set another woman which had sinned before Him, and had left the sentence to Him, and had gone out, our Lord, the Searcher of the hearts, inquiring of her whether the elders had condemned her, and being answered No, He said to her: Go your way therefore, for neither do I condemn you.”
Checked against: ANF 7 -
Quotes part of it
“What then did He answer? See you how full it is of righteousness, how full of meekness and truth! He that is without sin of you, says He, let him first cast a stone at her.”
In On Adulterous Marriages 2.7 he writes that some of little faith, “fearing, I believe, that their wives would be given leave to sin,” removed the Lord’s pardon of the adulteress from their copies.Checked against: NPNF1 7; On Adulterous Marriages, Burgon 1896 and Scrivener 1894 -
Alludes to it
“In the Gospel according to John, in many copies both Greek and Latin, is found the account of the adulterous woman who was accused before the Lord.”
“In evangelio secundum Ioannem in multis et Graecis et Latinis codicibus invenitur de adultera muliere, quae accusata est apud Dominum.” Our translation of the Latin as Burgon prints it; the English of the Nicene Fathers abridges this section.Checked against: Burgon 1896
Printed Greek Texts with This Reading
- Textus Receptus · The Greek text the KJV was translated from, as Scrivener printed it (1894)
- Majority Text · The Byzantine text, read by the great majority of Greek manuscripts (Robinson and Pierpont, 2005)
Quotations from the Ante-Nicene and Nicene Fathers translations. Edition data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT, STEPBible.org (CC BY). About these texts and witnesses.
