John 8:7

Joh 8:7-9. When they continued asking him — That is, pressed him with great importunity to give an answer, thinking, no doubt, that they had him at a great advantage; he lifted up himself, and, without replying directly to their demand, said, He that is without sin among you — He that is not guilty (his own conscience being the judge) either of the same sin or of some nearly resembling it; let him — As a witness; first cast a stone at her — He alludes to the law, (Deu 17:7,) which ordered, that the hands of the witnesses, by whose testimony an idolater was convicted, should be first upon him, and afterward the hands of all the people. Our Lord’s meaning was, Persons exceedingly zealous in getting punishment executed on others, ought to be free themselves at least from gross sins; for which cause, as you are all guilty of equal, or greater, or, it may be, the like offences, and deserve the wrath of God, you should show mercy to this sinner, who may have fallen through the strength of temptation, rather than of evil inclination, and who is now truly sorry for her offence. Our Lord’s words made such an impression on the minds of these hypocrites, and raised in them such strong convictions of sin, as soon put their zeal to shame; and made them afraid to stay, lest Jesus should have made their particular sins public. And he again stooped down and wrote on the ground — Giving them an opportunity to withdraw, which they embraced; and being convicted by their own consciences — That is, their consciences smiting them with remorse, because, at some time or other of their lives, they had been guilty, either of the very sin for which they proposed to have this woman stoned, or of some crime or crimes equally great: they went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last — Αρξαμενοι απο των πρεσβυτερων εως των εσχατων. This, Keuchenius interprets, beginning at the most honourable, even unto the lowest of them, and this they did, although, when they first came, they had been exceedingly incensed against her. And Jesus was left alone — By all those scribes and Pharisees who proposed the question. But many others remained, to whom our Lord directed his discourse presently after.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:7 Jesus’ answer did not mean that an accuser had to be morally perfect to make legal accusations. His reference to the one who has never sinned points to the motives of the accusers.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 8:7. Ὡς δὲ ἐπέμενον, but when they were persevering) For δέ there is in most of the Latin copies ‘ergo’ [not in the best copies of the Vulg., the Cod. Amiatinus, etc., “cum autem perseverarent”]. This is according to the custom of John; who, however, in this paragraph more often employs δέ, which occurs frequently in this gospel even elsewhere: for instance, in ch. 9—ὁ ἀναμάρτητος, he who is without sin) ἀναμάρτητος, if respect be had to the termination, is, either one who cannot sin, or one who hath not sinned. Septuag. Deu 29:19: μὴ συναπολέσῃ ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τὸν ἀναμάρτητον. Comp. 2Ma 8:4 [τῶν ἀναμαρτήτων νηπίων], Joh 12:42 [συντηρεῖν ἑαυτοὺς ἀναμαρτήτους]. The witnesses were wont to be the first in the act of stoning. [Hence the expression is τὸν λίθον, with the article.—V. g.] These witnesses had all contracted guilt, worthy of capital punishment, either in that very act [such as they accused the woman of], or in similar deeds of shame.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_8:7. Ἀναμάρτητος] faultless, here only in the N. T., very often in the Classics. Whether it means freedom from the possibility of fault (of error or sin), as in Plato, Pol. I. p. 339 B, or freedom from actual sin (comp. γυνὴ ἀναμάρτητος, Herod. v. 39),whether, again, it is to be understood generally (2Ma_8:4), or with reference to any definite category or species of ἁμαρτία (2Ma_12:42; Deu_29:19), is a matter which can be decided by the context alone. Here it must signify actual freedom from the sin, not indeed of adultery specially, for Jesus could not presuppose this of the hierarchy as a whole, even with all its corruption of morals, but probably of unchastity, simply because a woman who was a sinner of this category was here in question, and stood before the eyes of them all as the living opposite of ἀναμάρτητος. Comp. ἁμαρτωλός, Luk_7:37; ἁμαρτάνειν, Jacobs, ad Anthol. x. p. 111; in chap. Joh_5:14, also, a special kind of sinning is intended by μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε; and the same command, in Joh_8:11, addressed to the adulteress, authenticates the sense in which ἀναμάρτητος is used. The men tempting Him knew how to avoid, in outward appearance rather than in reality, the unchastity which they condemned. Taking the words to mean freedom from sin generally (Baur, who draws from the passage an erroneous doctrinal meaning, Luthardt, Ewald, Hengstenberg, Godet, following early expositors), we make Jesus propose an impracticable condition in the given case, quite unfitted to disarm His opponents as convicted by their own consciences; for it would have been a purelyideal condition, a standard impossible to man. If we take ἀναμάρτητος, however, in the concrete sense above explained, the condition named becomes quite appropriate to baffle the purpose of the tempting questioners; for the prescription of the Mosaic law is, on the one hand, fully recognised;[7] while, on the other, its fulfilment is made dependent on a condition which would effectually banish from the mind of His questioners, into whose consciences Jesus was looking, all thought of making His answer a ground of accusation to the authorities.

Observe, further, how the general moral maxim to be deduced from the text condemns generally in the Christian community, viewed as it ought to exist conformably to its ideal, the personal condemnation of the sins of others (comp. Mat_7:1; Gal_6:5), and puts in its place brotherly admonition, conciliation, forgivenessin a word, love, as the πλήρωσις of the law.

τὸν λίθον] the stone which He would cast at her in obedience to the law.

ἐπʼ αὐτῇ] upon her. See Bernhardy, p. 249; Ellendt, Lex Soph. i. p. 467.

βαλέτω] not mere permission, but command, and therefore all the more telling. The place of stoning must be conceived as lying outside the city (Lev_24:14; Act_7:56). We must further observe that Jesus does not say the first stone, but let the first (i.e. of you, ὑμῶν) cast the stone, which does not exclude that casting of the first, which was obligatory on the witnesses (Deu_17:7; Act_7:58).

[7] The section cannot therefore be used, as Mittermayer uses it (d. Todesstr. 1862), as a testimony of Jesus against capital punishment.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 8:7 . The scribes, however, did not accept the silence of Jesus as an answer, but “went on asking Him”. For this use of ἐπιμένω with a participle cf. Act 12:16 , ἐπέμενεν κρούων ; and see Buttmann’s N.T. Gram. , 257, 14. And at length Jesus lifting His head, straightening Himself, said to them: Ὁ ἀναμάρτητος … βαλέτω , “let the faultless one among you first cast the stone at her”. ἀναμάρτητος only here in N.T. In Sept [62] Deu 29:19 , ἵνα μὴ συναπολέσῃ ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τὸν ἀναμάρτητον . It can scarcely have been used on this occasion generally of all sin, but with reference to the sin regarding which there was present question; or at any rate to sins of the same kind, sins of unchastity. They are summoned to judge themselves rather than the woman.

[62] Septuagint.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 7, 8. The admirable, yet at the same time very simple, art of the answer of Jesus in Joh 8:7 consists in bringing back the question from the judicial domain, where His adversaries were placing it, to the moral ground, beyond which Jesus does not dream for a moment of extending His authority; comp. Luk 12:14. A judge in his official function may certainly pass judgment and condemn, though being himself a sinner. But such is not, at this moment, the position of Jesus, who is not invested with the official function of a judge. It is also quite as little the position of those who submit the question to Him. In order to have the right to make themselves of their own motion the representatives and executors of the justice of God, it would be necessary therefore, that at least they should themselves have been exempt from every sin which was fitted to provoke a like judgment against themselves. Undoubtedly it might be objected that in former times the entire people was called to condemn such criminals by stoning them. But the time when God committed to the people the function of judges in the case of similar crimes had long since passed. Jesus takes the theocracy, not as being in its ideal form, but such as He finds it, providentially deprived of its ancient constitution and subjected to the foreign yoke. The interpreters who, like Lucke, Meyer, and so many others, restrict the application of the term without sin to adultery or, in general, to impurity, misconstrue the thought of Jesus. In His eyes “he who has offended in the matter of one commandment, is guilty of all” (Jas 2:10). The skill of this answer consists in disarming the improvised judges of this woman, without however infringing in the least upon the ordinance of Moses. On one side, the words: let him cast the stone, sustain the code, but on the other, the words: without sin, disarm any one who would desire to apply it.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Against hypocrites which are very severe judges against other men, and flatter themselves in their own sins.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

He that is without sin--not meaning sinless altogether; nor yet, guiltless of a literal breach of the Seventh Commandment; but probably, he whose conscience acquits him of any such sin.

cast a stone--"the stone," meaning the first one (Deu 17:7).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. He that is without sin] αναμαρτητος, meaning the same kind of sin, adultery, fornication, c. Kypke has largely proved that the verb αμαρτανειν is used in this sense by the best Greek writers.

Let him first cast a stone at her.] Or, upon her, επ αυτη. The Jewish method of stoning, according to the rabbins, was as follows: The culprit, half naked, the hands tied behind the back, was placed on a scaffold, ten or twelve feet high the witnesses, who stood with her, pushed her off with great force: if she was killed by the fall there was nothing farther done; but, if she was not, one of the witnesses took up a very large stone, and dashed it upon her breast, which generally was the coup de grace, or finishing stroke. This mode of punishment seems referred to, Mt 21:44. However, this procedure does not appear to have been always attended to. See Le 24:16, and ver. 59 of this chapter. Joh 8:59

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. He who is without sin among you. He said this according to the custom of the Law; for God commanded that the witnesses should, with their own hands, put malefactors to death, according to the sentence which had been pronounced on them; that greater caution might be used in bearing testimony, (Deuteronomy 17:7.) There are many who proceed rashly to overwhelm their brother by perjury, because they do not think that they inflict a deadly wound by their tongue. And this very argument, had weight with those slanderers, desperate as they were; for no sooner do they obtain a sight of it, than they lay aside those fierce passions with which they were swelled when they came. Yet there is this difference between the injunction of the Law and the words of Christ, that in the Law God merely enjoined that they should not condemn a man with the tongue, unless they were permitted to put him to death with their own hands; but here Christ demands from the witnesses perfect innocence, so that no man ought to accuse another of crime, unless he be pure, and free from every fault. Now what he said, at that time, to a few persons, we ought to view as spoken to all, that whoever accuses another, ought to impose on himself a law of innocence; otherwise, we do not pursue wicked actions, but rather are hostile to the persons of men.

In this way, however, Christ appears to take out of the world all judicial decisions, so that no man shall dare to say that he has a right to punish crimes. For shall a single judge be found, who is not conscious of having something that is wrong? Shall a single witness be produced who is not chargeable with some fault? He appears, therefore, to forbid all witnesses to give public testimony, and all judges to occupy the judgment-seat. I reply: this is not an absolute and unlimited prohibition, by which Christ forbids sinners to do their duty in correcting the sins of others; but by this word he only reproves hypocrites, who mildly flatter themselves and their vices, but are excessively severe, and even act the part of felons, in censuring others. No man, therefore, shall be prevented by his own sins from correcting the sins of others, and even from punishing them, when it may be found necessary, provided that both in himself and in others he hate what ought to be condemned; and in addition to all this, every man ought to begin by interrogating his own conscience, and by acting both as witness and judge against himself, before he come to others. In this manner shall we, without hating men, make war with sins.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(7) So when they continued asking him.—He would have avoided their question, and continued, as is here implied, for some time in the action of writing; but they will now interrupt that action. It seems to them that He cannot avoid the snare in which they have placed Him, and that He is seeking the only escape in silence. But there is an answer of which they think not, and this He stands up to give.

He that is without sin among you.—The word rendered “without sin” is frequent in the classical writers, but is found in this place only in the New Testament. It takes here a special meaning from the context, and is to be understood of the class of sins of which her sin was an instance. (Comp. the word “sinner” as used in Luk_7:37.) Of the immorality among the Jewish rulers, which gives force to these words, evidence is not wanting. Still the wider meaning is probably not excluded. They who ask this question about the Seventh Commandment were themselves breaking the Sixth and the Ninth. It is to be noted, in the application of this answer, that our Lord does not lay down sinlessness as the necessary condition of fitness for taking part in the punishment of guilt. This would be to nullify law, for there could be then no human executive power. He is not speaking in a case brought before the appointed tribunal, but in a case where men assume to themselves the position of judges of another’s guilt. In the judge, while he wears the robe of justice, the individual man ceases to exist, and he becomes the representative of God; but these can now speak only as men, and condemn her only by the contrast of a higher purity. (Comp. Notes on Joh_10:34 et seq.)

Let him first cast a stone at her.—The Received text and some MSS. (not including the Cambridge MS.) read “the stone,” the stone referred to in Joh_8:5. “Let him first” means “let him first of you”; not “let him cast the first stone.” This was the duty of the witnesses. (See marginal reference.) We must not take the words to express permission only; it is an imperative, expressing command.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. they continued asking] They will not take the hint, whatever His gesture meant.

without sin] The Greek word occurs nowhere else in N.T., but it is quite classical: it may mean either ‘free from the possibility of sin, impeccable;’ or ‘free from actual sin, sinless:’ if the latter, it may mean either ‘free from sin in general, guiltless;’ or ‘free from a particular sin, not guilty.’ The context shews that the last is the meaning here, ‘free from the sin of impurity:’ comp. ‘sin no more,’ Joh_8:11, and ‘sinner,’ Luk_7:37; Luk_7:39. The practical maxim involved in Christ’s words is that of Mat_7:1-5; Rom_14:4. As to its application to them comp. Mat_12:39; Mar_8:38. He is contending not against punishment being inflicted by human law, but against men taking the law into their own hands.

a stone] Rather, the stone, according to the Received Text and some MSS.; i.e. the stone required for executing the sentence. Others take it of the first stone, which the witnesses were to throw (Deu_17:7). But Christ does not say ‘let him cast the first stone,’ but ‘let him be first of you to cast the stone.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. As before, having said enough to confound them; and yet unwilling to pursue the matter any further, or publicly expose them in any other way; and that they might have an opportunity of withdrawing themselves without any further notice of his, he took this method.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. As before, having said enough to confound them; and yet unwilling to pursue the matter any further, or publicly expose them in any other way; and that they might have an opportunity of withdrawing themselves without any further notice of his, he took this method.

John 8:9

joh 8:9

joh 8:9

joh 8:9And they which heard it,.... Not all, not the disciples of Christ, nor the multitude, but the Scribes and Pharisees:

being convicted by their own conscience; that they were not without sin, nor free from this; they had a beam in their own eye, who were so forward to observe the mote in another's; and oftentimes so it is, that those who are most forward to reprove, and bear hardest on others for their sins, are as culpable in another way, if not in the same; when sin lies at the door, and conscience is awakened and open, it is as good as a thousand witnesses; and lets in, and owns the sin which lies heavy, and makes sad work; and fills with anguish, confusion, and shame, as it did these men: who

went out one by one; from the temple, in as private a manner, and as unobserved as they could:

beginning at the eldest: who might have been most culpable, or however soonest took the hint; being more wise and sagacious:

unto the last; this is wanting in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions, and in two of Beza's copies, and the Basil edition:

and Jesus was left alone; not by his disciples, nor the multitude, but his antagonists, who came to tempt and ensnare him: for it follows,

and the woman standing in the midst; that is, of the company as before.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Ver. 7. He that is without sin among you] Not that is impeccable, and not subject to sin (as the Greek, αναμαρτητος, may here seem to sound), but that allows not himself, wallows not in some gross sin, yea, perhaps in this very sin Clodius aecusat moechum. (Juvenal.) Thus our Saviour wrings those supercilious and censorious hypocrites, who hated virum, non vitium; as it is said of Crassus the Roman, that he was very severe against covetousness in others, when there was not a more covetous person than himself. Carere debet omni vitio qui in alterum paratus eat dicere, said a heathen. {a} He had need be unblamable that blameth another. And therefore the apostle, after that he had said, "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them rather;" he soon after addeth, "walk circumspectly, not as fools," &c., Eph 5:11; Eph 5:15.

{a} Anabaptiatae scripserunt adulteria non esse punienda per homines, &c. Joh.. Manl.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They continued asking him - They pressed the question upon him. They were determined to extort an answer from him, and showed a perseverance in evil which has been unhappily often imitated.

Is without sin - That is, without this particular sin; he who has not himself been guilty of this very crime - for in this place the connection evidently demands this meaning.

Let him first cast a stone at her - In the punishment by death, one of the witnesses threw the culprit from the scaffold, and the other threw the first stone, or rolled down a stone to crush him. See Deu 17:6-7. This was in order that the witness might feel his responsibility in giving evidence, as he was also to be the executioner. Jesus therefore put them to the test. Without pronouncing on her case, he directed them, if any of them were innocent, to perform the office of executioner. This was said, evidently, well knowing their guilt, and well knowing that no one would dare to do it.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

We cannot with any propriety reprehend or condemn faults in others, if we ourselves be guilty of the same, or other great faults, St. Cyril, in Joan. --- See annotations on Matt. vii, ver. 1.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They will not let our Saviour alone, but importune him for an answer. He saith,

He that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her. The law of God was, Deu 17:7, that in the execution of malefactors, The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death. In reason those who are zealous for the punishment of others, should neither be guilty of the same, nor of greater crimes, themselves. By this saying of our Saviour, we must not understand it the will of God, that those who are magistrates, and employed in executing the Lord’s vengeance on malefactors, should themselves be free from all guilt, for then no justice should be done. The vengeance is God’s, not theirs; it is the law of God which they execute. He only by this minds them of that compassion which ought to be found in persons prosecuting others justly, that they may execute judgment with compassion and tenderness, and such moderation as the law will allow them, considering that they are not free from guilt, but as obnoxious to the justice of God for other sins, as those poor creatures whom God hath suffered to fall into sins punishable by human judges.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Continued asking—They do not easily take a hint that their room is better than their company. They do, at this moment, doubtless understand that he intimates his rejection of all prerogative in the case. But they mean that no amount of finger-writing shall defeat their purpose.

Said unto them—Thus doth Judge Messiah decide: The accused is beyond all question worthy of death. Let, then, the low standard of modern degeneracy be at once abolished, and let the pure ideal of Moses’s law be restored in its severest purity. As soon, therefore, as a court, witnesses, and executioners of the true Mosaic standard are furnished, let them execute the absoluteness of the Mosaic sentence by casting the first stone!

Without sin—That is, without a sin of such enormity as would render him liable to stand in the woman’s place if Mosaic or Messianic law should be applied. No man who cannot stand this test has a right to require the old ideal to be revived.

First cast a stone—Each man is now himself put to a still more trying test than they had applied to Jesus. All the responsibility is rolled back upon themselves. Some one must lead; and he, unless purer than the woman, slays her without authority, and is so a murderer. All can readily follow if some one will lead; but which will single himself out for the deed? The retort is complete. They would impose on him the hazard of pronouncing sentence of capital punishment; and he, without incurring that, flings upon them the hazard of inflicting it. And yet they are unable to pretend that he has declined the Messianic office, or lowered the Mosaic law. Indeed, they are placed in a predicament of shame likely to prevent all desire on their part to allude to the matter.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 7, 8. But when they continued asking him; he lifted up himself,and said unto them, He that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and with his finger was writing on the ground. The imperfect tense of egrafen , twice repeated, seems more in harmony with the symbolic meaning of the act than with the record on his part of any special sentence of his supreme wisdom. Christ refused to act the part of the civil magistrate, or to countenance stormy outbreak of murderous passion against this flagrant sinner, to save himself from their bitter malice. He rose, when the appearance of indifference could not be maintained, and at once arrested the outbreak of their unscrupulous fury without presuming to repudiate the letter of the Law. He lifted the discussion from the judicial to the moral sphere. He does not mean that none but the sinless can condemn, or pronounce verdict upon the guilty; but he calls for special freedom from similar offence on the part of any man who should wish or dare to display his own purity by taking part in the execution. The narrative would not suggest that every one of these accusers had been in his time guilty of like offence, but anamarthtov must at least mean that he was free from the desires which might lead to the commission of such sin, and Christ calls for inward saintliness and freedom from all irregular propension. He calls for personal chastity as the only possible moral condition for precipitately executing this ancient and severe law. The question before the crowd (asked so craftily) was, not whether Moses" Law was to stand or not, but whether these particular men, with their foul hearts and spurious zeal, were or were not at that particular moment to encounter the displeasure of Roman power by dashing the stones at the head of this poor trembling creature of sin and shame; whether they were morally competent to condemn to immediate death, and carry the verdict into execution. Before this tremendous summons from the Holy One, conscience could sleep no longer. The hypocrisy of the entire manoeuvre stared them in the face.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that is without sin - He that is not guilty: his own conscience being the judge) either of the same sin, or of some nearly resembling it; let him - as a witness, cast the first stone at her.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

sin

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Savior’s solution:

v. 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.

v. 8. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

v. 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.

v. 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?

v. 11. She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.

The fact that the Lord so pointedly ignored their question nettled the scribes and Pharisees. They persisted in their questioning; their importunity bordered on impudence. And so the Lord finally straightened up and put a question to them, in the form of a permission to carry out their aim with respect to the accused woman. The sinless one of them should cast the first stone upon the woman. Christ did not. shield, did not excuse the sinner; He did not utter one word in extenuation of her guilt. But His words were a most emphatic and cutting reproof for the self-sufficient Pharisees that were often guilty, in secret, of all the sins in the Decalogue. Having made this statement, the Lord once more bent down and wrote on the ground. Whether He wrote actual words and connected sentences or merely traced figures in the sand, is an idle speculation. But His manner conveyed the reproof more loudly than if He had shouted it, condemning them and their self-righteous sanctimoniousness. And the effect was all that could be desired. For once, under the prodding of Christ’s words, the consciences of the scribes and Pharisees became active. Undoubtedly the dignity and majesty, the solemn, searching earnestness of the Lord did much to add to the weight of His rebuke. And so, one by one, they began to file out of the hall, the older ones leading, and the others following in due course. They might have brazened the matter out before others, before mere men, but they made a miserable failure of it before the majesty of Jesus. "This, then, is the difference between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world, that Christ makes all men sinners. But He does not let that be the end, but it follows that He absolves her. All the accusers having left, and the audience and the disciples having removed to a respectful distance, there was only Jesus and the woman left in the area, in the midst of the hall where this incident took place. And Jesus now purposely permitted the silence to continue, in order to prove effective. For He was most truly angry and provoked at the sin, but His Savior’s heart was overflowing with mercy and love for the sinner. But at last Jesus straightened up once more and addressed Himself to the woman, who was now standing there in the abject misery and shame of her repentance. He asked her: Where are they? Has no man condemned thee? And when she answered: None, Lord, thus voicing her humble pleading for mercy and her belief in Him as the Savior of sinners, He spoke the words of absolution. Neither would He condemn her, although He, the Sinless One, might well have done so; not the death, but the life of sinners, was the object of Christ’s work. But He adds an emphatic warning that she should go, and sin no more. He that sins after receiving the grace of the Savior, he that willfully and deliberately persists in spurning the merciful love of the Redeemer of which He once became the partaker, has only himself to blame, if the time of grace is brought to a sudden close and his unbelief is punished in accordance with the magnitude of its guilt. Note: This story teaches, in a most effective manner, the necessity of practicing merciful charity toward the fallen sinner and to win him back, if possible, to the way of righteousness. The uncharitable attitude which is often taken, by so-called Christians, toward those that have fallen, has, times without number, resulted in the final hardening of the sinner’s heart, while the willingness to help in a spirit of Christlike forgiveness has resulted in making anew person. "Therefore only those sinners belong into the kingdom of Christ that acknowledge and feel their sins, and then eagerly catch at the word of Christ which He here speaks and says: I do not condemn thee; they are the kingdom of Christ. He does not permit the saints to enter, He blows them all out, Be thrusts everything out of the Church that wants to be holy in itself. But if sinners enter, they do not remain sinners, He places the mantle (of His righteousness) over them and says: wherever thou hast sinned, I forgive thee thy sin, and cover it over."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7–9. He that is without sin among you. When they persisted, saying, What sayest thou? he said what was an awful rebuke. They knew that he knew their lives, that they were as guilty as the woman they had brought. They forgot the demand of Moses (Deut. 17:5–7) that the witnesses should cast the first stone, and his answer was like a bolt of lightning. Covered with shame, when he stooped and wrote again, they went out one by one.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

While some texts have Joh 7:53 - 8:11, the best and earliest texts do not include them.

When they continued

The word "they" refers to the scribes and Pharisees.

The one among you who has no sin

The abstract noun "sin" can be expressed with the verb sin. AT: "The one among you is has never sinned" or "If any one of you has never sinned" (See: Abstract Nouns)

let him

"let that person"

he stooped down

"he bent down"

translationWords

sin

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

7. ἀνέκυψεν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς for ἀνακύψας εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς, and πρῶτος ἐπ’ αὐτὴν βαλέτω λίθον for πρ. τὸν λ. ἐπ’ αὐτῇ β.

7. They will not take the hint; and therefore with marvellous skill He lifts the whole question from the judicial sphere, into which He declined to enter (comp. Luk 12:14), to the moral one, in which their guilty consciences rendered them powerless. Thus the self-made judges were foiled, while the majesty of the Law remained intact. The abruptness of the reply reminds us of Joh 2:19.

ἀναμάρτητος. Quite classical, but here only in N.T. It may mean either ‘free from the possibility of sin, impeccable;’ or ‘free from actual sin, sinless:’ if the latter, it may mean either ‘free from sin in general, guiltless;’ or ‘free from a particular sin, not guilty.’ The context shews that the last is the meaning here, ‘free from the sin of impurity:’ comp. ‘sin no more,’ Joh 8:11, and ‘sinner,’ Luk 7:37; Luk 7:39. The practical maxim involved in Christ’s words is that of Mat 7:1-5; Rom 14:4. As to its application to them comp. Mat 12:39; Mar 8:38. He is contending not against punishment being inflicted by human law, but against men taking the law into their own hands.

λίθον. Some authorities have τὸν λίθον, the stone required for executing the sentence. Others take it of the first stone, which in stoning for idolatry was to be thrown by the witnesses (Deu 13:9; Deu 17:7); probably as a check on rash testimony. Thus in stoning Stephen the witnesses take off their upper garments in order to throw the better (Act 7:58).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7.] ἀναμάρτ. is common in the classics: see instances in Lücke. It is not here used in the general sense, ‘without sin’ (E. V.), nor in the strictest, ‘free from the crime of adultery’ (it can hardly be that any of the Pharisees should have held themselves sinless,—or that all should have been implicated in adultery):—but—as ἁμαρτωλός, Luk 7:37,—of the sin of uncleanness generally. Stier, who contends strongly for the genuineness of this narrative in this place, finds in ver. 46 an allusion to this saying. I cannot say that his attempts to establish a connexion with the subsequent discourse are to me at all satisfactory: I am much more inclined to think with Luthardt (i. 16), that the whole arrangement and plan of our Gospel is broken by the insertion of this passage. The Lord Jesus was not sent to be a ruler and a judge in this or that particular case of crime, see Luk 12:14; but the Ruler and Judge of all: and His answer expresses this, by convicting them all of sin before Him. τόν (see digest), if genuine, refers to the first stone, which by Deu 17:7 the witnesses were to cast.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. ἐπέμενον ἐρωτῶντες, “they went on asking,” as at Act 12:16 ἐπέμενεν κρούων. ἐπιμένειν does not occur in Jn.

D om. αὐτόν, ἐρωτῶντες then being used absolutely or intransitively, as in the (unusual) instance of Joh 17:9.

ἀνέκυψεν καί. So D 1071. The rec., with EGHK, has ἀνακύψας (cf. v. 10), while fam. 13 give ἀναβλέψας. In the N.T. ἀνακύπτειν is found again only Luk 13:11, Luk 13:21:28, “to lift oneself up”; ἀναβλέπειν is in all the Gospels.

εἶπεν αὐτοῖς. So DSUΓ 1071 fam. 13. M om. αὐτοῖς. EGHK have πρὸς αὐτούς, the rec. reading.

ὁ ἀναμάρτητος κτλ., “Let him that is faultless,” etc. This is the true Synoptic note. ἀναμάρτητος does not indicate only innocence of overt sins of the flesh, but freedom from sinful desire cherished and indulged in. Cf. Mat 5:28. ἀναμάρτητος does not occur again in N.T., but is found Deu 29:19, Deu 29:2 Macc. 8:14, 12:42.

For πρῶτος (D 1071), EGH give πρῶτον.

βαλέτω λίθον. So D and fam. 13. Other uncials read τὸν λίθον, to bring out the point that the casting of the first stone was the duty of the witnesses who certified to the crime (Deu 17:7). But the allusion is the same, even if τόν is omitted. The question of Jesus asks, in fact, who is to be the executioner in this case? (cf. Augustine, Sermo xiii. § 4).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.