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Outline:
John 8:1-11
Translation by Trey Kennedy
1And Jesus travelled into the Mount of Olives. 2And at dawn he appeared again in the temple and all the people came to him and sitting he taught them. 3 And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman in adultery, seized and made her stand before him in the town square. 4 They said to him, "Teacher! She, the woman, was seized in the act of committing adultery 5and in the law for us Moses ordained to stone such a one. Therefore, what do yousay?” 6And this they said, testing him, so that they would have to renounce him. And Jesus bending down with his finger drew in the earth. 7And as they remained asking him, he straightened himself and said to them, "The one not sinning among you should first throw on her a stone." 8And again he bent down writing on the earth. 9The ones listening went way from the elders one by one, and the woman was left alone, being in the town square. 10And Jesus straightened saying, "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?" 11And she said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Ialso do not condemn you. Journey, and from now on no longer sin."
Notes on Translation
· Translation is meant to be more literal to help put you into the Greek
o Written in 2014.
· Any pronoun underlined means that it is emphasized in Greek
o Normally all you need is the verb to know the pronoun.
o When the Greek word for “I” or “you” is added, it is meant to give emphasis.
Notes on the Text and Context
· Sandwiched into account of John 7-8
o This is the account of Jesus at the Festival of Booths
§ Called Festival of Booths/Tabernacles
§ Remembers 40 years in the Desert
· Many Themes in John 7-8
o Connects to “Why are you trying to kill me?” theme
o Men seized woman in adultery, as they want to do with Jesus next section
· John written by followers of “The Beloved Disciple”
o Scholars say this is a later addition (possibly from Luke)
o Language very different from sections before and after
§ See 8:6.
· Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. Location of Gethsemane.
Notes on Meaning
· Important points to the story:
1. The men are trying to follow the Law (albeit to trick Jesus).
2. No one is worthy/ without sin to condemn another sinner.
3. Jesus sends the woman on her way, asking her to repent.
· This is ultimately a story of forgiveness.
· We are expected to repent when we sin (8:11).
· The point of the Law is not to kill, but it is so we can be in right relationship with God and one another.
o Committing adultery is not living in right relationship with our spouse.
o Neither is trying to kill your spouse instead of reconciling
§ Possible that one of the witnesses to the act was her husband
§ Also possible they set her up in a trap
· Could be they originally intended to trap her.
· Could be that Jesus was the main target for the whole time
· Before we examine others, we must examine what we know more fully: Ourselves
Further Reading: Brown, Raymond. The Gospel According to John: I-XII. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966.