Pericope Adulterae

Did you know that John 7:53-8:11 may not belong in the Bible? This story about a woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus may not have really happened. This story is famous and ends up in all of the movies we see, but is it true?

This story has been found in multiple places in different manuscripts: John 7:36; John 21:25; Luke 21:38; and Luke 24:53. To say that this story just ended up in John 7:53-8:11 is an understatement. It is safe to say that this story has been looking for a permanent home for quite a while.

The famous ending of Mark (16:9-20) has more manuscript evidence than John 7:53-8:11. The problem this presents is if the apostle John wrote the story or not. If he didn't, then we have major problem on our hands with the "inspired text". I find it interesting that this story ends up in Luke as well. Did Luke or John write it? Did someone else write it? Was this story God breathed or did someone simple insert it into the text?

If you look at the Textus Receptus, you will find the story right where you would know it to be. The majority of Greek text include this as well. This story is found in over 900 manuscripts. The King James Bible included this story as the original text. Once you start looking into the NKJV, NIV, ESV, etc., you will always find a 'footnote'.

Most people don't realize that they have footnotes at the bottom of each page in the Scriptures. There are abbreviations, notes, etc., for them to have a better understanding of the text. The KJV was translated off of the Textus Receptus because that is all they had. I won't go into the deep history of this, but you must understand that they were working with what they had. As time went on, new manuscripts, were found. This is a good thing to happen. These manuscripts were older in time and did not include the adultery story.

Until the twelfth century, no church father even spoke on the pericope adulterae. When they commented on this passage, they would include the fact that it is not part of the original text. The most reliable earlier Greek texts do not include this story.

Have you read the Gospel of John? Do you notice when you get to this story, it breaks the flow of the narrative? The vocabulary is off as if there was another author. 14 words are used in this section that are not found anywhere else in the Gospel of John. For example, John never called the Pharisees "scribes", as we see 8:3. If you read John 7:52, then jump to 8:12, you will find a nice steady flow in the Scripture.

At some time in history, a scribe added this story into the pages of Scripture. The question is why would someone do this? The answer is very simple and surprisingly innocent. This story must have been an oral tradition accepted by the majority, and was inserted, along with other stories of Jesus.

The problem is we do not know who wrote it. For Scripture to remain a holy text and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we need more information. Every book in our Bible has passed a certain set of criteria. This is why we have the books that make up the Apocrypha, which are omitted from Scripture. These books are not 'bad' by any means, but they simply did not meet the criterion.

Breaking Down the Text: This story has become bigger than itself. The woman caught in adultery is believed to be Mary Magdalene which is never mentioned in Scripture. Mary Magdalene has never been said to be an adulterous woman at all. This story keeps growing as it is heard and seen in movies and sermons. It has become quite popular over the centuries.

Occasion: Feast of Booths (living in tents)

7:53 - They went each to his own house, (feast was over)

8:1 - but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

8:2 - Early in the morning he came again to the temple...

The story would have worked better if they had still been living out in the tents. The term "early morning" (orthrou) (v2), means just before sunrise. This would make more sense that a man and this woman were caught in his or her tent. The living situations were outdoors and very open and public. According to the text, this did not happen. It was the next day and Jesus had already gone to the temple.

This story reeks of a conspiracy. This is clearly a set up to trick Jesus with a difficult decision. Deuteronomy 22:22 says, "If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die." The rest of Deut. 22 explains in great detail the law of Moses when it comes to sexual sin. The word for this kind of adultery is "micheumoen" which is specifically "sexual infidelity".

There are so many questions that come to mind when I think about this story. Where is the man? Why is there only the woman present? When and where did the sinful act take place? Was the man in on it? What did Jesus write on the ground? These questions will remain unanswered for now. Only speculations can be made regarding what Jesus wrote and why the man was not present in the midst of the accusers.

All of these inconsistencies do not negate the possibility of this event happening. This story is consistent with the rest of Scripture. The Pharisees are once again attempting to trap Jesus. Jesus must uphold the law of Moses while still being a friend of sinners. Early church fathers like Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine believe that this story is true. Augustine had an interesting idea of why this story was taken out. I would encourage you to look it up.

This passage was either a part of the original and later taken out, or it wasn't present and then added later. We cannot prove that this passage is the "Word of God". We do not know if it is "inspired" or "God-breathed". Make no mistake that the original autographs are inerrant, however, we don't have the originals. We must look through the many thousands of ancient manuscripts that we have to determine the truth.

Imagine having a 1,500 piece puzzle, but only needing to fill 1,000 holes. This is what we have when it comes to the Bible. This may seem like a negative, however, I promise it is a very positive outcome. We do not have any missing pieces to the Scriptures. We take a look at the numerous pieces and see what kind of matches we come up with. This is the case when looking at John 7:53-8:11. Looking through our puzzle pieces, we find there are less pieces for this particular passage. Not only are there less, but they're unreliable. There seems to be more evidence not supporting this passage as the Word of God.

Final Thoughts

This story has been trying to find a home for centuries. As a pastor, you are expected to bring the Word of God each and every Sunday. The questions it: Would you preach John 7:53-8:11? Would you preface this by explaining the controversy around it? Do you accept it as doctrine?

Pericope Adulterae Manuscripts

Manuscript 225 John 7:36

M1 John 21:25

Group of M-Family 13 Luke 21:38

M1333 Luke 24:53.