John 7:53-8:11

 John 7:53-8:11

This section is known as the pericope adulterae and is not found in the earliest and “best” manuscripts. The vast majority of scholars assume this section is not original but was added later to the gospel of John. Bruce Metzger states, “the evidence for the non-Johannine origin of the pericope of the adulteress is overwhelming” (TCGNT 187). goog_2054247443

Omission

    External evidence: P66, 75 ℵ B L N T W Δ Θ Ψ 0141 0211 33 565 1241 1424* 2768 al. Manuscripts A and C are unreadable at this point in the text, but if you measure the pages, there would not be enough room for all of these verses. Note: A in Gospels is Byzantine

    Internal arguments: John 8:12 naturally flow from John 7:52. No prophet is welcome in his hometown. There is no need for John to link “Light of the World” with Isa 9:1-2 (see below), because these texts were ingrained in the audience’s mind. The light/dark theme is so prevalent in John, that adding or removing one more story would not strengthen John’s narrative. It’s just as likely that a later scribe/editor inserted a story here because it “fit.”

For discussion of the grammar and style of the passage vs. the rest of John’s writings, see D. B. Wallace, “Reconsidering ‘The Story of the Woman Taken in Adultery Reconsidered’,” NTS 39 [1993]: 290-96). According to Raymond Brown, this section is actually closer stylistically to Luke’s writings (John [AB], 1:336).

Inclusion

    External evidence: D M lat 

•    E S Λ 1424mg al include part or all of the passage with asterisks
•    225 places the pericope after John 7:36, 
•    ƒ1 places it after John 21:25, 
•    {115} after John 8:12, 
•    ƒ13 after Luke 21:38, 
•    corrector of 1333 includes it after Luke 24:53

See M. A. Robinson, “Preliminary Observations regarding the Pericope Adulterae Based upon Fresh Collations of nearly All Continuous-Text Manuscripts and All Lectionary Manuscripts containing the Passage,” Filologia Neotestamentaria 13 [2000]: 35-59, especially 41–42.

    Internal arguments:

Certain phrases in the passage would seem to fit the context (e.g., great day of the feast = Feast of Tabernacles, v. 37; “early dawn” leads to “light of world” in 8:12 with a parallel to Isa 9:1-2). John could also be using the example of the woman as coming to “the Light” while her accusers fall back into darkness.

Conclusion: Manuscript D is the only major early majuscule/uncial to support the passage’s inclusion. I definitely agree with the majority of scholars that this passage was not in John’s original text. We can argue from an internal standpoint for the passage’s inclusion, but just as strong a case can be made on similar grounds that it was not in the original manuscript.

HOWEVER, just because this text was not part of John’s gospel, that does not mean the event itself never occurred. Scholars are divided whether this reflects an event Jesus’ ministry that circulated orally and was written down, but it never was included in the original text. It was simply added later. Is it canonical? No. Inspired? No. Did it happen? Perhaps. I can certainly picture Jesus responding to an adulteress in this way. Of course, we should be careful how we nuance our discussion of the formulation of Scripture. This is an intriguing case.