John 8:6

They asked this question as a trap so that they could accuse him. If he said that they should not kill her, they would shame him for disobeying the law of Moses. If he said that they should kill her, they could accuse him to the Roman governor. But Jesus bent down and wrote something on the ground with his finger.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

5Moses commanded us in the laws that he gave us that we should throw stones at such women and kill them. So what do you say we should do?”

7While they continued to question him, he stood up and said to them, “Whichever one of you has never sinned can be the first one to start throwing stones at her.”

Read all of John 8

Cross References

Genesis 49:9Judah is like a young lion [SIM] that has returned to its den satisfied after eating the animals that it has killed. He is like a lion that lies down and stretches out after eating; no one would dare to disturb it [RHQ].

Psalms 38:12And those who want to kill me set traps to catch me; those who want to harm me discuss ways to get rid of me; they plot against me all day.

Psalms 39:1I said to myself, “I will be careful not to sin by the things that I say [MTY]. I will not say anything to complain while wicked people are near to me and can hear me.”

Ecclesiastes 3:7There is a time to tear our old clothes, and there is a time to mend clothes. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.

Daniel 5:5Suddenly they saw a man’s hand writing on the plaster of the wall opposite the lampstand. The king also saw the hand as it was writing.

Amos 5:13This is a time when many people do evil things, so people who have good sense say nothing when they hear about such things being done.

Matthew Henry on John 8:2-12

The Woman Taken in Adultery. 1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 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. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

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