Nazaroo
New member
I'm taking this excerpt from our extensive commentary on these verses,
to bring people up to speed on the historical circumstances, legal requirements, and actual significance of this important incident, for gospel doctrine.
The full commentary, encompassing 400 years of analysis of these verses by some of the most brilliant and insightful commentators can be read onsite:
"It is conceded that adultery was exceedingly common at this time, so common that they had ceased to put the law in force against it. The Waters of Jealousy (Numbers 5:19-28) were no longer drunk, the culprits or those suspected of this crime, being so very numerous; and the men who were guilty themselves dared not try their suspected wives, as it was believed the waters would have no evil effect upon the wife, if the husband himself had been criminal."
- Adam Clarke
As Jesus continues his teaching in the temple (8,2), it is quite appropriate that now the scribes rather than the chief priests join the Pharisees in trying to trap Jesus, since the Jews had earlier questioned Jesus' knowledge of "scripture" (7:15, γραμματα), and the "scribes" (8:3, γραμματεις) are scriptural experts.
Presenting the adulteress (8,3) and purposefully addressing Jesus as "teacher" (8,4; see 7,14.16.17.28), the scribes and the Pharisees test the teaching of Jesus with explicit reference to the law of Moses... (8,5).
- John Paul Heil
Johannine Irony
Another Johannine Irony is intended here, for the Pharisees call Jesus "Teacher" (8:3) but not "Lord" (8:11). (cf. John 13:13 - "You [disciples] call Me Teacher and Lord...").
"Teacher" ( = διδασκαλε) is the Greek equivalent of "Rabbi", and may be a lip-service gesture, or even a back-handed insult: They may have engaged Him in Greek because He was from Galilee, where the majority of rural 'Israelites' conversed in Greek. There is some indication that Jesus spoke fluently in Greek (cf. John 7:35, where "Gentiles" is literally "Greeks", or possibly Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora).
In any case there is a formal limit to the amount of respect they pay to Jesus, even when appealing to Him for an opinion or judgement.
- Nazaroo
The scribes and Pharisees ...interrupt his teaching in the Temple to interject a lesson of their own. They are accustomed to controlling discourse in the Temple.
... As v. 5 makes clear, the woman is not a subject but an object, a point of law. Both Lev 20:10 and Deut. 22:22-24 advocate the death penalty for adultery, although neither specifies stoning. The two texts also prescribe death for both offenders, the man and the woman, even though the woman's accusers here speak as though the death penalty applies only to the woman (note the feminine accusative plural pronouns, τας τοιαυτας [i.e., - "women such as these"] )
Their first concern is with entrapping Jesus, not with the law or justice, or even the woman. She is a useful object to be exploited for their ulterior motives.
- Gail O'Day
In fact, stoning is the traditional method of execution for adultery. O'Day is sloppy here. Deuteronomy 22:24 specifies stoning:
'Then you shall bring them outside the city gate, and stone them with stones until they die.'
(Deut. 22:24a)
Watson notes that the penalty for adultery was only changed to strangulation by the Jewish Rabbis in the early second century, and so the story must be very old! (See DAUBE, "Landmarks", 188; BECKER, Jesus, 166-167.)
- Nazaroo
"A Lynching ...was the only way in which she could be punished. Because the Sanhedrin was not allowed to hear cases involving the death-penalty, at any rate in Jerusalem itself, the constitutional method of seeking a penalty against her would have been to approach the Roman governor.
The Jewish Law prescribed how and by what means an adulteress should be punished; but its application was hindered so far as regular administration was concerned, and the Romans provided no attractive alternative.
No Roman judge would condemn to death a woman taken in adultery, and that was what the crowd (and the husband) wanted, it would seem, to happen to her. A smaller legal punishment, or even another at the judge's discretion, would by no means satisfy their zeal."
- Duncan M. Derrett
"...the zeal of the crowd was aroused by more than just the woman's violation of the law. Mixed in with their righteous indignation against the woman's sin are at least two kinds of resentment: the first against the constituted colonial authority of the Romans, the imposition of whose relatively lax legal code could be seen as yet another affront to Jewish religious and political sovereignty, and the second against Jesus, taken by the crowd as a self-constituted moral authority, whose self-evident righteousness also arouses resentment.
The woman is largely a pretext for the expression of other resentments, especially those of the scribes and Pharisees for any perceived threat to their civic and political authority.
The mob Jesus confronts in the Pericope de Adultera bears all the hallmarks of what Gans and Girard would identify as a "community in crisis": feeling their religious/legal tradition belittled by the imposition of Roman authority, and riven by competing ideas about how to re-assert the significance of Jewish nationality and identity, the crowd gathers and prepares to immolate a hapless woman in the hope that the execution of an adulteress will re-establish group unity."
- Matthew Schneider
"In the case of adulterers, they (the witnesses) must have seen them in the posture of adulterers [i.e., the actual sexual position]."
- Rabbi Samuel (cf. mSan 5; bSan 30a, G-Daniel: Susanna)
"(It is not just an issue) of their having seen the couple in a `compromising situation,' for example, coming from a room in which they were alone, or even lying together on the same bed. The actual physical movements of the couple must have been capable of no other explanation, and the witnesses must have seen exactly the same acts at exactly the same time, in the presence of each other, so that their depositions would be identical in every respect."
- Duncan Derrett
The accusers committed a colossal tactical blunder. Their charge itself contained information sufficient to expose their hypocrisy. The scribes and Pharisees emphatically declared that the poor woman had been caught “in the very act.” That is significant.
I am reminded of the circumstance where two men were in a fight and one bit off a portion of the other’s ear. When the case came to trial, the attorney for the accused asked a witness: “Did you see Mr. Jones bite off Mr. Smith’s ear?” “No,” the witness responded.
The lawyer might well have stopped at that point with: “No further questions.” - but he just had to ask one question more: “How, then, do you know that Jones bit off Smith’s ear?”
The witness responded : “I saw him spit it out!”
When the Jewish leaders decided to be so specific, “in the very act,” they acknowledged an important point: They knew the identity of the male participant..."
- Wayne Jackson
Striking at the Heart of the Question
John in the narrative, says 'taken in an adultery':
(Greek: - εν μοιχεια κατειλημμενην )
But the Pharisees say, "committing adultery"(!):
(Greek: - επ' αυτοφωρω μοιχονενην )
Both agree that an adultery has taken place; but John, guided by the Holy Spirit, condemns no one. (Matt 7:1)
The Pharisees, on the other hand, accuse the woman. (Acts 10:28)
What a contrast between John's humble yet powerful understatement, and the Pharisees' rude and arrogant interruption (1st Cor 13:1).
Only the use of the 'active-voice verb participle' by the Pharisee spokesman implies action and participation in the crime, and hence guilt: they say literally, "caught adulterizing".
John's statement in the narrative is entirely different: it speaks of the crime in the abstract, "adultery", and only relates the bare facts, namely that the woman was 'captured' during a criminal activity. Her guilt is not even discussed.
Instead John's testimony concentrates on the known facts, her presence at the scene of a crime. Even the word 'captured' implies no guilt or innocence. 'Capturing' (literally kidnapping) is an activity that can be engaged in by police or criminals, and of course false arrests are entirely possible. That's what trials are for.
The disturbingly divergent expressions so closely juxtaposed beg for special notice: Its the motherload of Johannine Irony for this passage. A critically important question is left hanging in the air:
What if the woman was innocent?
- Nazaroo
Historical Assumption of Guilt by Commentators
"The conventional distorted 'reading' [interpretation] places a primary focus on the woman and her sin and relativizes the role of the third party of the triangle, the scribes and the Pharisees.
Interpreters have the propensity to operate out of the scribes' and Pharisees' valuation of the woman's sin rather than Jesus'.
When the text speaks in its own voice, it is regarded as too dangerous for the interests of the interpreters, and so has been misread against the woman.
...The larger social questions of Jesus' relationship to the religious establishment and the challenge he presented to the status quo are lost to the woman's sin."
- Gail O'Day
The Rape Law (Deut. 22:26,27)
In point of fact, the Pharisees had it wrong. Catching a woman in the act is not enough to put a woman to death: its only enough to put the man to death.
Even under O.T. Law (Torah), the establishment of the woman's guilt must take into account the possibility of rape:
The so-called 'Rape-Law' is worded in such a way as to make this plain. The concern of the Law is the woman's willing complicity, and if there is no eye-witnesses or convincing circumstances that prove she willingly conspired with the man, she must be released, even though the man is put to death in any case.
The "country/city" clause in the Law has the obvious purpose of establishing common-sense conditions that protect a woman from both rape and the double-jeopardy of false accusations after the fact:
The blind letter of the law can obviously kill. Above all, God always insists that judges exercise righteous judgement, and uphold the intent of the law, not look for loopholes.
Even putting all questions of compassion, mercy, and grace through repentance aside, Jesus would certainly demand that they "Judge not by mere appearance, but judge righteous (true) judgment." (Jn 7:24).
Plainly, the woman could not be put to death without a thorough inquiry. There could be no 'off the cuff' ruling possible in these circumstances, in spite of the claims or wishes of the Pharisees and scribes. And without further evidence, the Law required the woman's release, guilty or not.
Due Process
Unfortunately, the Law did require a thorough inquiry.
Due process is required, of which it can be assumed the scribes and Pharisees were perfectly aware. This was of course maintained by practice and tradition.
Lynching of any kind is expressly forbidden (Exod. 23:1,2). The Pharisees had protected themselves from this charge by publicly acknowledging Jesus as a Teacher of the Law, calling him 'Didaskaleh' (Rabbi) (Isa 29:13), and appealing for a Special Judgement under Deuteronomy 17:8-13.
This meant that they had to abide by Jesus' decision under penalty of death: and this was also in itself an admission that they lacked the necessary witnesses for a straightforward trial: For otherwise they could not stray to the right or left of the Law (Num. 20:17, 22:26, Deut.2:27, 5:32, 17:11-20, 28:14).
This brought everyone present under Deuteronomy 19:18-19, which commanded Jesus as Judge to make a full inquiry and punish false witnesses with the sentence intended for their victim, in this case the death penalty.
Jesus certainly had the sympathy and control of a large part of the crowd, and the situation was not without danger for the scribes and Pharisees also.
- Nazaroo
"I believe it would be generally accepted that the episode has never been adequately explained.
Why was the woman brought by the Pharisees and scribes to Jesus? We are told that it was "to try him" or "to tempt him". What can this mean?
What Was the Real Trap?
The usual explanation is that this is connected with the Sanhedrin’s loss of power to inflict the death penalty. I am not convinced that the Romans had taken from the Sanhedrin the power to impose the penalty of death, but let us take the worst case scenario for me and assume they had.
The argument is, I suppose, that if Jesus said the woman should be stoned, then he would offend the Romans, and be in danger.
This approach to the issue I find unconvincing. Why on earth would the Romans be angered if Jesus, a private individual, claimed that an adulteress should be stoned? He would not even be insisting that a verdict of the Sanhedrin should be enforced. There had been none.
Even more to the point, on this approach the Pharisees are putting themselves, not Jesus, at risk with the Romans. It is they who claim that the law of Moses that they follow imposes the penalty of death by stoning. They even said "Moses commanded us (ημιν) to stone such women". The supposed scenario and its explanation are entirely implausible."
- Alan Watson
The Other Adulterer: Where is He?
Another important question is often raised by commentators, namely, Where is the man? It obviously takes two to commit adultery (or at least fornication: see Matt. 5:27-28!).
The question is good, but how it is handled usually isn't: It is used as 'evidence' that the scribes and Pharisees are either guilty of hypocrisy or some more heineous crime, like entrapment or that they are guilty of adultery themselves.
To make such an accusation on such flimsy evidence however, is exactly what we are NOT supposed to do, according to the Lord (John 7:24 for instance!), nor would it be admissable in a courtroom.
Nor should the absence of the man be grounds for doubt regarding the historical accuracy of the passage. There can be many good explanations for his absence. Derrett has made an elaborate case supporting the idea that the trial was already finished, and the Pharisees were on their way from there to the stoning.
Other possibilities should be considered. They may have already stoned the man or killed him in the process of 'arrest' (...especially if the husband had caught them, this would be a common enough circumstance!). His guilt was certain if caught in the act. Only the woman need be brought before Jesus for an opinion.
This Bird has Flown...
The most obvious possibility of all, is that the man fled, escaping his discoverer. He need not be stronger, only faster, and it is far easier for a suspect to flee a scene than for an opponent to secure him. The adulterer would have the advantage and be on the lookout for discovery. An unsuspecting husband would have no such warning. The woman, with fewer options and resources, would be far easier to catch.
Again, if they had taken the case to the Romans, they may have taken the prisoner themselves for whipping or prison, but declined to process the woman, turning her back to them for punishment.
The Romans had no death penalty for adultery, and might have simply commanded that she be flogged by the Jews. Once free of the watchful Roman eye, they would proceed their own way.
In the end, the absence of the man is a significant fact that would require an explanation, and also further inquiry before sentencing the girl. But its not one that necessarily incriminates the Pharisees and scribes. Commentators frequently push this too far.
- Nazaroo
Adultery by Divorce!
"I would put the episode in a specific historical context:
Jesus had declared that a woman whose husband had divorced her and who remarried committed adultery (Matt 5,31-32; 19,3-9; Mark 10,2-9.)
The woman brought to Jesus was, I suggest, a remarried divorcée. By Jesus’ own claim she was thus an adulteress, but not for the Pharisees. Moses allowed divorce, Jesus forbade it (cf. Mark 10:11-12).
The trap of the Pharisees for Jesus was this: the law of Moses demanded death by stoning for an adulteress; Jesus claimed remarried divorcées were adulteresses though Moses did not, and neither did the Pharisees.
Would Jesus follow his argument to its logical conclusion and impose death on a remarried divorcée? The scribes and Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus very precisely to test him.
No Crime, No Trial
We can see now why there was no trial before the Sanhedrin. For the Pharisees there had been no crime.
The problem of evidence of adultery and of the difficulties of proof disappears. For Jesus, the remarriage of the divorcée was itself adultery.
Besides, we are no longer concerned with a trial and its practical problems. We are confronted rather with a theoretical issue: namely, would Jesus make a divorcée who remarried be liable to suffer the Mosaic penalty for adultery?
... John 8,6, indeed, is very specific. The scribes and Pharisees were "tempting" Jesus so "that they may have [reason] to accuse him". What was to be the ground of this intended accusation?
It cannot have been, I have already claimed, an accusation to the Romans that he was seeking to have the Sanhedrin put the woman to death, a power that the Romans had supposedly taken from the Jews.
Rather, the accusation would be before the Jews themselves, that Jesus was seeking to alter the law of Moses. Such an accusation could be seen as plausible.
Indeed, one part of the double-headed charge against Stephen — and which led to his lynching after an abortive trial before the Sanhedrin — was precisely that Jesus was speaking "blasphemous words" against Moses (Acts 7,11) and the law (Acts 7,13), and changing the customs which Moses delivered to the Jews (Acts 7,14).
The innocent-seeming question, but meant as a trap, to Jesus about the adulteress was full of danger to him.
"Where is the (man) adulterer?"
I have left aside to this point the answer to the basic question, "Where is the adulterer?" My reason is that his absence from the scene is the strongest evidence that the pericope as it stands is unrealistic. If she were caught in the act then so would he have been, and the penalty for both was the same. He, too, should have been brought before Jesus. His absence must be explained.
My answer is that for the Pharisees there was no adultery, no catching in the act, and no adulterer. Their only interest was to test Jesus: would he say the woman was an adulteress to be stoned? Of course, no doubt, they could also have claimed the new husband was an adulterer. But why should they? There was no need for that for the purposes of the test.
- Alan Watson
Not So Elementary, My Dear Watson
Watson's hypothesis is striking, but not compelling. In its favour is its apparent foundation upon Jesus' public teaching on marriage and adultery, and His apparent sharp disagreement with the Pharisees on this vital community issue.
But Watson admits his reconstruction also contains some severe conflicts with the incident itself, and so ironically, he must ultimately dismiss key elements of the story as 'unhistorical'.
Watson speaks as though the only obstacle to his thesis is the 'argument from silence', that is, the issue of divorce and Jesus' teaching on it are not explicitly mentioned at all. This presentation is inadequate and misleading for several glaring reasons. The problems Watson's thesis faces are these:
- Nazaroo
to bring people up to speed on the historical circumstances, legal requirements, and actual significance of this important incident, for gospel doctrine.
The full commentary, encompassing 400 years of analysis of these verses by some of the most brilliant and insightful commentators can be read onsite:
"It is conceded that adultery was exceedingly common at this time, so common that they had ceased to put the law in force against it. The Waters of Jealousy (Numbers 5:19-28) were no longer drunk, the culprits or those suspected of this crime, being so very numerous; and the men who were guilty themselves dared not try their suspected wives, as it was believed the waters would have no evil effect upon the wife, if the husband himself had been criminal."
- Adam Clarke
As Jesus continues his teaching in the temple (8,2), it is quite appropriate that now the scribes rather than the chief priests join the Pharisees in trying to trap Jesus, since the Jews had earlier questioned Jesus' knowledge of "scripture" (7:15, γραμματα), and the "scribes" (8:3, γραμματεις) are scriptural experts.
Presenting the adulteress (8,3) and purposefully addressing Jesus as "teacher" (8,4; see 7,14.16.17.28), the scribes and the Pharisees test the teaching of Jesus with explicit reference to the law of Moses... (8,5).
- John Paul Heil
Johannine Irony
Another Johannine Irony is intended here, for the Pharisees call Jesus "Teacher" (8:3) but not "Lord" (8:11). (cf. John 13:13 - "You [disciples] call Me Teacher and Lord...").
"Teacher" ( = διδασκαλε) is the Greek equivalent of "Rabbi", and may be a lip-service gesture, or even a back-handed insult: They may have engaged Him in Greek because He was from Galilee, where the majority of rural 'Israelites' conversed in Greek. There is some indication that Jesus spoke fluently in Greek (cf. John 7:35, where "Gentiles" is literally "Greeks", or possibly Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora).
In any case there is a formal limit to the amount of respect they pay to Jesus, even when appealing to Him for an opinion or judgement.
- Nazaroo
The scribes and Pharisees ...interrupt his teaching in the Temple to interject a lesson of their own. They are accustomed to controlling discourse in the Temple.
... As v. 5 makes clear, the woman is not a subject but an object, a point of law. Both Lev 20:10 and Deut. 22:22-24 advocate the death penalty for adultery, although neither specifies stoning. The two texts also prescribe death for both offenders, the man and the woman, even though the woman's accusers here speak as though the death penalty applies only to the woman (note the feminine accusative plural pronouns, τας τοιαυτας [i.e., - "women such as these"] )
Their first concern is with entrapping Jesus, not with the law or justice, or even the woman. She is a useful object to be exploited for their ulterior motives.
- Gail O'Day
In fact, stoning is the traditional method of execution for adultery. O'Day is sloppy here. Deuteronomy 22:24 specifies stoning:
'Then you shall bring them outside the city gate, and stone them with stones until they die.'
(Deut. 22:24a)
Watson notes that the penalty for adultery was only changed to strangulation by the Jewish Rabbis in the early second century, and so the story must be very old! (See DAUBE, "Landmarks", 188; BECKER, Jesus, 166-167.)
- Nazaroo
"A Lynching ...was the only way in which she could be punished. Because the Sanhedrin was not allowed to hear cases involving the death-penalty, at any rate in Jerusalem itself, the constitutional method of seeking a penalty against her would have been to approach the Roman governor.
The Jewish Law prescribed how and by what means an adulteress should be punished; but its application was hindered so far as regular administration was concerned, and the Romans provided no attractive alternative.
No Roman judge would condemn to death a woman taken in adultery, and that was what the crowd (and the husband) wanted, it would seem, to happen to her. A smaller legal punishment, or even another at the judge's discretion, would by no means satisfy their zeal."
- Duncan M. Derrett
"...the zeal of the crowd was aroused by more than just the woman's violation of the law. Mixed in with their righteous indignation against the woman's sin are at least two kinds of resentment: the first against the constituted colonial authority of the Romans, the imposition of whose relatively lax legal code could be seen as yet another affront to Jewish religious and political sovereignty, and the second against Jesus, taken by the crowd as a self-constituted moral authority, whose self-evident righteousness also arouses resentment.
The woman is largely a pretext for the expression of other resentments, especially those of the scribes and Pharisees for any perceived threat to their civic and political authority.
The mob Jesus confronts in the Pericope de Adultera bears all the hallmarks of what Gans and Girard would identify as a "community in crisis": feeling their religious/legal tradition belittled by the imposition of Roman authority, and riven by competing ideas about how to re-assert the significance of Jewish nationality and identity, the crowd gathers and prepares to immolate a hapless woman in the hope that the execution of an adulteress will re-establish group unity."
- Matthew Schneider
"In the case of adulterers, they (the witnesses) must have seen them in the posture of adulterers [i.e., the actual sexual position]."
- Rabbi Samuel (cf. mSan 5; bSan 30a, G-Daniel: Susanna)
"(It is not just an issue) of their having seen the couple in a `compromising situation,' for example, coming from a room in which they were alone, or even lying together on the same bed. The actual physical movements of the couple must have been capable of no other explanation, and the witnesses must have seen exactly the same acts at exactly the same time, in the presence of each other, so that their depositions would be identical in every respect."
- Duncan Derrett
The accusers committed a colossal tactical blunder. Their charge itself contained information sufficient to expose their hypocrisy. The scribes and Pharisees emphatically declared that the poor woman had been caught “in the very act.” That is significant.
I am reminded of the circumstance where two men were in a fight and one bit off a portion of the other’s ear. When the case came to trial, the attorney for the accused asked a witness: “Did you see Mr. Jones bite off Mr. Smith’s ear?” “No,” the witness responded.
The lawyer might well have stopped at that point with: “No further questions.” - but he just had to ask one question more: “How, then, do you know that Jones bit off Smith’s ear?”
The witness responded : “I saw him spit it out!”
When the Jewish leaders decided to be so specific, “in the very act,” they acknowledged an important point: They knew the identity of the male participant..."
- Wayne Jackson
Striking at the Heart of the Question
John in the narrative, says 'taken in an adultery':
(Greek: - εν μοιχεια κατειλημμενην )
But the Pharisees say, "committing adultery"(!):
(Greek: - επ' αυτοφωρω μοιχονενην )
Both agree that an adultery has taken place; but John, guided by the Holy Spirit, condemns no one. (Matt 7:1)
The Pharisees, on the other hand, accuse the woman. (Acts 10:28)
What a contrast between John's humble yet powerful understatement, and the Pharisees' rude and arrogant interruption (1st Cor 13:1).
Only the use of the 'active-voice verb participle' by the Pharisee spokesman implies action and participation in the crime, and hence guilt: they say literally, "caught adulterizing".
John's statement in the narrative is entirely different: it speaks of the crime in the abstract, "adultery", and only relates the bare facts, namely that the woman was 'captured' during a criminal activity. Her guilt is not even discussed.
Instead John's testimony concentrates on the known facts, her presence at the scene of a crime. Even the word 'captured' implies no guilt or innocence. 'Capturing' (literally kidnapping) is an activity that can be engaged in by police or criminals, and of course false arrests are entirely possible. That's what trials are for.
The disturbingly divergent expressions so closely juxtaposed beg for special notice: Its the motherload of Johannine Irony for this passage. A critically important question is left hanging in the air:
What if the woman was innocent?
- Nazaroo
Historical Assumption of Guilt by Commentators
"The conventional distorted 'reading' [interpretation] places a primary focus on the woman and her sin and relativizes the role of the third party of the triangle, the scribes and the Pharisees.
Interpreters have the propensity to operate out of the scribes' and Pharisees' valuation of the woman's sin rather than Jesus'.
When the text speaks in its own voice, it is regarded as too dangerous for the interests of the interpreters, and so has been misread against the woman.
...The larger social questions of Jesus' relationship to the religious establishment and the challenge he presented to the status quo are lost to the woman's sin."
- Gail O'Day
The Rape Law (Deut. 22:26,27)
In point of fact, the Pharisees had it wrong. Catching a woman in the act is not enough to put a woman to death: its only enough to put the man to death.
Even under O.T. Law (Torah), the establishment of the woman's guilt must take into account the possibility of rape:
"But you shall do nothing to the young woman;..."
the benefit of the doubt is given to her,
"that there is in her no sin worthy of death,..."
and it is taken for granted that,
"the betrothed young woman screamed,
and there was no one to save her."
(Deut. 22:26,27)
Jesus had every right to demand a lot more than just their word that they 'caught her in the act'. What was needed under the Law was clear evidence of her willing compliance in the act of fornication. the benefit of the doubt is given to her,
"that there is in her no sin worthy of death,..."
and it is taken for granted that,
"the betrothed young woman screamed,
and there was no one to save her."
(Deut. 22:26,27)
The so-called 'Rape-Law' is worded in such a way as to make this plain. The concern of the Law is the woman's willing complicity, and if there is no eye-witnesses or convincing circumstances that prove she willingly conspired with the man, she must be released, even though the man is put to death in any case.
The "country/city" clause in the Law has the obvious purpose of establishing common-sense conditions that protect a woman from both rape and the double-jeopardy of false accusations after the fact:
"If the young virgin was betrothed,
and a man...lays with her in the city,
...you shall stone them both to death...
but if in the countryside the man forces her,
then the man only shall die...
for she [obviously] cried out,
and there was no one to save her."
(Deut. 22:23-25)
Even though 'technically' they might claim this woman was "in the city", such a literal interpretation of the Law would be a monstrous breach of its intent. Obviously it could not apply fairly to a mute woman or someone who was gagged, threatened with a knife, or even blackmailed, to name just a few examples. and a man...lays with her in the city,
...you shall stone them both to death...
but if in the countryside the man forces her,
then the man only shall die...
for she [obviously] cried out,
and there was no one to save her."
(Deut. 22:23-25)
The blind letter of the law can obviously kill. Above all, God always insists that judges exercise righteous judgement, and uphold the intent of the law, not look for loopholes.
Even putting all questions of compassion, mercy, and grace through repentance aside, Jesus would certainly demand that they "Judge not by mere appearance, but judge righteous (true) judgment." (Jn 7:24).
Plainly, the woman could not be put to death without a thorough inquiry. There could be no 'off the cuff' ruling possible in these circumstances, in spite of the claims or wishes of the Pharisees and scribes. And without further evidence, the Law required the woman's release, guilty or not.
Due Process
Unfortunately, the Law did require a thorough inquiry.
Due process is required, of which it can be assumed the scribes and Pharisees were perfectly aware. This was of course maintained by practice and tradition.
Lynching of any kind is expressly forbidden (Exod. 23:1,2). The Pharisees had protected themselves from this charge by publicly acknowledging Jesus as a Teacher of the Law, calling him 'Didaskaleh' (Rabbi) (Isa 29:13), and appealing for a Special Judgement under Deuteronomy 17:8-13.
This meant that they had to abide by Jesus' decision under penalty of death: and this was also in itself an admission that they lacked the necessary witnesses for a straightforward trial: For otherwise they could not stray to the right or left of the Law (Num. 20:17, 22:26, Deut.2:27, 5:32, 17:11-20, 28:14).
This brought everyone present under Deuteronomy 19:18-19, which commanded Jesus as Judge to make a full inquiry and punish false witnesses with the sentence intended for their victim, in this case the death penalty.
Jesus certainly had the sympathy and control of a large part of the crowd, and the situation was not without danger for the scribes and Pharisees also.
- Nazaroo
"I believe it would be generally accepted that the episode has never been adequately explained.
Why was the woman brought by the Pharisees and scribes to Jesus? We are told that it was "to try him" or "to tempt him". What can this mean?
What Was the Real Trap?
The usual explanation is that this is connected with the Sanhedrin’s loss of power to inflict the death penalty. I am not convinced that the Romans had taken from the Sanhedrin the power to impose the penalty of death, but let us take the worst case scenario for me and assume they had.
The argument is, I suppose, that if Jesus said the woman should be stoned, then he would offend the Romans, and be in danger.
This approach to the issue I find unconvincing. Why on earth would the Romans be angered if Jesus, a private individual, claimed that an adulteress should be stoned? He would not even be insisting that a verdict of the Sanhedrin should be enforced. There had been none.
Even more to the point, on this approach the Pharisees are putting themselves, not Jesus, at risk with the Romans. It is they who claim that the law of Moses that they follow imposes the penalty of death by stoning. They even said "Moses commanded us (ημιν) to stone such women". The supposed scenario and its explanation are entirely implausible."
- Alan Watson
The Other Adulterer: Where is He?
Another important question is often raised by commentators, namely, Where is the man? It obviously takes two to commit adultery (or at least fornication: see Matt. 5:27-28!).
The question is good, but how it is handled usually isn't: It is used as 'evidence' that the scribes and Pharisees are either guilty of hypocrisy or some more heineous crime, like entrapment or that they are guilty of adultery themselves.
To make such an accusation on such flimsy evidence however, is exactly what we are NOT supposed to do, according to the Lord (John 7:24 for instance!), nor would it be admissable in a courtroom.
Nor should the absence of the man be grounds for doubt regarding the historical accuracy of the passage. There can be many good explanations for his absence. Derrett has made an elaborate case supporting the idea that the trial was already finished, and the Pharisees were on their way from there to the stoning.
Other possibilities should be considered. They may have already stoned the man or killed him in the process of 'arrest' (...especially if the husband had caught them, this would be a common enough circumstance!). His guilt was certain if caught in the act. Only the woman need be brought before Jesus for an opinion.
This Bird has Flown...
The most obvious possibility of all, is that the man fled, escaping his discoverer. He need not be stronger, only faster, and it is far easier for a suspect to flee a scene than for an opponent to secure him. The adulterer would have the advantage and be on the lookout for discovery. An unsuspecting husband would have no such warning. The woman, with fewer options and resources, would be far easier to catch.
Again, if they had taken the case to the Romans, they may have taken the prisoner themselves for whipping or prison, but declined to process the woman, turning her back to them for punishment.
The Romans had no death penalty for adultery, and might have simply commanded that she be flogged by the Jews. Once free of the watchful Roman eye, they would proceed their own way.
In the end, the absence of the man is a significant fact that would require an explanation, and also further inquiry before sentencing the girl. But its not one that necessarily incriminates the Pharisees and scribes. Commentators frequently push this too far.
- Nazaroo
Adultery by Divorce!
"I would put the episode in a specific historical context:
Jesus had declared that a woman whose husband had divorced her and who remarried committed adultery (Matt 5,31-32; 19,3-9; Mark 10,2-9.)
The woman brought to Jesus was, I suggest, a remarried divorcée. By Jesus’ own claim she was thus an adulteress, but not for the Pharisees. Moses allowed divorce, Jesus forbade it (cf. Mark 10:11-12).
The trap of the Pharisees for Jesus was this: the law of Moses demanded death by stoning for an adulteress; Jesus claimed remarried divorcées were adulteresses though Moses did not, and neither did the Pharisees.
Would Jesus follow his argument to its logical conclusion and impose death on a remarried divorcée? The scribes and Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus very precisely to test him.
No Crime, No Trial
We can see now why there was no trial before the Sanhedrin. For the Pharisees there had been no crime.
The problem of evidence of adultery and of the difficulties of proof disappears. For Jesus, the remarriage of the divorcée was itself adultery.
Besides, we are no longer concerned with a trial and its practical problems. We are confronted rather with a theoretical issue: namely, would Jesus make a divorcée who remarried be liable to suffer the Mosaic penalty for adultery?
... John 8,6, indeed, is very specific. The scribes and Pharisees were "tempting" Jesus so "that they may have [reason] to accuse him". What was to be the ground of this intended accusation?
It cannot have been, I have already claimed, an accusation to the Romans that he was seeking to have the Sanhedrin put the woman to death, a power that the Romans had supposedly taken from the Jews.
Rather, the accusation would be before the Jews themselves, that Jesus was seeking to alter the law of Moses. Such an accusation could be seen as plausible.
Indeed, one part of the double-headed charge against Stephen — and which led to his lynching after an abortive trial before the Sanhedrin — was precisely that Jesus was speaking "blasphemous words" against Moses (Acts 7,11) and the law (Acts 7,13), and changing the customs which Moses delivered to the Jews (Acts 7,14).
The innocent-seeming question, but meant as a trap, to Jesus about the adulteress was full of danger to him.
"Where is the (man) adulterer?"
I have left aside to this point the answer to the basic question, "Where is the adulterer?" My reason is that his absence from the scene is the strongest evidence that the pericope as it stands is unrealistic. If she were caught in the act then so would he have been, and the penalty for both was the same. He, too, should have been brought before Jesus. His absence must be explained.
My answer is that for the Pharisees there was no adultery, no catching in the act, and no adulterer. Their only interest was to test Jesus: would he say the woman was an adulteress to be stoned? Of course, no doubt, they could also have claimed the new husband was an adulterer. But why should they? There was no need for that for the purposes of the test.
- Alan Watson
Not So Elementary, My Dear Watson
Watson's hypothesis is striking, but not compelling. In its favour is its apparent foundation upon Jesus' public teaching on marriage and adultery, and His apparent sharp disagreement with the Pharisees on this vital community issue.
But Watson admits his reconstruction also contains some severe conflicts with the incident itself, and so ironically, he must ultimately dismiss key elements of the story as 'unhistorical'.
Watson speaks as though the only obstacle to his thesis is the 'argument from silence', that is, the issue of divorce and Jesus' teaching on it are not explicitly mentioned at all. This presentation is inadequate and misleading for several glaring reasons. The problems Watson's thesis faces are these:
(1) The Pharisees and scribes have actually arrested a prisoner, and clearly intend to stone her, or push Jesus into it. This goes strongly against the idea that the Pharisees hold her innocent. Watson can't explain why they would go to such lengths, undermining their own position just to 'tempt' Jesus.
(2) They claim to have actually caught her "in the very act, committing adultery". This implies an entirely different scenario than a supposedly legal marriage, disapproved of by Jesus. Can we imagine them arresting a woman whom they would have married in the first place?
(3) The Pharisees and scribes insist "Moses commanded us such be stoned". They demand justice on this basis, and again, this implies a plain case of adultery is before us, not a dispute about what constitutes a legal marriage, where the Pharisees take the opposing view, that it is legal.
(4) Jesus would surely publicly uphold His own teaching regarding marriage. Even when defeating his enemies with a dilemma, He would surely have followed up with a parable or explanation underlining His position. Where's the teaching?
(5) Jesus would surely have exposed their murderous frame-up and hypocrisy here, if Watson were right. Yet Jesus handles the case in terms of Matt. 5:28 (their own sexual sins), not in terms of Matt. 19:3-9 (divorce), or even more appropriate, Matt. 23:2-4, 14 (mishandling of Torah).
(6) Watson's version also paints the Pharisees and scribes as far more hideous and cruel monsters than even Jesus' accusations make out. Watson would have them framing an innocent party by their own interpretation, simply to embarrass or humiliate Jesus. Yet Jesus' own testimony was that they wanted to murder Him, and their behaviour later shows no conscious malice directed at others. (cf. John 18:8...)
These are overwhelming difficulties that can only be overcome by Watson's rejection of the story as it is given to us. He must actually rewrite it drastically, and delete its very heart and soul. The version of the story Watson ends up with is unrecognizable, and more fatal to his thesis, is historically unknown. (2) They claim to have actually caught her "in the very act, committing adultery". This implies an entirely different scenario than a supposedly legal marriage, disapproved of by Jesus. Can we imagine them arresting a woman whom they would have married in the first place?
(3) The Pharisees and scribes insist "Moses commanded us such be stoned". They demand justice on this basis, and again, this implies a plain case of adultery is before us, not a dispute about what constitutes a legal marriage, where the Pharisees take the opposing view, that it is legal.
(4) Jesus would surely publicly uphold His own teaching regarding marriage. Even when defeating his enemies with a dilemma, He would surely have followed up with a parable or explanation underlining His position. Where's the teaching?
(5) Jesus would surely have exposed their murderous frame-up and hypocrisy here, if Watson were right. Yet Jesus handles the case in terms of Matt. 5:28 (their own sexual sins), not in terms of Matt. 19:3-9 (divorce), or even more appropriate, Matt. 23:2-4, 14 (mishandling of Torah).
(6) Watson's version also paints the Pharisees and scribes as far more hideous and cruel monsters than even Jesus' accusations make out. Watson would have them framing an innocent party by their own interpretation, simply to embarrass or humiliate Jesus. Yet Jesus' own testimony was that they wanted to murder Him, and their behaviour later shows no conscious malice directed at others. (cf. John 18:8...)
- Nazaroo