John 8: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The scribes and Pharisees bring Jesus a woman caught in adultery to test him, and he tells whoever is without sin to throw the first stone; her accusers leave, and he tells her he does not condemn her and to sin no more. Teaching in the temple, Jesus calls himself the light of the world and argues with the Pharisees about his testimony, his Father, and where he came from. He tells those who believed him that staying with his word makes them his disciples, who will know the truth and be set free. The argument moves to who their father is, and when Jesus says "before Abraham was, I am," they pick up stones and he leaves the temple.

Claim by Claim

1. 8:1
   • Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2. 8:2
   • Early in the morning Jesus came again into the temple.
   • All the people came to him.
   • He sat down and taught them.
3. 8:3
   • The scribes and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery.
   • They set the woman in the middle of the group.
4. 8:4
   • They said to Jesus, calling him Teacher.
   • They said this woman was caught in adultery.
   • They said she was caught in the very act.
5. 8:5
   • They said Moses in the law commanded them that such women should be stoned.
   • They asked Jesus what he says.
6. 8:6
   • They said this to test Jesus.
   • They said this so they might have grounds to accuse him.
   • Jesus stooped down.
   • Jesus wrote on the ground with his finger.
   • The King James adds that Jesus acted as though he did not hear them.
7. 8:7
   • They continued asking him.
   • Jesus lifted himself up.
   • Jesus said to them that the one among them who is without sin should be the first to cast a stone at her.
8. 8:8
   • Jesus stooped down again.
   • Jesus wrote on the ground.
9. 8:9
   • Those who heard it were convicted by their own conscience.
   • They went out one by one.
   • They began with the eldest and continued to the last.
   • Jesus was left alone.
   • The woman was left standing in the middle.
10. 8:10
    • Jesus lifted himself up.
    • Jesus saw no one but the woman.
    • Jesus asked her where her accusers were.
    • Jesus asked her whether no one had condemned her.
    • Jesus addressed her as woman.
11. 8:11
    • She said no one had condemned her.
    • She addressed Jesus as Lord.
    • Jesus said to her that neither does he condemn her.
    • Jesus told her to go.
    • Jesus told her to sin no more.
12. 8:12
    • Jesus spoke to them again.
    • Jesus said he is the light of the world.
    • Jesus said the one who follows him will not walk in darkness.
    • Jesus said the one who follows him will have the light of life.
13. 8:13
    • The Pharisees said to Jesus that he bears witness about himself.
    • The Pharisees said his testimony is not true.
14. 8:14
    • Jesus answered them.
    • Jesus said that even if he bears witness about himself, his testimony is true.
    • Jesus said the reason is that he knows where he came from and where he is going.
    • Jesus said they do not know where he comes from or where he is going.
15. 8:15
    • Jesus said they judge according to the flesh.
    • Jesus said he judges no one.
16. 8:16
    • Jesus said that even if he does judge, his judgment is true.
    • Jesus said the reason is that he is not alone.
    • Jesus said he and the Father who sent him are together.
17. 8:17
    • Jesus said it is written in their law that the testimony of two men is true.
18. 8:18
    • Jesus said he is one who bears witness about himself.
    • Jesus said the Father who sent him bears witness about him.
19. 8:19
    • They asked Jesus where his Father is.
    • Jesus answered that they know neither him nor his Father.
    • Jesus said that if they had known him, they would have known his Father also.
20. 8:20
    • Jesus spoke these words in the treasury.
    • He spoke them while teaching in the temple.
    • No one seized him.
    • The reason no one seized him was that his hour had not yet come.
21. 8:21
    • Jesus said to them again that he is going away.
    • Jesus said they will seek him.
    • Jesus said they will die in their sin.
    • Jesus said that where he goes, they cannot come.
22. 8:22
    • The Jews asked whether he will kill himself.
    • They asked this because he said that where he goes they cannot come.
23. 8:23
    • Jesus said to them that they are from beneath.
    • Jesus said he is from above.
    • Jesus said they are of this world.
    • Jesus said he is not of this world.
24. 8:24
    • Jesus said he had told them that they will die in their sins.
    • Jesus said that if they do not believe that he is, they will die in their sins.
25. 8:25
    • They asked him who he is.
    • Jesus answered them; the King James renders his answer as that he is the same one he told them from the beginning, while the Greek can also be read as a question about why he speaks to them at all.
26. 8:26
    • Jesus said he has many things to say concerning them.
    • Jesus said he has many things to judge concerning them.
    • Jesus said the one who sent him is true.
    • Jesus said he speaks to the world the things he has heard from him.
27. 8:27
    • They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father.
28. 8:28
    • Jesus said to them that when they have lifted up the Son of man, then they will know that he is.
    • Jesus said they will then know that he does nothing of himself.
    • Jesus said he speaks these things as the Father taught him.
29. 8:29
    • Jesus said the one who sent him is with him.
    • Jesus said the Father has not left him alone.
    • Jesus said the reason is that he always does the things that please him.
30. 8:30
    • As Jesus spoke these words, many believed in him.
31. 8:31
    • Jesus said this to the Jews who had believed him.
    • Jesus said that if they continue in his word, they are truly his disciples.
32. 8:32
    • Jesus said they will know the truth.
    • Jesus said the truth will make them free.
33. 8:33
    • They answered that they are Abraham's seed.
    • They said they were never in bondage to anyone.
    • They asked how he says they will be made free.
34. 8:34
    • Jesus answered them with a solemn double affirmation.
    • Jesus said that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
35. 8:35
    • Jesus said the slave does not remain in the house forever.
    • Jesus said the son remains forever.
36. 8:36
    • Jesus said that if the Son makes them free, they will be free indeed.
37. 8:37
    • Jesus said he knows they are Abraham's seed.
    • Jesus said they seek to kill him.
    • Jesus said the reason is that his word has no place in them.
38. 8:38
    • Jesus said he speaks what he has seen with the Father.
    • Jesus said they do what they have heard from their father.
39. 8:39
    • They answered that Abraham is their father.
    • Jesus said to them that if they were Abraham's children, they would do the works of Abraham.
40. 8:40
    • Jesus said that now they seek to kill him.
    • Jesus said he is a man who has told them the truth.
    • Jesus said he heard that truth from God.
    • Jesus said Abraham did not do this.
41. 8:41
    • Jesus said they do the deeds of their father.
    • They said to him that they were not born of fornication.
    • They said they have one Father, God.
42. 8:42
    • Jesus said to them that if God were their Father, they would love him.
    • Jesus said he proceeded forth and came from God.
    • Jesus said he did not come of himself.
    • Jesus said God sent him.
43. 8:43
    • Jesus asked why they do not understand his speech.
    • Jesus said it is because they cannot hear his word.
44. 8:44
    • Jesus said they are of their father the devil.
    • Jesus said they want to do the desires of their father.
    • Jesus said the devil was a murderer from the beginning.
    • Jesus said the devil did not stand in the truth.
    • Jesus said there is no truth in the devil.
    • Jesus said that when the devil speaks a lie, he speaks from what is his own.
    • Jesus said the devil is a liar.
    • Jesus said the devil is the father of lying.
45. 8:45
    • Jesus said that because he tells them the truth, they do not believe him.
46. 8:46
    • Jesus asked which of them convicts him of sin.
    • Jesus asked why they do not believe him if he speaks the truth.
47. 8:47
    • Jesus said the one who is of God hears God's words.
    • Jesus said they do not hear.
    • Jesus said the reason is that they are not of God.
48. 8:48
    • The Jews answered him.
    • They asked whether they were not right to say that he is a Samaritan.
    • They asked whether they were not right to say that he has a demon.
49. 8:49
    • Jesus answered that he does not have a demon.
    • Jesus said he honors his Father.
    • Jesus said they dishonor him.
50. 8:50
    • Jesus said he does not seek his own glory.
    • Jesus said there is one who seeks it and judges.
51. 8:51
    • Jesus spoke with a solemn double affirmation.
    • Jesus said that if anyone keeps his word, he will never see death.
52. 8:52
    • The Jews said to him that now they know he has a demon.
    • They said Abraham died.
    • They said the prophets died.
    • They said Jesus says that if anyone keeps his word, he will never taste death.
53. 8:53
    • They asked whether he is greater than their father Abraham, who died.
    • They said the prophets died.
    • They asked whom he makes himself out to be.
54. 8:54
    • Jesus answered that if he honors himself, his honor is nothing.
    • Jesus said it is his Father who honors him.
    • Jesus said they say of his Father that he is their God.
55. 8:55
    • Jesus said they have not known the Father.
    • Jesus said he knows him.
    • Jesus said that if he said he did not know him, he would be a liar like them.
    • Jesus said he knows him.
    • Jesus said he keeps his word.
56. 8:56
    • Jesus said their father Abraham rejoiced to see his day.
    • Jesus said Abraham saw it.
    • Jesus said Abraham was glad.
57. 8:57
    • The Jews said to him that he is not yet fifty years old.
    • They asked whether he has seen Abraham.
58. 8:58
    • Jesus spoke with a solemn double affirmation.
    • Jesus said that before Abraham came to be, he is.
59. 8:59
    • They took up stones to cast at him.
    • Jesus hid himself.
    • Jesus went out of the temple.
    • The King James adds that he went through the midst of them and passed by.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

8:1

This episode, verses 1 through 11, is absent from the oldest surviving Greek manuscripts of John. Where later manuscripts carry it, some place it elsewhere: after John 7:36, at the end of John, or in Luke. The King James translators worked from copies that had it here. The Mount of Olives is the ridge immediately east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley from the temple, planted with olive groves.

8:2

The temple was a walled complex of courtyards, not a single building, and "into the temple" means the open public courts where crowds could gather, not the sanctuary itself. Sitting down was the ordinary posture of a teacher, so "he sat down, and taught them" describes him taking up the teacher's position.

8:3

Scribes were professional experts in the written law, trained to copy, interpret and apply it. The Pharisees were a movement known for strict observance of the law together with the traditions that had grown up around it. They were not temple officials; their authority came from reputation for learning and exactness.

8:4

"Master" in 1611 English meant teacher, the usual respectful address to a rabbi. It carries no sense of owner or ruler here.

8:5

The law of Moses treats adultery as a capital crime (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22-24), and specifies stoning in the case of a betrothed woman. Two details are worth noticing in the wording. The law condemned both parties, and the man is not produced. And under Roman rule the Jewish authorities were not free to carry out executions themselves (see John 18:31), so an answer of yes risked defying Rome and an answer of no looked like setting aside Moses.

8:6

"Tempting him" in 1611 English means testing him, putting him to the proof, not luring him into sin. The verse is the only place in the Gospels where Jesus is described as writing anything, and the text does not say what he wrote.

8:7

In a stoning carried out under the law, the witnesses who brought the charge threw the first stones (Deuteronomy 17:7), so "let him first cast a stone" speaks to the accusers in their legal role. The Greek word behind "without sin" appears nowhere else in the New Testament and does not specify which sin is meant.

8:9

"Convicted" in 1611 English means convinced, or found guilty in their own minds, rather than convicted in a court. "Beginning at the eldest" follows the order of seniority in which such a group would act.

8:11

The Greek word rendered "Lord" is also the ordinary polite address, "sir." Nothing in the wording settles which weight the woman gives it.

8:12

This follows the Feast of Tabernacles of chapter 7, during which enormous lamps were lit at night in the temple's Court of the Women, filling the courts with light. "The light of the world" is spoken in that setting.

8:13

"Record" in 1611 English means testimony or witness, and "thy record is not true" is a legal objection: testimony that cannot be confirmed does not count as valid evidence. Under the law a charge or claim had to be established by two or more witnesses, so a lone self-witness proved nothing.

8:15

"After the flesh" means by outward appearance, by ordinary human reckoning. "Flesh" here is the human being as such, with no particular reference to the body or to sexual matters.

8:16

When Jesus says "my Father," he means God.

8:17

The rule is in Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15: a matter is established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. "Your law" is a common way of speaking to opponents about a law both sides accept, pointing to their own standard.

8:20

The treasury was the area in the Court of the Women where thirteen trumpet-shaped chests stood to receive offerings. It was a busy, public part of the temple complex. "His hour was not yet come" uses a fixed phrase in John's Gospel for the appointed time of his death.

8:21

In this book, Jesus's "hour" and his "going away" both point to his death. That is why his listeners keep misunderstanding him.

8:22

"The Jews" in John's Gospel is usually a shorthand for the Judean authorities and the crowd aligned with them in opposing Jesus, not for Jewish people in general. Jesus, his mother, and all his disciples were Jews.

8:23

Below means down here on the earth. Above means heaven, where God is.

8:24

The Greek is simply "I am," with no word after it; the King James supplies "he" to make an English sentence. The same bare phrase is what God says of himself in Exodus 3:14 in the Greek Old Testament and repeatedly in Isaiah. Readers have taken the words either as that echo or as the ordinary "I am the one I claim to be," and the sentence itself does not decide it.

8:25

This is one of the hardest sentences in the Gospel to construe. The Greek can be read as "just what I have been telling you from the beginning," or as a question, "why do I speak to you at all?", or as "from the beginning, what I am even telling you." Ancient readers disagreed, and the King James picks one of the possibilities.

8:28

The verb behind "lifted up" means both to raise something physically and to exalt or promote a person; John uses it of the crucifixion, holding both senses at once. "Son of man" is the title Jesus most often uses of himself in the Gospels; it draws on Daniel 7:13, where one "like the Son of man" comes with the clouds and receives an everlasting kingdom, and in ordinary Aramaic it could also mean simply a human being.

8:33

Abraham is the ancestor from whom Israel traced its descent, the man to whom God promised land and offspring in Genesis 12. "Seed" is the older English for descendants. The claim "never in bondage to any man" is not a claim about national history, which included slavery in Egypt, exile in Babylon and, at the moment of speaking, Roman rule. It is a claim about status: as free-born children of Abraham they had never been anyone's property.

8:34

"Verily, verily" is the Greek "Amen, amen," a solemn formula with which Jesus in John marks what follows as something he stands behind. The word the King James renders "servant" is the ordinary word for a slave, someone owned. The contrast between slave and free son runs through verses 33 to 36 and depends on that sense.

8:35

This is a point about households, not a metaphor being explained. A slave belonged to the household only as long as the owner chose, and could be sold or dismissed; a son belonged to it by birth and inherited it.

8:37

"My word hath no place in you" is literally "my word has no room in you." The Greek verb can also mean makes no headway or gains no ground, so the picture is either of a message that finds no space inside them or of a message that gets nowhere among them.

8:41

"Born of fornication" means born outside a lawful marriage, illegitimate. The retort answers the talk of their "father" by insisting their descent is legitimate. In the Hebrew prophets, sexual unfaithfulness was also a standard image for abandoning God for other gods, so the sentence can carry that second edge as well.

8:44

"Lusts" in 1611 English means desires or wants of any kind, without the narrowly sexual sense the word has now. "He speaketh of his own" means he speaks out of what belongs to him, from his own stock or, as the Greek can be taken, in his native language. "The father of it" is ambiguous in the Greek: it can mean the father of the lie or the father of the liar.

8:46

"Convinceth me of sin" uses "convince" in its 1611 sense: to convict, to prove guilty by evidence. The question is whether anyone can demonstrate a fault, not whether anyone can change his mind.

8:48

Samaritans lived in the region between Judea and Galilee, shared much ancestry and scripture with Jews, but worshiped at Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem. Centuries of hostility lay behind the word, and applied to a Judean it was a straightforward insult meaning outsider, half-breed, heretic. "Hast a devil" translates a word for a demon, not the devil himself; the charge is that he is possessed, which in ordinary speech amounted to calling him deranged.

8:50

"Glory" here translates a word meaning honor, reputation, the good opinion others hold of you, rather than radiance. The last clause is left open in the Greek as in the King James: "there is one that seeketh and judgeth" does not say in so many words what that one is seeking.

8:51

"See death" is a Hebrew idiom for experiencing or undergoing death, as "taste of death" is in verse 52. Neither phrase is about eyesight or flavor.

8:52

They take "never see death" in the plainest possible sense, as a claim that his followers will not physically die, and treat it as proof he is out of his mind. The whole exchange turns on that literal reading.

8:56

"My day" uses a common idiom for the time of a person's appearing or decisive action. The Greek behind "rejoiced to see my day" is literally "rejoiced that he might see my day," which can mean he was glad at the prospect or glad in the seeing itself. Jewish traditions of the period told of Abraham being shown things to come, though the verse does not point to any one of them.

8:57

Fifty marked the end of a man's working prime in Jewish reckoning; Levites, for example, served from thirty until fifty (Numbers 4:3). The number is a round upper limit, not a guess at Jesus's age. Some early manuscripts read "forty" here.

8:58

The clash of tenses is in the Greek too: a past-tense clause about Abraham followed by a present "I am." It would be ordinary Greek to say "I was." The bare phrase "I am" is the same one discussed at verse 24, the words God speaks in Exodus 3:14 in the Greek Old Testament.

8:59

Picking up stones on the spot is mob action, not a legal execution, which required trial and witnesses. Stoning was the prescribed penalty for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16), and the temple complex was still under construction in this period, so loose building stones lay within reach.

Where the Manuscripts Differ

Worth knowing before you stand up: a listener following a modern translation may not have this verse in front of them.

8:1

This account of the woman caught in adultery is missing from the earliest manuscripts, and some later ones place it elsewhere in the Gospels. Most modern Bibles keep it and mark it.