John 8

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

1Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

ManuscriptsThis 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.

NoteThis 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.

2Early the next morning he came back to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

NoteThe 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.

3The scribes and Pharisees brought him a woman who had been caught in adultery, that is, caught having sex with a man who was not her husband. They made her stand in front of everyone.

3And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

NoteScribes 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.

4They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery."

4They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

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

5"In the law, Moses commanded us to stone a woman like this to death. So what do you say?"

5Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

NoteThe 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.

6They said this to test him, hoping to get something they could use to accuse him. But Jesus bent down and began writing on the ground with his finger, as if he did not hear them.

6This 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.

Note"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.

7When they kept on asking him, he stood up straight and said to them, "Whichever one of you has never sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

NoteIn 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.

8Then he bent down again and wrote on the ground.

8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9When they heard this, their own consciences accused them, and they went away one at a time, starting with the oldest, until the last one was gone. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there.

9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Note"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.

10Jesus stood up straight and saw no one but the woman. He said to her, "Woman, where are the ones who accused you? Has no one condemned you?"

10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

11She said, "No one, Lord." Jesus said to her, "Then I do not condemn you either. Go, and do not sin anymore."

11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

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

12Then Jesus spoke to them again. He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in the dark, but will have the light that gives life."

12Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

NoteThis 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.

13So the Pharisees said to him, "You are the only witness speaking about yourself, so your testimony does not count."

13The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.

Note"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.

14Jesus answered them, "Even if I am the one speaking about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you cannot tell where I came from or where I am going."

14Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

15"You judge by human standards. I judge no one."

15Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

Note"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.

16"And even if I do judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me."

16And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

17"It is also written in your own law that the testimony of two witnesses is valid."

17It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.

NoteThe 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.

18"I am one witness about myself, and the Father who sent me is another witness about me."

18I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

19Then they said to him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You do not know me or my Father. If you had known me, you would have known my Father too."

19Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.

20Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the temple, near the treasury, where the offerings were collected. No one grabbed hold of him, because his time had not yet come.

20These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.

NoteThe 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.

21Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away. You will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come."

21Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.

22So the Jews said, "Is he going to kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?"

22Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.

Note"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.

23He said to them, "You are from below. I am from above. You belong to this world. I do not belong to this world."

23And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

24"That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. If you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins."

24I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

NoteThe 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.

25Then they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Exactly what I have been telling you from the beginning."

25Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

NoteThis 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.

26"I have many things to say about you and many things to judge about you. But the one who sent me is truthful, and I tell the world what I have heard from him."

26I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

27They did not understand that he was talking to them about the Father.

27They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.

28Then Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. I say only what my Father has taught me."

28Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

NoteThe 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.

29"The one who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him."

29And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

30As he was saying these things, many people believed in him.

30As he spake these words, many believed on him.

31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you keep living by my teaching, then you really are my disciples."

31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

33They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and we have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say we will be set free?"

33They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

NoteAbraham 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.

34Jesus answered them, "I tell you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave of sin."

34Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Note"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.

35"A slave does not stay in the household forever, but a son belongs to it forever."

35And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

NoteThis 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.

36"So if the Son sets you free, you will really be free."

36If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

37"I know you are Abraham's descendants. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room in you."

37I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Note"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.

38"I speak about what I have seen when I was with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."

38I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

39They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the things Abraham did."

39They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

40"But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did anything like that."

40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

41"You are doing the things your own father does." Then they said to him, "We are not illegitimate children. We have one Father, and that is God himself."

41Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Note"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.

42Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and am here now. I did not come on my own; he sent me."

42Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

43"Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept my message."

43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

44"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he never stood on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks his own language, because he is a liar and the father of lies."

44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Note"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.

45"And because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me."

45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

46"Which of you can prove that I am guilty of any sin? And if I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me?"

46Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

Note"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.

47"Whoever belongs to God listens to God's words. You do not listen, and that is because you do not belong to God."

47He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

48Then the Jews answered him, "Are we not right to say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you?"

48Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

NoteSamaritans 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.

49Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon. I honor my Father, and you dishonor me."

49Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.

50"I am not looking for glory for myself. There is one who seeks it for me, and he is the judge."

50And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

Note"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.

51"I tell you the truth: if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

51Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Note"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.

52Then the Jews said to him, "Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet you say that anyone who keeps your word will never taste death."

52Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

53"Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too. Who are you claiming to be?"

53Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

54Jesus answered, "If I give honor to myself, my honor means nothing. It is my Father who honors me, the one you say is your God."

54Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:

55"Yet you have not known him, but I know him. If I said I did not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word."

55Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

56"Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day. He saw it, and he was happy."

56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Note"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.

57Then the Jews said to him, "You are not even fifty years old. Have you seen Abraham?"

57Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

NoteFifty 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.

58Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth: before Abraham was born, I am."

58Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

NoteThe 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.

59Then they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself and left the temple, going out through the middle of them and on his way.

59Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

NotePicking 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.