Pure Word

Introduction

John 7:53–8:12 NASB 95

Everyone went to his home. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

This is called the pericopae adulterae. You may notice in your Bible that there’s a footnote, “This passage cannot be found in the most ancient manuscripts.”

It’s a somewhat misleading footnote.

It really should read, “This passage cannot be found in most manuscripts.”

Period.

Some Bible scholars feel it is a genuine passage, a genuine recounting of Jesus Christ and His teachings. Others say it is the greatest story not in the Bible.

Let’s look at the evidence.

In Manuscript 225, this passage is found after John 7:36.

In other manuscripts, it is found after John 7:44.

Some manuscripts have this passage after the Gospel of John concludes at John 21:25.

In f13 it is found in the Gospel of Luke.

The fact it is not found in the oldest manuscripts, and those it is found in put it in different places means it was added later.

I did not want to acknowledge any of these facts. It was just them, those theological liberals who want to deny Christ. That’s what this is. The Textus Receptus has it. We just don’t have those manuscripts because they wore out.

That’s what I believed for years.

The fact is, the Textus Receptus you can get in most Bible programs is an attempt to identify the readings chosen from the translators of the King James. In other words, parts of it were quite simply back translated from the English. Parts were taken from the Stephanus editions, some from the Elzevir editions.

Here’s the literal truth.

There is no Biblical manuscript anywhere in the world out of the 5600 manuscripts we have that reads like the Textus Receptus.

None of the Syrian manuscripts are identical.

None of them read exactly like the Textus Receptus. Some of the Syrian manuscripts have Alexandrian readings in them. Some of the Alexandrian manuscripts have Syrian readings.

Only one manuscript after 1500 has 1 John 5:7 in it. No manuscript before it has 1 John 5:7 in it.

So what about the pericopae adulterae, or John 7:53-8:11? Many feel it was an oral tradition about Jesus. Certainly it feels authentic. Why can it be found in Luke in one manuscript, after John and before Acts in others, and in a different place in John 7 in still others?

It was added by scribes trying to find a home for it. If it was an oral teaching of Jesus Christ, they assumed it should be in the manuscripts. They were afraid the story would be lost eventually.

Earlier scribes refused to add it, because it wasn’t part of the manuscripts. Why not? You shall not add to the word of God. The book of Revelation says that anyone who adds to the word of God, God will add unto them the plagues written in Revelation.

This is difficult to hear. This is difficult to hear when you’ve been King James Only for a long time, but now facts make it uncomfortably clear - you have to choose between tradition, or the truth.