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Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (or the ) is a passage (
pericope In rhetoric, a pericope (; Greek , "a cutting-out") is a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scripture. Description The term can also be used as a way to identi ...
) found in John 7:538:11 of the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
. It is considered by many to be
pseudepigraphical A pseudepigraph (also anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the wor ...
. In the passage,
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
was teaching in the
Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...
after coming from the
Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...
. A group of scribes and
Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...
confronts Jesus, interrupting his teaching. They bring in a woman, accusing her of committing
adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...
, claiming she was caught in the very act. They tell Jesus that the punishment for someone like her should be stoning, as prescribed by
Mosaic Law The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebr ...
. Jesus begins to write something on the ground using his finger; when the woman's accusers continue their challenge, he states that the one who is without sin is the one who should cast the first stone at her. The accusers depart, realizing not one of them is without sin either, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. Jesus asks the woman whether anyone has condemned her, and she answers no. Jesus says that he too does not condemn her and tells her to go and sin no more. There is now a broad academic consensus that the passage is a later
interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...
added after the earliest known manuscripts of the
Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...
. Nevertheless, many scholars "conclude that the story does record an actual event in the life of
esus Esus is a Celtic god known from iconographic, epigraphic, and literary sources. The 1st-century CE Roman poet Lucan's epic ''Pharsalia'' mentions Esus, Taranis, and Teutates as gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Cel ...
" Most scholars believe it was a well-known story circulating in the
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
about Jesus, which at some point was added in the margin of a manuscript. Although it is included in most modern translations (one notable exception being the
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT, also simply NW) is a Bible translations, translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and di ...
) it is typically noted as a later interpolation, as it is by
Novum Testamentum Graece (''The New Testament in Greek'') is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek published by ''Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft'' (German Bible Society), forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical crit ...
NA28. This has been the view of "most NT scholars, including most ''evangelical'' NT scholars, for well over a century" (written in 2009). However, its originality has been defended by a minority of scholars who believe in the Byzantine priority hypothesis. The passage appears to have been included in some texts by the 4th century and became generally accepted by the 5th century.


The passage

John 7:53–8:11 in the
New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirt ...
reads as follows:


Interpretation

This episode and its message of
mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French , from Medieval Latin , "price paid, wages", from Latin , "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social, and legal contexts. In the social and le ...
and
forgiveness Forgiveness, in a psychology, psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may have felt initially wronged, victimized, harmed, or hurt goes through a process of changing feelings and attitude regarding a given ...
balanced with a call to holy living have endured in Christian thought. Both "let him who is without sin cast the first stone" and "go, and sin no more" have found their way into common usage. The English idiomatic phrase to "
cast the first stone Cast the first stone may refer to: *Jesus and the woman taken in adultery, a Biblical parable in which Jesus says, "...let him who is without sin cast the first stone." * ''Cast the First Stone'' (Ensign album), 1999 * ''Cast the First Stone'' (Io ...
" is derived from this passage. The passage has been taken as confirmation of Jesus's ability to write, otherwise only suggested by implication in the Gospels, but the word (''egraphen'') in John 8:8 could mean "draw" as well as "write".


History of textual criticism

The first to systematically apply the critical marks of the Alexandrian critics was
Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...
: Early textual critics familiar with the use and meaning of these marks in classical Greek works like
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
, interpreted the signs to mean that the section (John 7:53–8:11) was an
interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...
and not an original part of the Gospel. During the 16th century, Western European scholars – both
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
– sought to recover the most correct Greek text of the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, rather than relying on the
Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...
Latin translation. At this time, it was noticed that a number of early manuscripts containing the Gospel of John lacked John 7:53–8:11 inclusive; and also that some manuscripts containing the verses marked them with critical signs, usually a lemniscus or
asterisk The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
. It was also noted that, in the lectionary of the Greek church, the Gospel-reading for Pentecost runs from John 7:37 to 8:12, but skips over the twelve verses of this pericope. Beginning with
Karl Lachmann Karl Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Lachmann (; 4 March 1793 – 13 March 1851) was a German philologist and critic. He is particularly noted for his foundational contributions to the field of textual criticism. Biography Lachmann was born in Brunsw ...
(in Germany, 1840), reservations about the became more strongly argued in the modern period, and these opinions were carried into the English world by
Samuel Davidson Samuel Davidson (September 18061 April 1898) was an Irish biblical scholar. Life He was born at Kellswater, County Antrim, the son of Abraham Davidson, into a Scots-Irish presbyterian. He was educated at the village school, under James Darrag ...
(1848–51),
Samuel Prideaux Tregelles Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (30 January 1813 – 24 April 1875) was an English biblical scholar, lexicographer, Christian Hebraist, textual critic, and theologian. Life Tregelles was born at Wodehouse Place, Falmouth, of Quaker parents, but ...
(1862), and others; the argument against the verses being given body and final expression in F. J. A. Hort (1886). Those opposing the authenticity of the verses as part of John are represented in the 20th century by men like
Henry Cadbury Henry Joel Cadbury (December 1, 1883 – October 7, 1974) was an American biblical scholar, Quaker historian, writer, and non-profit administrator. Life A graduate of Haverford College, Cadbury was a Quaker throughout his life, as well as an ...
(1917),
Ernest Cadman Colwell Ernest Cadman Colwell (19 January 1901 – 12 September 1974) was an American biblical scholar, textual critic and palaeographer. Life After graduating from Emory College and Candler School of Theology, Colwell earned a Ph.D. in the Departme ...
(1935), and
Bruce M. Metzger Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the ...
(1971). 19th-century text critics
Henry Alford Henry Alford may refer to: *Henry Alford (theologian) (1810–1871), English churchman, theologian, poet and writer :* Alford's Law, his rule for Biblical interpretation * Henry Alford (police officer) (1816–1892), South Australian mounted policem ...
and F. H. A. Scrivener suggested that the passage was added by John in a second edition of the Gospel along with 5:3.4 and the 21st chapter. A number of scholars have strongly defended the Johannine authorship of these verses. This group of critics is typified by such scholars as Frederick Nolan (1865), and
John Burgon John William Burgon (21 August 1813 – 4 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defense of the historicity and Mosaic authorship ...
(1886), and
Herman C. Hoskier Herman Charles Hoskier (1864–1938), was a biblical scholar, British Textual Criticism, textual critic, and son of a merchant banker, Herman Hoskier (1832–1904). As a textual critic of the New Testament, Hoskier generally but not entirely suppo ...
(1920). More recently it has been defended by
David Otis Fuller David Otis Fuller (November 20, 1903 – February 21, 1988) was an American Baptist pastor. He was a graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and Princeton Theological Seminary. He pastored Chelsea Baptist Church in Atlantic City, New ...
(1975), and is included in the Greek New Testaments compiled by Wilbur Pickering (1980/2014), Hodges & Farstad (1982/1985), and Robinson & Pierpont (2005). Rather than endorsing Augustine's theory that some men had removed the passage due to a concern that it would be used by their wives as a pretext to commit adultery, Burgon proposed a theory that the passage had been lost due to a misunderstanding of a feature in the lection-system of the early church. Almost all modern critical translations that include the pericope adulterae do so at John 7:53–8:11. Exceptions include the
New English Bible The New English Bible (NEB) is an English translation of the Bible. The New Testament was published in 1961 and the Old Testament (with the Apocrypha) was published on 16 March 1970. In 1989, it was significantly revised and republished as the ...
and
Revised English Bible The Revised English Bible (REB) is a 1989 English-language translation of the Bible that updates the New English Bible (NEB) of 1970. As with its predecessor, it is published by the publishing houses of both the universities of Oxford and Cambrid ...
, which relocate the pericope after the end of the Gospel. Most others enclose the pericope in brackets, or add a footnote mentioning the absence of the passage in the oldest witnesses (e.g.,
NRSV The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirty ...
, NJB, NIV,
GNT GNT is a Brazilian pay television channel. Originally launched as GNT: Globosat News Television, a news and information network. With the launch of GloboNews, in 1996, the GNT acronym became meaningless, and the channel was focused on documentar ...
, NASB, ESV). Since the passage is accepted as canonical by Catholics, however, some Catholic editions of these critical translations will remove the brackets while retaining the footnote explanation of their uncertainty (e.g. RSV-CE/2CE and ESV-CE); others, like the NRSV-CE, nevertheless retain the brackets.


Textual history

The pericope does not occur in the Greek Gospel manuscripts from Egypt. The Pericope Adulterae is not in 𝔓66 or in 𝔓75, both of which have been assigned to the late 100s or early 200s, nor in two important manuscripts produced in the early or mid 300s,
Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonical ...
and Vaticanus. The first surviving Greek manuscript to contain the pericope is the Latin-Greek diglot
Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. It is designated by the siglum D or 05 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and � ...
, produced in the 400s or 500s (but displaying a form of text which has affinities with "Western" readings used in the 100s and 200s). Codex Bezae is also the earliest surviving Latin manuscript to contain it. Out of 23 Old Latin manuscripts of John 7–8, seventeen contain at least part of the pericope, and represent at least three transmission-streams in which it was included.


Eastern Christianity

According to
Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
(in his ''
Ecclesiastical History Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...
'', composed in the early 300s), Papias () refers to a story of Jesus and a woman "accused of many sins" as being found in the
Gospel of the Hebrews The Gospel of the Hebrews (), or Gospel according to the Hebrews, is a lost Jewish–Christian gospel. The text of the gospel is lost, with only fragments of it surviving as brief quotations by the early Church Fathers and in apocryphal writi ...
, which might refer to this passage or to one like it. However, according to the later writer
Agapius of Hierapolis Agapius of Hierapolis, also called Maḥbūb ibn Qusṭanṭīn (died after 942), was a Melkite Christian historian and the bishop of Manbij in Syria. He wrote a universal history in Arabic, the lengthy ''Kitāb al-ʿunwān'' ('book of the title') ...
, Papias wrote a treatise on the Gospel of John, where he included the story within the Gospel itself. Possibly the earliest evidence for the existence of the pericope adulterae within the Gospel of John is from the 2nd century
Protoevangelium of James The Gospel of James (or the Protoevangelium of James) is a second-century infancy gospel telling of the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary, her upbringing and marriage to Joseph, the journey of the couple to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesu ...
, which contains the words "οὐδὲ ἐγὼ �ατα�ρίνω ὑμᾶς" (neither do I condemn you) in Greek, which are identical to the text of John 8:11. Other parallels between this story within Protoevangelium and the Johannine pericope adulterae include: (1) a woman is accused of adultery, (2) the accusation is made by the Jews, (3) the woman is brought by a crowd to stand before a religious figure, (4) the accused woman is presented to the judge for a ruling and (5) both accounts are a part of a "confrontation story". However, it is not certain if the author borrowed directly from the Gospel of John or from a now-unknown document such as the Gospel according to the Hebrews. In the Syriac , composed in the mid-200s, the author, in the course of instructing bishops to exercise a measure of clemency, states that a bishop who does not receive a repentant person would be doing wrong – "for you do not obey our Savior and our God, to do as He also did with her that had sinned, whom the elders set before Him, and leaving the judgment in His hands, departed. But He, the searcher of hearts, asked her and said to her, 'Have the elders condemned thee, my daughter?' She said to Him, 'No, Lord.' And He said unto her, 'Go your way; neither do I condemn thee.' In Him therefore, our Savior and King and God, be your pattern, O bishops." The '' Constitutions of the Holy Apostles'' Book II.24, composed , echoes the , alongside a utilization of Luke 7:47. Further,
Didymus the Blind Didymus the Blind ( Coptic: ; 398), alternatively spelled Dedimus or Didymous, was a Christian theologian in the Church of Alexandria, where he taught for about half a century. He was a student of Origen, and, after the Second Council of Constant ...
(c. 313–398) states that "We find in certain gospels" an episode in which a woman was accused of a sin, and was about to be stoned, but Jesus intervened "and said to those who were about to cast stones, 'He who has not sinned, let him take a stone and throw it. If anyone is conscious in himself not to have sinned, let him take a stone and smite her.' And no one dared," and so forth. It is also shortly mentioned by the 6th century author of the Greek treatise "Synopsis Scripturae Sacrae". Among the early Greek attestations of the pericope adulterae are the 6th century canon tables found in the Monastery of Epiphanus in Egypt. Although fragmentary, the manuscript likely contained the story of the adulteress and contained its own section number. Evidence of its existence within some Egyptian manuscripts additionally comes from two ivory pyxides dated to around the 5th or 6th century, which depict the story of the adulteress. Within the Syriac tradition, the anonymous author of the 6th century Syriac Chronicle, called
Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor is the designation used by modern scholarship for the anonymous 6th-century author who compiled a twelve-part history in the Syriac language around 569. It contains portions of the otherwise lost ''Ecclesiastical History'' of ...
mentioned the translation of the pericope Adulterae into Aramaic from a Greek manuscript from Alexandria. The story of the adulteress is also found in manuscripts of the Palestinian Syriac Lectionary, including MS "A" (1030ad), MS "C" (1118ad) and MS "B" (1104ad). An author by the name of "Nicon" wrote a treatise called "On the Impious Religion of the Vile Armenians", in which he argued that the Armenian Christians tried to remove the passage from their manuscripts. This has been often attributed to the 10th century author Nicon, however Wescott and
Hort Hort may refer to: * Hort, Hungary, a settlement in Heves county * Hort., an abbreviation which indicates that a name for a plant saw significant use in the horticultural literature but was never properly published * Hort (surname) See also

...
argued that it is a later 13th century Nicon. They argued that this writing was made in response to the claims of
Vardan Areveltsi Vardan Areveltsi (; Vardan the Easterner, – 1271 AD) was a medieval Armenian historian, geographer, philosopher and translator. In addition to establishing numerous schools and monasteries, he also left behind a rich contribution to Armen ...
, who stated that Papias is responsible for the inclusion of the story in the Gospel of John. Later on, in the 12th century the passage was mentioned by
Euthymius Zigabenus Euthymius Zigabenus or Zigadenus or Zygadenus ( or Ζυγαδηνός; died after 1118) was a 12th-century monk and commentator on the Bible. He was a friend of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, for whom he wrote a lengthy work on heresi ...
, who doubted the authenticity of the passage. However, his contemporary Eustathios of Thessaloniki commented on the passage as an authentic part of John's Gospel.


Western Christianity

The story of the adulteress was quoted by multiple Latin speaking early Christians, and appears within their quotations of the New Testament often. It is quoted by church fathers such as Hilary of Poitiers, Gregory the Great, Leo the Great, Ambrose, Ambrosiaster and Augustine among many others. However, it is not quoted by either
Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...
or
Cyprian Cyprian (; ; to 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berbers, Berber descent, ...
, which might imply that it was missing from their manuscripts. The story is present in the vast majority of
Vetus Latina The ''Vetus Latina'' ("Old Latin" in Latin), also known as ''Vetus Itala'' ("Old Italian"), ''Itala'' ("Italian") and Old Italic, and denoted by the siglum \mathfrak, are the Latin Bible translations, translations of biblical texts (both Old T ...
manuscripts and in all except one manuscript of the
Latin Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Roman Church. Later, of his own initia ...
. Pacian of Barcelona (bishop from 365 to 391), in the course of making a rhetorical challenge, opposes cruelty as he sarcastically endorses it: "O Novatians, why do you delay to ask an eye for an eye? ..Kill the thief. Stone the petulant. Choose not to read in the Gospel that the Lord spared even the adulteress who confessed, when none had condemned her." Pacian was a contemporary of the scribes who made Codex Sinaiticus. The writer known as
Ambrosiaster Ambrosiaster or Pseudo-Ambrose is the name given to the unknown author of a commentary on the epistles of Saint Paul, written some time between 366 and 384AD. The name "Ambrosiaster" in Latin means "would-be Ambrose". Various conjectures have b ...
, , mentioned the occasion when Jesus "spared her who had been apprehended in adultery." The unknown author of the composition "Apologia David" (thought by some analysts to be Ambrose, but more probably not) mentioned that people could be initially taken aback by the passage in which "we see an adulteress presented to Christ and sent away without condemnation." Later in the same composition he referred to this episode as a "lection" in the Gospels, indicating that it was part of the annual cycle of readings used in the church-services. Peter Chrysologus, writing in Ravenna , clearly cited the in his Sermon 115. Sedulius and Gelasius also clearly used the passage. Prosper of Aquitaine, and Quodvultdeus of Carthage, in the mid-400s, utilized the passage. The Latin
Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...
Gospel of John, produced by
Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...
in 383, was based on the Greek manuscripts which Jerome considered ancient exemplars at that time and which contained the passage. Jerome, writing around 417, reports that the was found in its usual place in "many Greek and Latin manuscripts" in Rome and the Latin West. This is confirmed by some Latin Fathers of the 300s and 400s, including
Ambrose of Milan Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...
, and
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
. The latter claimed that the passage may have been improperly excluded from some manuscripts in order to avoid the impression that Christ had sanctioned adultery:
Codex Fuldensis The Codex Fuldensis, also known as the Victor Codex (, ''Codex Bonifatianus I''), designated by F, is a New Testament manuscript based on the Latin Vulgate made between 541 and 546. The codex is considered the second most important witness to the ...
, which was produced in AD 546, and which, in the Gospels, features an unusual arrangement of the text that was found in an earlier document, contains the adulterae pericope, in the form in which it was written in the Vulgate. More significantly, Codex Fuldensis also preserves the chapter-headings of its earlier source-document (thought by some researchers to echo the Diatessaron produced by Tatian in the 170's), and the title of chapter 120 refers specifically to the woman taken in adultery. The subject of Jesus's writing on the ground was fairly common in art, especially from the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
onwards, with examples by artists including a painting by Pieter Bruegel and a drawing by Rembrandt. There was a medieval tradition, originating in a comment attributed to
Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...
, that the words written were ("earth accuses earth"; a reference to the end of verse
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
3:19: " for dust you are and to dust you will return"), which is shown in some depictions in art, for example, the '' Codex Egberti''.


Manuscripts

Both the (NA28) and the
United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore and Nairobi. The headquarters are located in Swindon, England. ...
(UBS4) provide critical text for the pericope, but mark this off with double square brackets, indicating that the is regarded as a later addition to the text. Various manuscripts treat, or include, the passage in a variety of ways. These can be categorised into those that exclude it entirely, those that exclude only a shortened version of the passage (including 7:53-8:2 but excluding 8:3-11), those that include only a shortened version of the passage (8:3–11), those that include the passage in full, those that question the passage, those that question only the shorter passage, those that relocate it to a different place within the Gospel of John, and those that mark it as having been added by a later hand. #Exclude the passage:
Papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can ...
(''c''. 200 or 4th century)Orsini, "I papiri Bodmer: scritture e libri", 77 and (early 3rd century or 4th century); Codices Sinaiticus (א) and Vaticanus (Β) (4th century), although Vaticanus includes umlauts at the end of 7:52, which some have argued to imply knowledge of the variant. Other manuscripts to lack it apparently include Alexandrinus (A) and Ephraemi (C) (5th), Codices Washingtonianus (W) and Borgianus (T) also from the 5th century, Athous Lavrensis (Ψ) (''c''. 800), Petropolitanus Purpureus (N), Macedoniensis (Y), and Koridethi (Θ) from the 9th century and Monacensis (X) from the 10th;
Uncials Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for C ...
0141 and 0211; Minuscules 3, 12, 15, 19, 21, 22, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 39, 44, 49, 63, 72, 77, 87, 96,
106 106 may refer to: * 106 (number), the number * AD 106, a year in the 2nd century AD * 106 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 106 (emergency telephone number), an Australian emergency number * 106 (MBTA bus), a route of the Massachusetts Bay Transpor ...
, 108,
123 123 may refer to: * The first three positive Arabic numerals * 123 (number), the natural number following 122 and preceding 124 * AD 123, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD * 123 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * ...
, 124,
131 131 may refer to: *131 (number) *AD 131 *131 BC *131 (album), the album by Emarosa *131 (MBTA bus), the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus. For the MBTA bus, see 131 (MBTA bus). *131 (New Jersey bus), the New Jersey Transit bus *131 Val ...
, 134,
139 139 may refer to: * 139 (number), an integer * AD 139, a year of the Julian calendar * 139 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 139 (New Jersey bus) * 139 Juewa 139 Juewa ( ) is a very large and dark main belt asteroid. It is probabl ...
,
151 Year 151 (CLI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Condianus and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 904 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 151 for this y ...
,
154 Year 154 ( CLIV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Lateranus (or, less frequently, year 907 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 154 for this ...
,
157 Year 157 ( CLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Civica and Aquillus (or, less frequently, year 910 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 157 for this ye ...
,
168 Year 168 ( CLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Paullus (or, less frequently, year 921 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 168 for thi ...
,
169 Year 169 (Roman numerals, CLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Apollinaris (or, less frequently, year 922 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...
,
209 Year 209 ( CCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Lollianus (or, less frequently, year 962 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 209 for this y ...
,
213 Year 213 ( CCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time (in Rome), it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Calvinus (or, less frequently, year 966 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 213 ...
,
228 Year 228 ( CCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Modestus and Maecius (or, less frequently, year 981 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 228 for this ...
,
249 __NOTOC__ Year 249 ( CCXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gavius and Aquilinus (or, less frequently, year 1002 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 24 ...
,
261 __NOTOC__ Year 261 (Roman numerals, CCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Taurus (or, less frequently, year 1014 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...
,
269 Year 269 ( CCLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 1022 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 269 for this ...
,
297 __NOTOC__ Year 297 ( CCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1050 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 2 ...
,
303 __NOTOC__ Year 303 ( CCCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, year 1056 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...
,
306 __NOTOC__ Year 306 ( CCCVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1059 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...
,
315 __NOTOC__ Year 315 (Roman numerals, CCCXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1068 ''Ab urbe c ...
,
316 __NOTOC__ Year 316 ( CCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 1069 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 316 f ...
,
317 Year 317 ( CCCXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallicanus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1070 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 317 for th ...
,
318 Year 318 ( CCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Licinianus and Crispus (or, less frequently, year 1071 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 318 fo ...
,
333 __NOTOC__ Year 333 ( CCCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dalmatius and Zenophilus (or, less frequently, year 1086 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...
,
370 __NOTOC__ Year 370 ( CCCLXX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens (or, less frequently, year 1123 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 370 ...
,
388 Year 388 ( CCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1141 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 3 ...
, 391,
392 __NOTOC__ Year 392 ( CCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 1145 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 3 ...
,
397 Year 397 ( CCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesarius and Atticus (or, less frequently, year 1150 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...
,
401 __NOTOC__ Year 401 ( CDI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vincentius and Fravitus (or, less frequently, year 1154 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
,
416 __NOTOC__ Year 416 ( CDXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Palladius (or, less frequently, year 1169 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...
,
423 __NOTOC__ Year 423 ( CDXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Marinianus and Asclepiodotus (or, less frequently, year 1176 ''Ab urbe condita''). ...
, 428,
430 __NOTOC__ Year 430 ( CDXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus (or, less frequently, year 1183 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...
, 431, 445, 496,
499 __NOTOC__ Year 499 ( CDXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iohannes without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1252 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...
,
501 __NOTOC__ Year 501 ( DI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Avienus and Pompeius (or, less frequently, year 1254 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 501 fo ...
,
523 __NOTOC__ Year 523 ( DXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1276 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...
, 537,
542 __NOTOC__ Year 542 ( DXLII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. From this year forward, the appointment of particular Roman consuls was abandoned and the office was merged with that of Byzantine emperor. Thus, the co ...
,
554 __NOTOC__ Year 554 ( DLIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 554 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
,
565 __NOTOC__ Year 565 ( DLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 565 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
,
578 __NOTOC__ Year 578 ( DLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 578 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...
,
584 __NOTOC__ Year 584 ( DLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 584 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
, 649, 684,
703 __NOTOC__ Year 703 ( DCCIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 703rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 703rd year of the 1st millennium, the 3rd year of the 8th century, and the ...
,
713 __NOTOC__ Year 713 ( DCCXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 713th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 713th year of the 1st millennium, the 13th year of the 8th century, and the ...
,
719 __NOTOC__ Year 719 ( DCCXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 719th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 719th year of the 1st millennium, the 19th year of the 8th century, and the 1 ...
, 723, 727,
729 Year 729 ( DCCXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 729th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 729th year of the 1st millennium, the 29th year of the 8th century, and the 10th and ...
,
730 __NOTOC__ Year 730 ( DCCXXX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 730 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
,
731 __NOTOC__ Year 731 ( DCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 731 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
,
732 __NOTOC__ Year 732 ( DCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 732nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 732nd year of the 1st millennium, the 32nd year of the 8th century, and th ...
, 733, 734,
736 __NOTOC__ Year 736 ( DCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 736th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 736th year of the 1st millennium, the 36th year of the 8th century, and the 7 ...
, 740,
741 __NOTOC__ Year 741 ( DCCXLI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 741 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
, 742,
743 __NOTOC__ Year 743 ( DCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 743 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...
, 744,
749 __NOTOC__ Year 749 ( DCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 749th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 749th year of the 1st millennium, the 49th year of the 8th century, and ...
,
768 __NOTOC__ Year 768 ( DCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 768 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...
,
770 __NOTOC__ Year 770 ( DCCLXX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 770 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
,
772 __NOTOC__ Year 772 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 772 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent ...
, 773,
776 __NOTOC__ Year 776 ( DCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 776 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
, 777,
780 __NOTOC__ Year 780 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 780th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 780th year of the 1st millennium, the 80th year of the 8th c ...
, 794,
799 __NOTOC__ Year 799 ( DCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 799 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...
,
800 __NOTOC__ Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 800th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 800th year of the 1st millennium, the 100th and last year of the 8th century, a ...
,
817 __NOTOC__ Year 817 ( DCCCXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Louis I issues an ''Ordinatio Imperii'', an imperial decree that lays out plans for an orderl ...
,
818 __NOTOC__ Year 818 ( DCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Vikings known as Rus' (Norsemen) plunder the north coast of Anatolia (modern Turkey), marking the first re ...
,
819 __NOTOC__ Year 819 ( DCCCXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Louis I marries Judith of Bavaria in Aachen.Rogers, Barbara, Bernhard W. Scholz, and Nithard ...
, 820,
821 __NOTOC__ Year 821 (Roman numerals, DCCCXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine general Thomas the Slav leads a revolt, and secures control over most of the Byzan ...
,
827 __FORCETOC__ Year 827 ( DCCCXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * June 14 – Euphemius, exiled Byzantine admiral, asks for the help of North African Arabs, to ret ...
,
828 __NOTOC__ Year 828 ( DCCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Siege of Syracuse: The Muslims under Asad ibn al-Furat defeat a Byzantine relief army sent from Paler ...
,
831 __NOTOC__ Year 831 (Roman numerals, DCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Empire and Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Arab wars (780–1180)#Period of 780–842, Byzantine–Arab W ...
,
833 __NOTOC__ Year 833 ( DCCCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine-Arab War: Emperor Theophilos signs an armistice for peace with the Abbasid Caliphate. He of ...
, 834, 835,
836 __NOTOC__ Year 836 ( DCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 836th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 836th year of the 1st millennium, the 36th year of the 9th century, and th ...
,
841 __NOTOC__ Year 841 (Roman numerals, DCCCXLI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * June 25 – Battle of Fontenay (841), Battle of Fontenay: Frankish forces of Emperor Lothair I, a ...
,
843 __NOTOC__ Year 843 ( DCCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe *May 24 – Battle of Blain: Breton forces under Erispoe, count of Vannes, defeat the Franks led by Renaud d'He ...
,
849 __NOTOC__ Year 849 ( DCCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Battle of Ostia: A Saracen Arab fleet from Sardinia sets sail towards Rome. In response, Pope Leo IV ...
,
850 __NOTOC__ Year 850 ( DCCCL) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 1 – King Ramiro I dies in his palace at Santa María del Naranco (near Oviedo), after an 8-year reign ...
,
854 __NOTOC__ Year 854 ( DCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Emperor Lothair I meets his (half) brothers (Louis the German and Charles the Bald) in Attigny, Ardennes for the third ...
,
855 __NOTOC__ Year 855 (Roman numerals, DCCCLV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * November 20 – Theoktistos, co-regent of the Empire on behalf of 15-year old Emperor Mi ...
, 857,
862 __NOTOC__ Year 862 ( DCCCLXII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Central Europe * King Lothair II of Lotharingia tries to divorce his wife Teutberga, on trumped-up charges of incest. With ...
,
863 __NOTOC__ Year 863 ( DCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 3 – Battle of Lalakaon: A Byzantine army confronts an invasion by Muslim forces, led by Um ...
,
865 __NOTOC__ Year 865 ( DCCCLXV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Louis the German divides the East Frankish Kingdom among his three sons. Carloman receives Bavaria (with more l ...
,
869 __NOTOC__ Year 869 ( DCCCLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor Louis II against the Saracens. He sends ...
,
896 __NOTOC__ Year 896 ( DCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February – King Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy at the head of an East Frankish expeditionary army. He storms ...
, 989, 1077,
1080 Year 1080 ( MLXXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Autumn – Nikephoros Melissenos, a Byzantine general and aristocrat, seizes control of what remains of Byzantine ...
, 1141 1178, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1253, 1256, 1261, 1262, 1326, 1333, 1357, 1593, 2106, 2193, 2244, 2768, 2862, 2900, 2901, 2907, 2957, 2965 and 2985; the majority of
lectionaries A lectionary () is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Jewish worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, and an epistolary wit ...
; the
Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early, Archaic or Priscan Latin (Classical ), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. A member of the Italic languages, it descends from a common Proto-Italic ...
manuscripts Codex Vercellensis (''a'', VL3; 4th cent CE), Codex Brixianus (''f'', VL10; 6th cent. CE), Codex Monacensis (''q'', VL13; 6/7th cent CE), the majority of the Syriac, the
Sahidic Coptic () is a dormant Afroasiatic language. It is a group of closely related Egyptian dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third century AD in R ...
dialect of the Coptic, the
Garima Gospels The Garima Gospels are three ancient Geʽez manuscripts containing all four canonical Gospel Books, as well as some supplementary material like lists of Gospel chapters. Garima 2, the earliest, is believed to be the earliest surviving complete il ...
and other Ethiopic witnesses, the Gothic, some
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
, Georgian mss. of Adysh (9th century); Arabic mss of
Diatessaron The ''Diatessaron'' (; c. 160–175 AD) is the most prominent early gospel harmony. It was created in the Syriac language by Tatian, an Assyrian early Christian apologist and ascetic. Tatian sought to combine all the textual material he fou ...
(2nd century); apparently
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...
(died 215), other
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...
namely
Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...
(died 220),
Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...
(died 254),
Cyprian Cyprian (; ; to 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berbers, Berber descent, ...
(died 258),
John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and p ...
(died 407),
Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis (, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century AD) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebaid and probably lived in the 5th century AD. He i ...
(died 431),
Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria (; or ⲡⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲓⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ;  376–444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire ...
(died 444),
Cosmas Cosmas or Kosmas is a Greek language, Greek name (), from Ancient Greek Κοσμᾶς (Kosmâs), associated with the noun κόσμος (kósmos), meaning "Cosmos, universe", and the verb κοσμέω (to order, govern, adorn) linked to propr ...
(died 550) and later Christians such as Vardan Araveltsi (13th century). # Shorter passage excluded (includes 7:53-8:2 but excludes 8:3-11): 228,
759 __NOTOC__ Year 759 ( DCCLIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 759 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
, 1458, 1663, and 2533. # Shorter passage included (8:3–11): ℓ ''4'', ℓ ''67'', ℓ ''69'', ℓ ''70'', ℓ ''71'', ℓ ''75'', ℓ ''81'', ℓ ''89'', ℓ ''90'', ℓ ''98'', ℓ ''101'', ℓ ''107'', ℓ ''125'', ℓ ''126'', ℓ ''139'', ℓ ''146'', ℓ ''185'', ℓ ''211'', ℓ ''217'', ℓ ''229'', ℓ ''267'', ℓ ''280'', ℓ ''282'', ℓ ''287'', ℓ ''376'', ℓ ''381'', ℓ ''386'', ℓ ''390'', ℓ ''396'', ℓ ''398'', ℓ ''402'', ℓ ''405'', ℓ ''409'', ℓ ''417'', ℓ ''422'', ℓ ''430'', ℓ ''431'', ℓ ''435'' (8:2–11), ℓ ''462'', ℓ ''464'', ℓ ''465'', ℓ ''520'' (8:2–11). #Include passage: the
Latin Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Roman Church. Later, of his own initia ...
(4th century), Codex Bezae (D) (5th century),
Uncial 047 Uncial 047 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering no. 047, ε 95 von Soden) is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels. The codex is dated paleographically to the 8th century. Formerly the codex was designated by Hebrew letter ב. It has full margina ...
(8th century),
Uncial 0233 Uncial 0233 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament. The manuscript paleographically had been assigned to the 8th-century. Description It contains a text of the four Gospels, on 93 parchment leave ...
(8th century), 9th century Codices Boreelianus (F), Seidelianus I (G), Seidelianus II (H), Cyprius (K), Campianus (M), Nanianus (U), also Tischendorfianus IV (Γ) from the 10th, Codex Petropolitanus (Π);
Minuscule 28 Minuscule 28 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε 168 (in the Soden of New Testament manuscripts), formerly known as ''Colbertinus 4705'', is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on vellum. Usi ...
,
318 Year 318 ( CCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Licinianus and Crispus (or, less frequently, year 1071 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 318 fo ...
,
700 The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Avar and Slavic tribes co ...
,
892 Year 892 (Roman numerals, DCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 892nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 892nd year of the 1st millennium, the 92nd year of the 9th century, a ...
, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1344, 1365, 1546, 1646, 2148, 2174; the Byzantine majority text (around 1350 manuscripts); ℓ ''79'', ℓ ''100'' (John 8:1–11), ℓ ''118'', ℓ ''130'' (8:1–11), ℓ ''221'', ℓ ''274'', ℓ ''281'', ℓ ''411'', ℓ ''421'', ℓ ''429'' (8:1–11), ℓ ''442'' (8:1–11), ℓ ''445'' (8:1–11), ℓ ''459''; the majority of the
Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early, Archaic or Priscan Latin (Classical ), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. A member of the Italic languages, it descends from a common Proto-Italic ...
:
Codex Palatinus Codex Palatinus is a 5th-century manuscript of the Latin New Testament Gospels written on purple dyed parchment. It is designated by e or 2 in the Beuron register of Latin New Testament manuscripts. The text is a version of the Old Latin New Test ...
(5th century), Codex Corbeiensis (5th century), Codex Veronesis (5th century), Codex Sarzanensis (5th century),
Codex Usserianus Primus Codex Usserianus Primus (Dublin, Trinity College Library, 55) is an early 7th-century Old Latin Gospel Book. It is dated palaeographically to the 6th or 7th century. It is designated by r (traditional system). Description The manuscript is dama ...
(7th century),
Book of Mulling The Book of Mulling or less commonly, Book of Moling (Dublin, Trinity College Library MS 60 (A. I. 15)), is an Irish pocket Gospel Book from the late 8th or early 9th century. The text collection includes the four Gospels, a liturgical service ...
(8th century), Codex Sangermanensis secundus (10th century),
Codex Colbertinus Codex Colbertinus is a manuscript of the Latin New Testament. It contains the entirety of the New Testament and includes the Apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans. It is designated by 6 or c in the Beuron register of Latin New Testament manuscripts. ...
(12th century), Western witnesses to the Diatessaron (
Codex Fuldensis The Codex Fuldensis, also known as the Victor Codex (, ''Codex Bonifatianus I''), designated by F, is a New Testament manuscript based on the Latin Vulgate made between 541 and 546. The codex is considered the second most important witness to the ...
, Liège Harmony,
Codex Sangallensis 56 The Old High German Tatian is a translation of Tatian's Diatessaron from Syriac to Old High German. The translation was created in the Abbey of Fulda under Rabanus Maurus' supervision around the year 830 and has been located at the Abbey of Saint G ...
), the Greek canon tables of the Monastery of Saint Epiphanius (6th century), Palestinian Syriac lectionaries, some of the Coptic such as
Codex Marshall Or. 5 Codex Marshall Or. 5, is a Bohairic-Greek, uncial manuscript of the New Testament, on a paper. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 14th century. Description It contains the text of the four Gospels on 265 paper leaves (24.7 by 17.5) ...
(14th century) also depicted by early Coptic ivory pyxides (5th-6th century), some Armenian (
Echmiadzin Gospels The Echmiadzin Gospels (Yerevan, Matenadaran, MS. 2374, formerly Etchmiadzin Ms. 229) is a 10th-century Armenian Gospel Book produced in 989 at the Monastery of Bgheno-Noravank in Syunik. Up to the 10th century, eight dated Armenian Gospel manus ...
), possibly alluded to by the
Protoevangelium of James The Gospel of James (or the Protoevangelium of James) is a second-century infancy gospel telling of the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary, her upbringing and marriage to Joseph, the journey of the couple to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesu ...
(2nd century), explicitly mentioned by the Didascalia (3rd century),
Didymus the Blind Didymus the Blind ( Coptic: ; 398), alternatively spelled Dedimus or Didymous, was a Christian theologian in the Church of Alexandria, where he taught for about half a century. He was a student of Origen, and, after the Second Council of Constant ...
(4th century),
Hilary of Poitiers Hilary of Poitiers (; ) was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the " Athanasius of the West". His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. In addition t ...
(4th century),
Apostolic Constitutions The ''Apostolic Constitutions'' or ''Constitutions of the Holy Apostles'' (Latin: ''Constitutiones Apostolorum'') is a Christian collection divided into eight books which is classified among the Church Orders, a genre of early Christian litera ...
(4th century)
Ambrosiaster Ambrosiaster or Pseudo-Ambrose is the name given to the unknown author of a commentary on the epistles of Saint Paul, written some time between 366 and 384AD. The name "Ambrosiaster" in Latin means "would-be Ambrose". Various conjectures have b ...
(4th century),
Pacian Saint Pacian (''Pacianus'') () ( 310–391 AD) was an early Spanish Christian prelate. Biography Pacian served as Bishop of Barcelona from about 365 AD to 391 AD. He succeeded Praetextatus. Considered a Father of the Church, Pacian is eulog ...
(4th century),
Rufinus of Aquileia Tyrannius Rufinus, also called Rufinus of Aquileia (; 344/345–411), was an early Christian monk, philosopher, historian, and theologian who worked to translate Greek patristic material, especially the work of Origen, into Latin. Life Rufinus ...
(4th century),
Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...
(died 397),
Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...
(died 420),
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
(died 430),
Peter Chrysologus Peter Chrysologus (, ''Petros Chrysologos'', "Peter the Golden-worded"; c. 380 – c. 450) was an Italian Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Ravenna from about 433 until his death. He is known as the "Doctor of Homilies" for the concise ...
(5th century), Quodvultdeus of Carthage (5th century), Prosper of Aquitane (5th century), Leo the Great (5th century), Sedulius (5th century), Gelasius (5th century), Pseudo-Athanasius (6th century),
Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Christian Roman statesman, a renowned scholar and writer who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senato ...
(6th century),
Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...
(6th century),
Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor is the designation used by modern scholarship for the anonymous 6th-century author who compiled a twelve-part history in the Syriac language around 569. It contains portions of the otherwise lost ''Ecclesiastical History'' of ...
(6th century),
Agapius of Hierapolis Agapius of Hierapolis, also called Maḥbūb ibn Qusṭanṭīn (died after 942), was a Melkite Christian historian and the bishop of Manbij in Syria. He wrote a universal history in Arabic, the lengthy ''Kitāb al-ʿunwān'' ('book of the title') ...
(10th century), Nicon (10th century),
Dionysius bar Salibi Dionysius bar Salibi (died 1171) was a Syriac Orthodox writer and bishop, who served as metropolitan of Amid, in Upper Mesopotamia, from 1166 to 1171. He was one of the most prominent and prolific writers within the Syriac Orthodox Church during ...
(12th century) and
Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...
(12th century). #Question pericope (marked with asterisks (※), obeli (÷), dash (–) or (<)):
Codex Vaticanus 354 Codex Vaticanus 354, formerly called ''Codex Guelpherbytanus'', is a Greek manuscript of the four Gospels written on parchment. It is designated by S or 028 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 1027 in the von Sode ...
(S) and the Minuscules 18, 24, 35, 045, 83, 95 (questionable scholion),
109 109 may refer to: * 109 (number), the integer following 108 and preceding 110 * AD 109, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD * 109 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 109 (department store), a department store in Shi ...
,
125 125 may refer to: *125 (number), a natural number *AD 125, a year in the 2nd century AD *125 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *125 (dinghy), a two person intermediate sailing dinghy *125 (New Jersey bus), a New Jersey Transit bus route *125 Liberatr ...
, 141,
148 148 may refer to: *148 (number), a natural number *AD 148, a year in the 2nd century AD *148 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *148 (album), an album by C418 *148 (Meiktila) Battery Royal Artillery, a specialist Naval Gunfire Support Forward Observa ...
,
156 Year 156 ( CLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silvanus and Augurinus (or, less frequently, year 909 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 156 for thi ...
,
161 Year 161 ( CLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Aurelius (or, less frequently, year 914 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 161 for this ye ...
,
164 Year 164 ( CLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macrinus and Celsus (or, less frequently, year 917 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 164 for this yea ...
,
165 Year 165 ( CLXV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Orfitus and Pudens (or, less frequently, year 918 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 165 for this year ...
, 166,
167 Year 167 ( CLXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Quadratus (or, less frequently, year 920 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 167 for t ...
,
178 Year 178 ( CLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 931 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 178 for this ...
,
179 Year 179 (Roman numerals, CLXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Veru (or, less frequently, year 932 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
,
200 Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 200 for this y ...
,
201 Year 201 ( CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 201 for this yea ...
,
202 Year 202 ( CCII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Antoninus (or, less frequently, year 955 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 202 for this yea ...
,
285 The year 285 ( CCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the "Year of the Consulship of Carinus and Aurelius" (or, less frequently, "year 1038 ''Ab urbe condita''"). The denomin ...
,
338 __NOTOC__ Year 338 ( CCCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ursus and Polemius (or, less frequently, year 1091 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, 348,
363 __NOTOC__ Year 363 ( CCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Iulianus and Sallustius (or, less frequently, year 1116 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...
,
367 __NOTOC__ Year 367 ( CCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lupicinus and Iovanus (or, less frequently, year 1120 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...
,
376 __NOTOC__ Year 376 (Roman numerals, CCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valens and Valentinian II, Augustus (or, less frequently, year 1129 ''Ab urbe co ...
,
386 __NOTOC__ Year 386 (Roman numerals, CCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Euodius (or, less frequently, year 1139 ''Ab urbe condita''). ...
,
392 __NOTOC__ Year 392 ( CCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 1145 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 3 ...
,
407 __NOTOC__ Year 407 ( CDVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, year 1160 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...
, 478, 479,
510 __NOTOC__ Year 510 ( DX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severinus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1263 ''Ab urbe condita''). The d ...
,
532 __NOTOC__ Year 532 ( DXXXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year after the Consulship of Lampadius and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1285 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...
,
547 __NOTOC__ Year 547 ( DXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 547 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...
,
553 __NOTOC__ Year 553 ( DLIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 553 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...
,
645 __NOTOC__ Year 645 (Roman numerals, DCXLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 645 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent m ...
,
655 __NOTOC__ Year 655 ( DCLV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 655 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
,
656 __NOTOC__ Year 656 (Roman numerals, DCLVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 656 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent metho ...
,
661 Year 661 ( DCLXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 661 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming ...
,
662 Year 662 (Roman numerals, DCLXII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 662 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in ...
,
685 __NOTOC__ Year 685 ( DCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 685 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...
, 699,
757 757 may refer to:575 * Boeing 757, a narrow-body airliner * AD 757, a year * 757 BC, a year * 757 (number), a number * Area code 757, a North American telephone dialling code * "757", a song by 100 gecs from ''10,000 gecs'' * The 757, a nickname fo ...
,
758 __NOTOC__ Year 758 (Roman numerals, DCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 758 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent ...
,
763 Year 763 ( DCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 763 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for nam ...
,
769 __NOTOC__ Year 769 ( DCCLXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 769 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...
,
781 __NOTOC__ Year 781 ( DCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 781 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...
, 789, 797,
801 __NOTOC__ Year 801 ( DCCCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 801st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 801st year of the 1st millennium, the 1st year of the 9th century, and the 2nd ...
,
824 __NOTOC__ Year 824 ( DCCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By date * February 8 – The Tenchō era begins in Japan at the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Junna, bringing an end to the ...
,
825 __NOTOC__ Year 825 (Roman numerals, DCCCXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place India * A group of Persio-Assyrian adherents of the Church of the East, under the leadership of two Persian bis ...
,
829 __NOTOC__ Year 829 ( DCCCXXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * October 2 – Emperor Michael II dies after an 8-year reign in Constantinople, and is succeeded by his ...
,
844 __NOTOC__ Year 844 ( DCCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Battle of Mauropotamos: A Byzantine expedition under Theoktistos is sent to Anatolia (mod ...
,
845 __NOTOC__ Year 845 ( DCCCXLV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Arab War: A prisoner exchange occurs between the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate, ...
, 867,
897 __NOTOC__ Year 897 ( DCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – King Lambert II travels to Rome with his mother, Queen Ageltrude and brother Guy IV, Lombard duke ...
,
922 __NOTOC__ Year 922 ( CMXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Battle of Constantinople: Emperor Romanos I sends Byzantine troops to repel another Bulgaria ...
,
1073 Year 1073 ( MLXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor Michael VII Doukas sends a Byzantine army to deal with Seljuk raiding in Cappadocia, support ...
, 1092 (later hand),
1187 Year 1187 ( MCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor Isaac II (Angelos) sends a Byzantine expeditionary force under Alexios Branas to suppress ...
, 1189, 1280, 1443, 1445, 2099, and 2253 include entire pericope from 7:53; the
menologion A menologium (, pl. menologia), also known by other names, is any collection of information arranged according to the days of a month, usually a set of such collections for all the months of the year. In particular, it is used for ancient Roman ...
of Lectionary 185 includes 8:1ff; Codex Basilensis (E) includes 8:2ff;
Codex Tischendorfianus III Codex Tischendorfianus III – designated by siglum Λ or 039 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 77 ( von Soden)Hermann von Soden, ''Die Schriften des neuen Testaments, in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt / hergestellt auf Grund ...
(Λ) and Petropolitanus (П) also the menologia of Lectionaries ℓ ''86'', ℓ ''211'', ℓ ''1579'' and ℓ ''1761'' include 8:3ff. Minuscule 807 is a manuscript with a Catena, but only in John 7:53–8:11 without catena. It is a characteristic of late Byzantine manuscripts conforming to the sub-type '' Family K'', that this pericope is marked with obeli; although Maurice Robinson argues that these marks are intended to remind lectors that these verses are to be omitted from the Gospel lection for
Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...
, not to question the authenticity of the passage. The originality of the story was questioned by
Euthymius Zigabenus Euthymius Zigabenus or Zigadenus or Zygadenus ( or Ζυγαδηνός; died after 1118) was a 12th-century monk and commentator on the Bible. He was a friend of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, for whom he wrote a lengthy work on heresi ...
(12th century). # Shorter passage questioned (8:3–11, marked with asterisks (※), obeli (÷) or (<)): 4, 8, 14,
443 __NOTOC__ Year 443 ( CDXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Paterius (or, less frequently, year 1196 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, 689,
707 707 may refer to: * 707 (number), a number * 707 (band), an American rock band * AD 707, a year in the 8th century * 707 BC, a year in the 8th century BC * The 7 July 2005 London bombings, a terrorist attack * 707th Special Mission Unit, a mili ...
, 781,
873 __NOTOC__ Year 873 ( DCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Carloman, son of King Charles the Bald, is hauled before a secular court and condemned to death – for plotting ...
, 1517. (8:2-11) Codex Basilensis A. N. III. 12 (E) (8th century), #Relocate passage:
Family 1 Family 1 is the name given to a group of Greek New Testament minuscule manuscripts of the Gospels, identified by biblical scholar Kirsopp Lake. These manuscripts vary in date from the 12th to the 15th century. The group takes its name from min ...
, minuscules 20, 37,
135 135 may refer to: *135 (number) *AD 135 *135 BC *135 film, better known as 35 mm film, is a format of photographic film used for still photography *135 (New Jersey bus), a New Jersey Transit bus route *135 Hertha 135 Hertha is an asteroid from ...
,
207 Year 207 (Roman numerals, CCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 960 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...
,
301 __NOTOC__ Year 301 ( CCCI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Postumius and Nepotianus (or, less frequently, year 1054 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...
,
347 Year 347 (Roman numerals, CCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rufinus and Eusebius (or, less frequently, year 1100 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomina ...
, and nearly all Armenian translations place the pericope after John 21:25;
Family 13 Family 13, also known as the Ferrar Group (''ƒ'', von Soden calls the group I), is a group of Greek Gospel manuscripts, dating from the 11th to the 15th centuries, which share a distinctive pattern of variant readings. All are thought to derive ...
place it after Luke 21:38; a corrector to Minuscule 1333 added 8:3–11 after Luke 24:53; and
Minuscule 225 Minuscule 225 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε 1210 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on parchment. A colophon dates it to t ...
includes the pericope after John 7:36. Minuscule 129,
135 135 may refer to: *135 (number) *AD 135 *135 BC *135 film, better known as 35 mm film, is a format of photographic film used for still photography *135 (New Jersey bus), a New Jersey Transit bus route *135 Hertha 135 Hertha is an asteroid from ...
,
259 Year 259 ( CCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aemilianus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1012 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 259 for thi ...
,
470 __NOTOC__ Year 470 ( CDLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Iordanes (or, less frequently, year 1223 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, 564,
1076 Year 1076 ( MLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 24 – Synod of Worms: Emperor Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, holds a synod in Worms (modern Germany). The assembly ...
,
1078 Year 1078 (Roman numerals, MLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Nikephoros III Botaneiates, Nikephoros Botaneiates, a Byzantine general (''strategos' ...
, and
1356 Year 1356 ( MCCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 20 – Edward Balliol surrenders his title as King of Scotland, to Edward III of England. * ca. February – ...
place John 8:3–11 after John 21:25. 788 and Minuscule 826 placed pericope after Luke 21:38. 115, 552, 1349, and 2620 placed pericope after John 8:12. #Added by a later hand: Codex Ebnerianus (Min. 105), Codex Rehdigeranus (''l'', VL11), 19,
284 __NOTOC__ Year 284 ( CCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Carinus and Numerianus (or, less frequently, year 1037 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, 431, 391,
461 __NOTOC__ Year 461 ( CDLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severinus and Dagalaiphus (or, less frequently, year 1214 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...
,
470 __NOTOC__ Year 470 ( CDLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Iordanes (or, less frequently, year 1223 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, 501 (8:3-11),
578 __NOTOC__ Year 578 ( DLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 578 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...
, 794, 1141, 1357, 1593, 2174, 2244, 2860, MS 14470 (added in the 9th century by a later scribe).William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (2002), pp. 40-41. #Lacuna: Codex Regius (L) (8th century) and Codex Sangallensis (Δ) (9th century) contain a large gap after John 7:52, thus indicating possible knowledge of the passage despite being omitted. The was never read as a part of the lesson for the
Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...
cycle, but John 8:3–8:11 was reserved for the festivals of such saints as Theodora, 18 September, or Pelagia, 8 October.


Authorship


Arguments against Johannine authorship

Bishop
J. B. Lightfoot Joseph Barber Lightfoot (13 April 1828 – 21 December 1889), known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. Life Lightfoot was born in Liverpool, where his father John Jackson Lightfoot was an accountant. His m ...
wrote that absence of the passage from the earliest manuscripts, combined with the occurrence of stylistic characteristics atypical of John, together implied that the passage was an
interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...
. Nevertheless, he considered the story to be authentic history. As a result, based on
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
' mention that the writings of Papias contained a story "about a woman falsely accused before the Lord of many sins" (H.E. 3.39), he argued that this section originally was part of Papias' ''Interpretations of the Sayings of the Lord'', and included it in his collection of Papias' fragments.
Walter Klaiber Walter Klaiber (born April 17, 1940 in Ulm) is a theologian, bishop of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany and was until the beginning of March 2007 Chairman of the Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany. Bibliography Studi ...
also says that the passage records an actual event, consistent with Jesus' teachings.
Walter Klaiber Walter Klaiber (born April 17, 1940 in Ulm) is a theologian, bishop of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany and was until the beginning of March 2007 Chairman of the Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany. Bibliography Studi ...
: ''The Gospel of John''. Volume 1: John 1:1–10:42. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2017, pp. 294, 298.
Giuseppe Segalla claims that "as to historicity, it is generally positive because the episode is perfectly consistent with the forgiveness of Jesus as it appears in the
Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...
: in fact, this story has the characteristics of the Synoptic tradition".
Bart D. Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books ...
concurs in ''Misquoting Jesus'', adding that the passage contains many words and phrases otherwise alien to John's writing. The evangelical Bible scholar Daniel B. Wallace agrees with Ehrman. There are several excerpts from other authors that are consistent with this: Fragment 1 (Eusebius - 4th century):
And he relates another story of a woman, who was accused of many sins before the Lord, which is contained in the Gospel according to the Hebrews. These things we have thought it necessary to observe in addition to what has been already stated.
Fragment 2 (
Agapius of Hierapolis Agapius of Hierapolis, also called Maḥbūb ibn Qusṭanṭīn (died after 942), was a Melkite Christian historian and the bishop of Manbij in Syria. He wrote a universal history in Arabic, the lengthy ''Kitāb al-ʿunwān'' ('book of the title') ...
- 10th century):
And there was at that time in Menbij ierapolisa distinguished master who had many treatises, and he wrote five treatises on the Gospel. And he mentions in his treatise on the Gospel of John, that in the book of John the Evangelist, he speaks of a woman who was adulterous, so when they presented her to Christ our Lord, to whom be glory, He told the Jews who brought her to Him, “Whoever of you knows that he is innocent of what she has done, let him testify against her with what he has.” So when He told them that, none of them responded with anything and they left.
Fragment 3 (
Vardan Areveltsi Vardan Areveltsi (; Vardan the Easterner, – 1271 AD) was a medieval Armenian historian, geographer, philosopher and translator. In addition to establishing numerous schools and monasteries, he also left behind a rich contribution to Armen ...
- 13th century):
The story of that adulterous woman, which other Christians have written in their gospel, was written about by a certain Papias, a student of John, who was declared a heretic and condemned. Eusebius wrote about this. There are laws and that matter which Pilate, the king of the Jews, wrote of. And it is said that he wrote in Hebrew with Latin and Greek above it.
However, Michael W. Holmes says that it is not certain "that Papias knew the story in precisely this form, inasmuch as it now appears that at least two independent stories about Jesus and a sinful woman circulated among Christians in the first two centuries of the church, so that the traditional form found in many New Testament manuscripts may well represent a conflation of two independent shorter, earlier versions of the incident." Kyle R. Hughes has argued that one of these earlier versions is in fact very similar in style, form, and content to the Lukan special material (the so-called "L" source), suggesting that the core of this tradition is in fact rooted in very early Christian (though not Johannine) memory. Klaiber also argues that the story "is very ancient and was already known at the beginning of the 2nd century."


Arguments for Johannine authorship

The story of the adulteress has been defended by those who teach the
Byzantine priority theory The Byzantine priority theory is a theory within Christian textual criticism held by a minority of textual critics. This view sees the Byzantine text-type as the New Testament's most accurate textual tradition, instead of the theorized Alexandria ...
and also by those who defend the superiority of the
Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...
. Among these, Zane C. Hodges and Arthur L. Farstad argue for Johannine authorship of the pericope. They suggest there are points of similarity between the pericope's style and the style of the rest of the gospel. They claim that the details of the encounter fit very well into the context of the surrounding verses. They argue that the pericope's appearance in the majority of manuscripts, if not in the oldest ones, is evidence of its authenticity. Biblical scholar Maurice Robinson argued that the anomalies in the transmission of the Pericope Adulterae may be explained by the Lectionary system, where due to the Pericope Adulterae being skipped during the Pentecost lesson, some scribes would relocate the story to not intervene with the flow of the Pentecost lesson. He also argued that mistakes arising from the Lectionary system are able to explain the omission of the story in some manuscripts.


Status in the Bible

According to , "the question of the ''
Pericope Adulterae Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (or the ) is a passage (pericope) found in John 7:53–John 8#Pericope adulterae, 8:11 of the New Testament. It is considered by many to be Pseudepigrapha, pseudepigraphical. In the passage, Jesus was t ...
s canonicity does not follow automatically from a literary historical judgment about its origin." The Catholic Church regards it as canonical, following the precepts of the
Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...
. Many Protestants reject it as non-canonical. From a Protestant point of view, Baum argues that its canonicity can be "determined according to the same historical and content-related criteria that the ancient church applied during the development of the canon of Scriptures." He further argues, however, that it should be separated from the Gospel of John.


Art and culture

The story is the subject of several paintings, including: * ''Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery'', a series of works by
Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ;  – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...
and the Younger (1520-1560) * ''Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery'' by
Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder ( , ; ; – 9 September 1569) was among the most significant artists of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaking, printmaker, known for his landscape art, landscape ...
(1565) * ''Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery'' by
Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...
(1614) * ''The Woman Taken in Adultery'' by
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
(1644) * ''Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery'' by
Mattia Preti Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John. Life Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Ca ...
(c. 1650) * '' Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (He That Is Without Sin?)'' by
Vasily Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (; 1 June 1844 – 18 July 1927) was a Russian landscape painter associated with the Peredvizhniki movement of realist artists. His contemporaries would call him the “Knight of Beauty” as he embodied both European a ...
(1888) * ''Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery'' by
Max Beckmann Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, drawing, draftsman, printmaker, sculpture, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the m ...
(1917) * ''Christ with the Adulteress'' by
Han van Meegeren Henricus Antonius "Han" van Meegeren (; 10 October 1889 – 30 December 1947) was a Dutch painter and portraitist, considered one of the most ingenious Art forgery, art forgers of the 20th century. Van Meegeren became a national hero after World ...
(1942), but sold as an original
Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...
Variations of the story are told in the 1986 science fiction novel ''
Speaker for the Dead ''Speaker for the Dead'' is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, an indirect sequel to the 1985 novel ''Ender's Game''. The book takes place around the year 5270, some 3,000 years after the events in ''Ender's Game ...
'' by
Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...
, as part of ''Letters to an Incipient Heretic'' by the character San Angelo.


Chinese distortion

In September 2020, the Chinese textbook(''Professional Ethics and Law'') was alleged to inaccurately recount the story with a changed narrative in which Jesus stones the woman, while stating "I too am a sinner. But if the law could only be executed by men without blemish, the law would be dead." The publisher claims that this was an inauthentic, unauthorized publication of its textbook.


See also

*
List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations New Testament verses not included in modern English translations are verses of the New Testament that exist in older English translations (primarily the New King James Version), but do not appear or have been relegated to footnotes in later versi ...


Notes


References


External links

* (NIV) * (KJV)
Pericope Adulterae in Manuscript Comparator
— allows two or more New Testament manuscript editions' readings of the passage to be compared in side by side and unified views (similar to
diff In computing, the utility diff is a data comparison tool that computes and displays the differences between the contents of files. Unlike edit distance notions used for other purposes, diff is line-oriented rather than character-oriented, but i ...
output)
The Pericope de Adultera Homepage
Site dedicated to proving that the passage is authentic, with links to a wide range of scholarly published material on both sides about all aspects of this text, and dozens of new articles.
New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room
the manuscript portal provided by the
Institute for New Testament Textual Research The Institute for New Testament Textual Research ( — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its Greek initial text on the basis of the entire manusc ...
. This page provides direct access to the primary source material to confirm the evidence presented in the section Manuscript Evidence.
Jesus and the Adulteress
a detailed study by Wieland Willker.

list marginal notes from several versions, extended discussion taken from Samuel P. Tregelles, lists extended excerpts from An Account of the Printed Text of the Greek New Testament (London, 1854), F.H.A. Scrivener, ''A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament'' (4th edition. London, 1894), Bruce Metzger, ''A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament'' (Stuttgart, 1971), Raymond E. Brown, ''The Gospel According to John'' (i–xii), in the Anchor Bible series (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966).

in defense of the pericope de adultera by Edward F. Hills, taken from chapter 6 of his book, ''The King James Version Defended'', 4th edition (Des Moines: Christian Research Press, 1984). *Chris Keith
The Initial Location of the Pericope Adulterae in Fourfold Tradition
*David Robert Palmer
John 5:3b and the Pericope Adulterae
*John David Punch
THE PERICOPE ADULTERAE: THEORIES OF INSERTION & OMISSION
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jesus And The Woman Taken In Adultery Biblical criticism Doctrines and teachings of Jesus Gospel episodes Gospel of John Women in the New Testament Adultery and religion Second Temple Pseudepigraphy