Pericope de Adultera

Jesus and the woman taken in adultery – a passage known as the Pericope Adulterae (/pəˈrɪkəpiː əˈdʌltəriː/) or Pericope de Adultera – is a famous passage (pericope) found in the Gospel of John 7:53-8:11, that has been the subject of much scholarly discussion.

In the passage, Jesus has sat down in the temple to teach some of the people, after he spent the previous night at the Mount of Olives. A group of scribes and Pharisees confront Jesus, interrupting his teaching session. They bring in a woman, accusing her of committing adultery, claiming she was caught in the very act. They ask Jesus whether the punishment for someone like her should be stoning, as proscribed by Mosaic Law. Jesus first ignores the interruption, and writes on the ground as though he does not hear them. But 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. The accusers and congregants depart, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. Jesus asks the woman if anyone has condemned her. She answers that no one has condemned her. Jesus says that he, too, does not condemn her, and tells her to go and sin no more.

Although nothing in this story contradicts anything else in the Gospels, many analysts of the Greek text and manuscripts of the Gospel of John have argued that it was "certainly not part of the original text of St John's Gospel." The Jerusalem Bible claims "the author of this passage is not John". On the other hand, Leo the Great (bishop of Rome, or Pope, from 440–61), cited the passage in his 62nd Sermon, mentioning that Jesus said "to the adulteress who was brought to him, ‘Neither will I condemn you; go and sin no more.'" In the early 400s, Saint Augustine used the passage extensively, and from his writings it is also clear that his heretical contemporary Faustus also used it, as well as a group of unbelievers.

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