The Story of the Story of the Adulteress

The Story of the Woman Caught in Adultery (henceforth the “Story of the Adulteress”) is a well-known and well-loved story. It is traditionally found in Christian Bibles at John 7:53–8:11. What many Christians may not know is that the Story of the Adulteress is most probably not part of the Bible!

The Absence of the Story in Early Biblical Texts

The Story of the Adulteress is not found in all the earliest available Greek New Testament manuscripts which were produced before the fifth century CE. This means that the Bibles used by many early Christians did not contain the Story of the Adulteress.

Papyrus 66 was produced during the second century CE. It is the earliest manuscript of the Gospel of John, and it does not contain the Story of the Adulteress. On the page containing John 7:52–8:16, we would expect to find the Story of the Adulteress, but we do not. Rather, the last words of 7:52, “Search and see that out of Galilee a prophet does not rise,” are immediately followed by the first words of 8:12, “Again Jesus spoke to them saying: I am the light of the world.”

We observe the same thing when we examine other early and important New Testament Greek manuscripts such as Papyrus 75, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Vaticanus. In all these manuscripts, the last words of John 7:52 are followed immediately by the first words of John 8:12. In these early manuscripts, the Story of the Adulteress is nowhere to be found!

The text of the Gospel of John used by early Christian communities in major cities also did not contain the Story of the Adulteress.

John Chrysostom, who lived during the fifth century CE, was the most senior Christian leader in Constantinople. He preached a series of sermons through the Gospel of John. Here is an excerpt from his sermon which covers John 7:45–8:19:

“Search and see that from Galilee a prophet has not risen.” For what did the man say? That he was a prophet? No, he said that he must not be killed without judgement. But they replied arrogantly, as to one who does not know anything about the Scriptures, as if someone had said, “Go, learn,” for that is what “Search and see” means. So, what did Christ do? Since they were turning up and down about Galilee and the Prophet, to free all men from this erroneous suspicion, and to show that he is not one of the prophets but the master of the world, he said, “I am the light of the world.” (Homilies in the Gospel of John 52)

John Chrysostom thought that Jesus’ words in 8:12, “I am the light of the world,” was a response to what the Jews said in 7:52, “Search and see that from Galilee a prophet has not risen.” Apparently, the text of the Gospel of John used by the Christians in Constantinople did not contain the Story of the Adulteress. This is very important because Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman Empire during this time.

We find this same situation also in Alexandria, a major city of the Roman Empire. Cyril of Alexandria, who lived during the fifth century CE, was the most senior Christian leader in Alexandria. In his Commentary on the Gospel of John, right after commenting on 7:52, Cyril proceeds to comment on 8:12, as if that were the next verse in his text of the Gospel of John. Apparently, the text of the Gospel of John used by the Christians in Alexandria also did not contain the Story of the Adulteress.

These considerations, among many others, make it more reasonable to think that the Story of the Adulteress was not originally part of the Gospel of John.

The Tradition of the Story among Early Christians

Even if the Story of the Adulteress were not part of the Gospel of John, it did not come from nowhere. There are at least three possibilities regarding the origin of the Story of the Adulteress:

1. The Story may be historical; the event narrated in the Story may have really happened.
2. The Story may have been an early tradition which became popular among Christians.
3. The Story may have evolved from an earlier story.

However, even if one of these possibilities were true, it does not mean that the Story of the Adulteress was originally part of the Bible.

Several early Christian writings are sometimes cited to show that the Story of the Adulteress was known among the early Christians.

A possible reference to the Story of the Adulteress is from Eusebius of Caesarea, who lived during the fourth century CE:

[Papias of Hierapolis] sets forth also another story about a woman accused of many sins before the Lord, which the Gospel according to the Hebrews contains. (Church History 3.39)

However, this story may not be the Story of the Adulteress. Eusebius says that the story was “about a woman accused of many sins”, but in the Story of the Adulteress, the woman was accused of only one sin: adultery. Eusebius gives too few details about this story for it to be convincingly identified as the Story of the Adulteress. Moreover, Eusebius says that this story was contained in “the Gospel according to the Hebrews”, and not in the Gospel of John.

Another possible reference to the Story of the Adulteress is found in the Didascalia Apostolorum, produced during the third century CE:

Do as he also did with her who 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 you, my daughter? She says to him: No, Lord. And he said to her: Go, neither do I condemn you.

Again, this story may not be the Story of the Adulteress. In this story, the Jewish elders set the woman before Jesus and left, but in the Story of the Adulteress, the Jewish elders did not leave immediately after bringing the woman before him. Moreover, even if this were the Story of the Adulteress, the Didascalia Apostolorum does not indicate that it was part of the Gospel of John.

The Controversy of the Story in the Gospel of John

The earliest clear mentions of the Story of the Adulteress in the Gospel of John come from toward the end of the fourth century CE. However, this was by no means unanimous; some Christians thought that the Story of the Adulteress was part of the Gospel of John, while others did not.

Ambrose of Milan, who lived during the late fourth century CE, wrote:

And indeed always repeated is the question, and the absolution of the famous woman, who in the book of the Gospel which is written according to John, exposed to Christ as guilty of adultery. For this was the deliberated equivocation of the Jews, that if she were absolved against the Law, then the sentence brought forth by the Lord Jesus would be held against the Law, but if she were condemned on the basis of the Law, then the grace of Christ would seem to be empty. (Epistle 26.2)

Clearly, Ambrose thought that the Story of the Adulteress was part of the Gospel of John.

Didymus the Blind, who died at the end of the fourth century CE, wrote:

Therefore, we find in certain gospels a woman, it says, was condemned by the Jews for a sin, and was being sent to be stoned in the place where it was customary to happen. The Saviour, it says, having seen her and having observed that they were ready to stone her, said to those who were about to cast stones at her: He who has not sinned, let him take a stone and throw it. If anyone is conscious of himself not to have sinned, let him take a stone and strike her. And no one dared. Having understood themselves and knowing that even they were guilty in some things, they did not dare to strike her down. (Commentary on Ecclesiastes)

Unlike Ambrose, however, Didymus does not specify that the Story was found in the Gospel of John, but “in certain gospels”, and it is not clear whether that included the Gospel of John.

Jerome, who lived during the late fourth century CE, included the Story of the Adulteress in his Latin translation of the Bible. He also wrote:

In the Gospel according to John, in many codices, both Greek and Latin, is found the story about the adulterous woman who was accused before the Lord. (Against Pelagius 2.17)

To Jerome’s knowledge, “many”—not all—Greek and Latin Bible manuscripts contained the Story of the Adulteress in the Gospel of John. It is not clear whether Jerome was directly familiar with these manuscripts, or whether he received this information indirectly. Whatever the case, Jerome knew of some manuscripts which did not contain the Story of the Adulteress in the Gospel of John. Indeed, as we have seen, Greek manuscripts like Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus were produced shortly before or during Jerome’s lifetime, but they did not contain the Story of the Adulteress.

Augustine of Hippo, who lived during the fifth century CE, wrote:

The Lord forgave the adulteress, but this clearly terrified the senses of the faithless persons, such that some persons of moderate faith, or rather, enemies of the true faith, I believe, fearing that the impunity to sin would be given to their wives, removed from their books that which the Lord did regarding his pardon of the adulteress, as if he who said, “From now on, do not sin” had granted permission to sin. (On Adulterous Marriages 2:7)

Augustine speculated (“I believe”) that faithless people removed the Story of the Adulteress from their text of the Bible. Whether or not Augustine’s speculation was true, it indicates that during his time, there were texts of the Gospel of John which did not contain the Story of the Adulteress.

The earliest known Greek manuscript which contains the Story of the Adulteress in the main text of the Gospel of John is Codex Bezae, which was produced during the fifth century CE. In two manuscripts, Codex Regius from the eighth century CE and and Codex Delta from ninth century CE, a blank space is left in between 7:52 and 8:12. The copyists of those manuscripts were aware that the Story of the Adulteress was traditionally found in that place in the Gospel of John, but they did not think that it should be included in that place.

Conclusion

Today, many translations of the Bible include a note to inform the reader that the Story of the Adulteress may not be originally part of the Gospel of John. For example, in the ESV, there is a note right after John 7:52 which reads:

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]

The gospel accounts were not intended to contain a completely detailed account of Jesus’ life. Even the Gospel of John itself states that only certain things were chosen to be included in its compilation (John 20:30–31; 21:25). Even if the Story of the Adulteress tells a true story, the historical evidence indicates that it was not originally part of the Gospel of John, and hence it is not part of the Bible.