Comments on: New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson #15

By: Julie M. Smith

Julie M. Smith — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 11:40:45 +0000

BHodges, thanks for catching that. I changed the Deut. reference in the post to v13-30 since we don’t know for sure the woman’s marital situation before this event.

As for “in the midst,” all three of those verses have the same word in Greek (mesos) although, as you note, it is often not translated the same way into English.

By: Terry H

Terry H — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 04:08:43 +0000

Mike. See the 2d essay I referred to in #2.

By: Mike Maxwell

Mike Maxwell — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 16:47:11 +0000

Julie…it is my understanding that John 8: 1-11 was a later addition and is not part of the earliest known manuscripts. I am interested in when, how, or by whom they were added. Any sources you would recommend on this?

By: BHodges

BHodges — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:33:17 +0000

Julie, a question about your interesting “in the midst” parallel: Does the Greek line up that way? The NRSV has different wording for these phrases. Chapter 19:18 has Jesus “between them,” while chapter 8 verse 3 says “making her stand before all of them” and verse 9 has her “standing before [Jesus].”

In other words, is the “in the midst” parallel there in the underlying Greek?

By: BHodges

BHodges — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:21:13 +0000

Julie, thanks for these questions. As to your first one, “Why haven’t the scribes and Pharisees brought the man involved in the incident to Jesus?” you refer us to Deut. 22.18. Did you mean Deut. 22.22?(Verse 18 says a man should be punished if he wrongfully accuses his new wife of having previously lost her virginity. But verse 22 speaks directly to instances of adultery: “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.”)

By: Terry H

Terry H — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 00:18:25 +0000

Julie, “Ciphers in the Sand” is edited by Larry J. Kreitzer & Deborah W. Rooke. The subtitle is “Interpretations of The Woman Taken in Adultery (John 7:53-8.11). Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000. 277 pp. It contains 8 essays on various interpretations and views of this incident. This is a good view of “feminist” and “cultural” histories and commentaries. In its compilation, the book provides a history of the reception of this story. My use for medieval, post-Jesus rabbinical and modern interpretations of incidents in the scriptures is minimal, but I liked the way some of these authors showed how the world has viewed this story (significantly different from my own). For our purposes, Rooke’s essay called “Wayward Women and Broken Promises: Marriage, Adultery and Mercy in Old and New Testament” was the most valuable, followed by J. Martin Scotts’ “On the Trail of a Good Story: John 7:53-8:11 in the Gospel Tradition” which kind of discusses how (and possibly why) the story wasn’t added until later.

By: Kim Berkey

Kim Berkey — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 21:00:26 +0000

Superb questions this week, Julie. Thanks!