Messiah and the Woman Taken in Adultery, Part 1

It is no secret that Yeshua (Jesus) had a relationship with the senior members of the Pharisee party of his day which was often characterized by friction. Though some of His followers where indeed Pharisee party members¹ The gospel accounts are never-the-less replete with examples of public debates and theological and political exchanges² which often resulted ended in anger,³ and attempts at violence⁴ by His detractors. Few of these exchanges rise to the level of the exchange between the Master and a group of Pharisees:

Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the midst, they told him, “Rabbi, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. Now in our Torah, Moses commanded us to stone such. What then do you say about her?”  They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of.

But Yeshua stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.

They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Yeshua was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. Yeshua, standing up, saw her and said, “Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.”

Yeshua said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more.”
—John 8:2-11 (WEB:ME)

Now, the court of women was the western most section of the temple which was considered holy: it is in this court that the treasury is located. Both men and women where permitted here, and teachers would often come here to teach. Westward from this place was the court of the gentiles, which was not considered holy.⁵. If this group of Pharisees had any intention of charging her with a crime, there where two places close by which they could have done so. Two courts consisting of 23-judges, the minimum number required to try a capital crime,⁶ adultery included,⁷ where close by. One was located at the entrance to the Temple Mount, the other the Temple Court⁸ Inescapably, it follows that this group of Pharisees had to drag this woman past not one, but two courts capable of tying this case. Moreover, the Bet Din—the House of Justice—in which the 71-member Great Sanhedrin would meet was built into the north wall of the Temple complex es well. I don’t know that there are words (repeatable or otherwise) that could be used to describe the kind of nerve and the twisted logic in play here.

It is clear, even to the causal reader, that this incident was a setup. This was a clear attempt to get the Master to breach the precepts given in the Torah (the five books of Moses). However, there are a few things about this matter which may not be as clear.

By making a public spectacle of this woman in the most densely pact thoroughfare in the Temple complex, before she was tried and found guilty, they have become slanderers. Slander is a serious offense in the Torah, as it is written:

“‘You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.’”
—Leviticus 19:16 (WEB:ME)

Adultery being such a heinous crime in the eyes of the people, the entire situation could have easily gotten out of hand and the surrounding crowd could surely have killed her be for temple authorities could have intervened. Moreover, even if things had not gotten out of hand, he character would have surely been damaged beyond repair. True or not, she would have been seen as an adulteress for the rest of her days. The Rabbis of old had an expression for this kind of speech, “Leshon Hara”, it is the kind of speech which destroys the life of another. This was held to be on equal moral footing with murder, idolatry, and (ironically) adultery!⁹

Moving forward to examine the available facts. By this group of scribes and Pharisees own admission they caught the woman in the act of adultery. Therefore, the most obvious question is, where is the adulterer with whom she was caught? There really is no reason he should not have been brought to the authorities along with her. In fact, the Torah demands it.¹⁰

Given that the adulterer is conspicuously absent, other questions begin to arise. Since when do a group alertedly pious men go walking around town and in some idle manner happen across a woman having sex with a man who is not her husband in plain sight? Where and when did this happen? How did they know so quickly and clearly that it was not her husband with whom they found her? One begins to wonder if the adulterous event itself was not engineered for the purpose of entrapping a prominent teacher in Israel to either violate Torah or commit sedition against the Caesar. If there was any level of premeditation of manipulation of events in this matter, the this group is also guilty of being a malicious witness.

“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.”
—Exodus 23:1 (WEB:ME)

Should any among them be culpable in the matter. That is, if the adulterer is among the accusers. Or, for that matter, if any had come together to conspire to have her seduced simply to bring this charge against her their testimony would not have been admissible. This is because Torah forbids the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.¹¹

The Master’s response was ingenious, however, it was not the only possible response. In Part 2, the matter of what could have happened (along with the most likely repercussions) will be examined in detail. Also addressed, the question that Bible students have been scratching their heads over for generations. So, please return for Part 2!

Tags: adultery