One of great passages in the whole Bible, in my opinion, is the passage of the adulterous woman. (In most Bibles, it’s in John 7:53-8:11.)
But I ask myself: why do I like this passage?
I know there is one particular reinforcement that helps me like it, perhaps even a little bit more.
Let me uncover this particular detail.
The adulterous woman passage is found, in most versions of Bible, today, in John’s Gospel. In minor percentage, it’s found in Luke’s Gospel.
Well, here is that particular detail I mentioned above: this passage is not found in most of the manuscript witnesses.
These manuscript witnesses are those that have been copied, hand in hand, in time and space, both to spread the Word and also to save it from forgetfulness, from it falling out of colective registered human-societal memories, so to say.
Anyway the passage was rescued and put back on place, but its correct place inside the New Testament (either John’s or Luke’s) cannot be precisely determined anymore, for the very same fact that it has already been placed in either of the two.
But why? Why do most manuscripts lack it?
Is this passage false? Has Jesus not been there? Has he not shouted to the crowd: cast the first stone the one who has no sin? Were the copying scribers biased by prejudice? So why do these witnesses miss the adulteress passage?
Well, the whole passage, it’s the spirit of Jesus himself, isn’t it?
Whatever the case, Jesus for sure did not approve of adultery. Jesus saw ahead of his time for he did both: he showed us that adultery was what it was as the elders and the commandments have already long been saying what it was, ie, “thou shalt not commit adultery”, and, differently from those same elders and the dead word of the law, he showed us it’s not for the sinful ones to stone another sinful one to death. Logically, if that were to rule the world, though not funny, that might even lead everyone having to kill everyone else.
But the sinless one, could he cast the first stone? I’m afraid if the sinless one — whether this creature could ever exist on Earth — did it, he or she would, at that very moment, become sinful and then a logical deadlock might come around.
