John 8
8
A Woman Caught in Adultery.#7:53–8:11] The story of the woman caught in adultery is a later insertion here, missing from all early Greek manuscripts. A Western text-type insertion, attested mainly in Old Latin translations, it is found in different places in different manuscripts: here, or after Jn 7:36 or at the end of this gospel, or after Lk 21:38, or at the end of that gospel. There are many non-Johannine features in the language, and there are also many doubtful readings within the passage. The style and motifs are similar to those of Luke, and it fits better with the general situation at the end of Lk 21, but it was probably inserted here because of the allusion to Jer 17:13 (cf. note on Jn 8:6) and the statement, “I do not judge anyone,” in Jn 8:15. The Catholic Church accepts this passage as canonical scripture. [Then each went to his own house, 1while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.#Mount of Olives: not mentioned elsewhere in the gospel tradition outside of passion week. #Lk 21:37–38. 2But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 4They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.#Lv 20:10 and Dt 22:22 mention only death, but Dt 22:23–24 prescribes stoning for a betrothed virgin. So what do you say?”#Lv 20:10; Dt 22:22–29. 6They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.#Cf. Jer 17:13 (RSV): “Those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water”; cf. Jn 7:38. 7#The first stones were to be thrown by the witnesses (Dt 17:7). But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them,#Dt 17:7. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. 10Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”#Ez 33:11. 11She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.”]#5:14.
The Light of the World.#Jesus the light of the world. Jesus replaces the four torches of the illumination of the temple as the light of joy. 12Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”#1:4–5, 9; 12:46; Ex 13:22; Is 42:6; Zec 14:8. 13So the Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified.” 14Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified,#My testimony can be verified: this seems to contradict Jn 5:31, but the emphasis here is on Jesus’ origin from the Father and his divine destiny. Where I am going: indicates Jesus’ passion and glorification. because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.#5:31. 15You judge by appearances,#By appearances: literally, “according to the flesh.” I do not judge anyone: superficial contradiction of Jn 5:22, 27, 30; here the emphasis is that the judgment is not by material standards. but I do not judge anyone.#12:47; 1 Sm 16:7. 16And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me.#5:30. 17Even in your law#Your law: a reflection of later controversy between church and synagogue. it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified.#Dt 17:6; 19:15; Nm 35:30. 18I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me.”#5:23, 37. 19So they said to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”#7:28; 14:7; 15:21. 20He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area. But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.#7:30.
Jesus, the Father’s Ambassador.#He whose ambassador I am is with me. Jesus’ origin is from God; he can reveal God. 21He said to them again, “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin.#You will die in your sin: i.e., of disbelief; cf. Jn 8:24. Where I am going you cannot come: except through faith in Jesus’ passion-resurrection. Where I am going you cannot come.”#7:34; 13:33. 22#The Jews suspect that he is referring to his death. Johannine irony is apparent here; Jesus’ death will not be self-inflicted but destined by God. So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” 23He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.#3:31; 17:14; 18:36. 24That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM,#8:24, 28] I AM: an expression that late Jewish tradition understood as Yahweh’s own self-designation (Is 43:10); see note on Jn 4:26. Jesus is here placed on a par with Yahweh. you will die in your sins.”#Ex 3:14; Dt 32:39; Is 43:10. 25#What I told you from the beginning: this verse seems textually corrupt, with several other possible translations: “(I am) what I say to you”; “Why do I speak to you at all?” The earliest attested reading (Bodmer Papyrus P66) has (in a second hand), “I told you at the beginning what I am also telling you (now).” The answer here (cf. Prv 8:22) seems to hinge on a misunderstanding of Jn 8:24 “that I AM” as “what I am.” So they said to him, “Who are you?”#10:24. Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning. 26I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world.”#12:44–50. 27They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. 28So Jesus said [to them], “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me.#3:14; 12:32, 34. 29The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
Jesus and Abraham.#Jesus’ origin (“before Abraham”) and destiny are developed; the truth will free them from sin (Jn 8:34) and death (Jn 8:51). 31Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him,#Those Jews who believed in him: a rough editorial suture, since in Jn 8:37 they are described as trying to kill Jesus. “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”#Is 42:7; Gal 4:31. 33They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.#Have never been enslaved to anyone: since, historically, the Jews were enslaved almost continuously, this verse is probably Johannine irony, about slavery to sin. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”#Mt 3:9. 34Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.#Rom 6:16–17. 35A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son#A slave…a son: an allusion to Ishmael and Isaac (Gn 16; 21), or to the release of a slave after six years (Ex 21:2; Dt 15:12). always remains.#Gn 21:10; Gal 4:30; Heb 3:5–6. 36So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. 37I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. 38#The Father: i.e., God. It is also possible, however, to understand the second part of the verse as a sarcastic reference to descent of the Jews from the devil (Jn 8:44), “You do what you have heard from [your] father.” I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father.”
39#The works of Abraham: Abraham believed; cf. Rom 4:11–17; Jas 2:21–23. They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them,#Gn 26:5; Rom 4:11–17; Jas 2:21–23. “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. 40But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. 41You are doing the works of your father!” [So] they said to him, “We are not illegitimate. We have one Father, God.”#Mal 2:10. 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.#1 Jn 5:1. 43Why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.#Gn 3:4; Wis 1:13; 2:24; Acts 13:10; 1 Jn 3:8–15. 45But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. 46Can any of you charge me with sin? If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me?#Heb 4:15; 1 Pt 2:22; 1 Jn 3:5. 47Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not listen, because you do not belong to God.”#10:26; 1 Jn 4:6.
48The Jews answered and said to him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan#Samaritan: therefore interested in magical powers; cf. Acts 7:14–24. and are possessed?” 49Jesus answered, “I am not possessed; I honor my Father, but you dishonor me. 50I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the one who judges.#7:18. 51Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”#5:24–29; 6:40, 47; 11:25–26. 52[So] the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham,#Are you greater than our father Abraham?: cf. Jn 4:12. who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?”#4:12. 54Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word.#7:28–29. 56Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it#He saw it: this seems a reference to the birth of Isaac (Gn 17:7; 21:6), the beginning of the fulfillment of promises about Abraham’s seed. and was glad.#Gn 17:17; Mt 13:17; Lk 17:22. 57So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”#The evidence of the third-century Bodmer Papyrus P75 and the first hand of Codex Sinaiticus indicates that the text originally read: “How can Abraham have seen you?” 58#Came to be, I AM: the Greek word used for “came to be” is the one used of all creation in the prologue, while the word used for “am” is the one reserved for the Logos. Jesus said to them,#1:30; 17:5. “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” 59So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.#10:31, 39; 11:8; Lk 4:29–30.
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John 8: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
John 8
8
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2At sunrise he arrived again in the temple courtyard. All the people gathered around him there. He sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman. She had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of the group. 4They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who was not her husband. 5In the Law, Moses commanded us to kill such women by throwing stones at them. Now what do you say?” 6They were trying to trap Jesus with that question. They wanted to have a reason to bring charges against him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7They kept asking him questions. So he stood up and said to them, “Has any one of you not sinned? Then you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8He bent down again and wrote on the ground.
9Those who heard what he had said began to go away. They left one at a time, the older ones first. Soon only Jesus was left. The woman was still standing there. 10Jesus stood up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Hasn’t anyone found you guilty?”
11“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then I don’t find you guilty either,” Jesus said. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Challenge to What Jesus Says About Himself
12Jesus spoke to the people again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness. They will have that light. They will have life.”
13The Pharisees argued with him. “Here you are,” they said, “appearing as your own witness. But your witness does not count.”
14Jesus answered, “Even if I am a witness about myself, what I say does count. I know where I came from. And I know where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge by human standards. I don’t judge anyone. 16But if I do judge, what I decide is true. This is because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17Your own Law says that the witness of two people proves the truth about something. 18I am a witness about myself. The other witness about me is the Father, who sent me.”
19Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20He spoke these words while he was teaching in the temple courtyard. He was near the place where the offerings were put. But no one arrested him. That’s because the time for him to die had not yet come.
Challenge to Who Jesus Claims to Be
21Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away. You will look for me, and you will die in your sin. You can’t come where I am going.”
22This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘You can’t come where I am going’?”
23But Jesus said, “You are from below. I am from heaven. You are from this world. I am not from this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins. This will happen if you don’t believe that I am he. If you don’t believe, you will certainly die in your sins.”
25“Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26“I have a lot to say that will judge you. But the one who sent me can be trusted. And I tell the world what I have heard from him.”
27They did not understand that Jesus was telling them about his Father. 28So Jesus said, “You will lift up the Son of Man. Then you will know that I am he. You will also know that I do nothing on my own. I speak just what the Father has taught me. 29The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.” 30Even while Jesus was speaking, many people believed in him.
Challenge to the Claim to Be Children of Abraham
31Jesus spoke to the Jews who had believed him. “If you obey my teaching,” he said, “you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth. And the truth will set you free.”
33They answered him, “We are Abraham’s children. We have never been slaves of anyone. So how can you say that we will be set free?”
34Jesus replied, “What I’m about to tell you is true. Everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35A slave has no lasting place in the family. But a son belongs to the family forever. 36So if the Son of Man sets you free, you will really be free. 37I know that you are Abraham’s children. But you are looking for a way to kill me. You have no room for my word. 38I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. You are doing what you have heard from your father.”
39“Abraham is our father,” they answered.
Jesus said, “Are you really Abraham’s children? If you are, you will do what Abraham did. 40But you are looking for a way to kill me. I am a man who has told you the truth I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do the things you want to do. 41You are doing what your own father does.”
“We have the right to claim to be God’s children,” they objected. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me. I have come here from God. I have not come on my own. God sent me. 43Why aren’t my words clear to you? Because you can’t really hear what I say. 44You belong to your father, the devil. You want to obey your father’s wishes. From the beginning, the devil was a murderer. He has never obeyed the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his natural language. He does this because he is a liar. He is the father of lies. 45But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me! 46Can any of you prove I am guilty of sinning? Am I not telling the truth? Then why don’t you believe me? 47Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you don’t hear is that you don’t belong to God.”
Jesus Makes Claims About Himself
48The Jews answered Jesus, “Aren’t we right when we say you are a Samaritan? Aren’t you controlled by a demon?”
49“I am not controlled by a demon,” said Jesus. “I honor my Father. You do not honor me. 50I am not seeking glory for myself. But there is one who brings glory to me. He is the judge. 51What I’m about to tell you is true. Whoever obeys my word will never die.”
52Then they cried out, “Now we know you are controlled by a demon! Abraham died. So did the prophets. But you say that whoever obeys your word will never die. 53Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died. So did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54Jesus replied, “If I bring glory to myself, my glory means nothing. You claim that my Father is your God. He is the one who brings glory to me. 55You do not know him. But I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him. And I obey his word. 56Your father Abraham was filled with joy at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad.”
57“You are not even 50 years old,” they said to Jesus. “And you have seen Abraham?”
58“What I’m about to tell you is true,” Jesus answered. “Before Abraham was born, I am!” 59When he said this, they picked up stones to kill him. But Jesus hid himself. He slipped away from the temple area.
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