YHN 8:5 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 7:53–8:11: Jesus protected a woman who committed adultery

The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient documents do not contain this section, John 7:53–8:11. Some English translations, including the GNT, put it in brackets or parentheses. Others, including the NIV, put it in the text. However, they also say that it is almost certainly not part of the original text of John. Yet the passage is very old and may well contain a real narrative of an event in Jesus’ life.

All English translations include it in some way. So you should also include this section so that readers can learn it and refer to it. In addition to the above ways to include it, you can also put it in a footnote.

In this passage, some scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught committing adultery. They said that the law commanded them to stone an adulterer to death and asked Jesus about it. Jesus said that the person who had no sin should throw the first stone. They all left except the woman, and Jesus told her that he did not condemn her and to not sin again.

Here are other possible section titles:

Jesus saved/defended a sinful woman

Jesus refused to condemn a sinful woman

A woman adulterer received forgiveness

Paragraph 8:3–6b

The Jewish religious leaders set a trap for Jesus. They wanted to force Jesus to say something that they could use against him in a trial. They asked him to decide what to do about a woman who they found committing adultery. (That means that she was having sexual activity with someone who was not her husband.)

8:5a

In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman.

In the Law Moses ordered us^(incl) to stone to death women like this.
Moses’ Law says that we^(incl) must throw stones at women who do such things to kill them as punishment.

The Greek begins this verse with a conjunction that introduces some background information. In some languages it is more natural to leave this word implied, which the BSB did.

In the Law: The phrase the Law refers to the set of laws that God gave Moses for the people of Israel to follow. Because the speakers and the listeners were all Jews (descendants of Israel), in some languages it may be natural to say it was their law. For example:

in ⌊our^(incl)⌋ law

Moses commanded us to stone such a woman: Moses lived about fifteen hundred (1500) years before the time of Christ. In 1:17 the author mentions that God gave the Jewish law through him. Moses was also the author of the books of the law. Deuteronomy 22:22, found in the books of the law, commanded that the Jews punish adulterers with death.

to stone: This verb means to throw stones at someone in order to kill that person. This was the normal method people in ancient Israel used to punish someone with death. This particular method of punishment is not mentioned in Deuteronomy 22:22.

such a woman: The Greek phrase that BSB translates as such a woman means “women who commit adultery.” The command in Deuteronomy 22:22 required the death of both the man and the woman who committed adultery. However, the religious leaders did not mention this. Nor did they bring the man who committed adultery with the woman with them.

8:5b

So what do You say?”

So what do you^(sing) say/advise?”
So/And you^(sing)—what do you say/think that we^(incl) should do to her?”

So: The Greek conjunction that BSB translates literally as So means “Therefore.” It could just indicate a shift from the background information in 8:5a to the question that they had. Many English translations do not translate this conjunction.

Here is another way to translate this conjunction:

Therefore

what do You say?: In the Greek the pronoun You is singular and refers to Jesus. It is emphasized in the Greek. The speakers contrasted Moses and Jesus. For example:

and you—what do you say?

In some languages it is natural to indicate an object for the verb say. For example:

What do you say we should do? (NCV)

What do you say about it? (REB)

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear YHN (JHN) 8:5

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 7:53–8:11: Jesus protected a woman who committed adultery

Paragraph 8:3–6b

8:5a

8:5b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)