FOOTNOTES:

^a John 7:53 and 8:1 seem to be one sentence in the Greek or two closely connected sentences that shouldn’t be separated. The chapter divisions were added centuries after the text was written, and it seems to have been a poor choice for where to separate the chapters.

^b Traditionally, ‘experts in the law’ or ‘scribes.’ The word essentially means those who thoroughly studied important documents. In this case, the documents they studied were the Hebrew Bible.

^c The phrase here is epi moicheia. The use of the preposition epi signifies that it was actively happening when she was found. The word moicheia is traditionally translated as ‘adultery,’ but more current language would be ‘infidelity’ (in the context of sex and committed relationship) or ‘an affair.’ They caught her in the middle of having sex, cheating on her husband or having sex with a man who was married to someone else.

^d The phrase ‘to execute women like this with stones’ in Greek is tas toiautas lithazein. Literally, it’s ‘to stone the ones like this’ and ‘the ones like this’ is in a feminine form. The Torah states it as true for everyone, but the Bible scholars and Pharisees are only specifying women.

^e Traditionally, ‘is sinless’ or ‘is without sin.’ The word anamartetos is a compound of an- (a negating prefix) and hamartetos, the adjective form of hamartia. The word hamartia is traditionally translated as ‘sin.’ The actual meaning is an archery term for missing the target; it’s a metaphor. The English word ‘sin’ has too much baggage—too many presuppositions attached—for it to be read with curiosity as a fresh message. It needs to be defined, not just repeated. Something like “ways of missing the target” could work as a fairly literal translation. I chose ‘deviations’ because it shows something is out of place, not in sync with something, and moving away from the desired direction. Jesus seems to use it in a sense of deviating from the direction provided by the Hebrew Bible, both ‘according to the spirit’ and ‘according to the letter,’ which sometimes can be difficult to follow until we learn to recognize the patterns of what Jesus prioritizes. It leaves open numerous possibilities for how things are out of place, and there are many, including behaving in ways out of step with the Lord’s teaching or having a life impacted by others living out of step with the Lord’s teaching or even something like being disabled, which has nothing to do with behavior but still leads to being ritually unclean for temple worship and carries significant stigma, including assumption that it’s a result of judgment for some kind of wrongdoing.

^f Reference to Deuteronomy 17:2-7. The Deuteronomy text is clear; it applies to both men and women. It must be confirmed by thorough investigation, and a single witness is not enough evidence to carry out execution. If someone has been found guilty after thorough investigation and the evidence of at least two witnesses, then the witnesses must throw the first stones, and only then should others also throw stones. All of that is explicit in the text. Therefore, if the woman was caught in the act, as is emphasized, where is the man with whom she was having sex? Who were the witnesses? How was she caught in the act? The whole thing is very suspicious. If they are applying Torah execution law to her, they must also do so with the man. By only bringing her and completely ignoring the man, they are breaking Torah, deviating from Moses’ directions. None of them is without deviation—not just in general but in this situation specifically—so none of them is qualified to throw the first stone. Their misogyny and corruption and unjustness are on full display. No one knows why Jesus is writing on the ground or what he wrote; however, one hypothesis is that he was writing Deuteronomy 17:2-7 in the dirt.

^g Everyone left. One could wonder whether they thought of Deuteronomy 19:15-21, or perhaps Jesus wrote it in the sand. It reiterates the necessity for more than one witness to convict of a crime. Then it talks about ‘false witnesses.’ It says that if, after investigation and a fair trial, it is determined that the witness was lying, framing an innocent person for wrongdoing, the lying witness will receive the sentence they had been trying to have the accused person receive: “If the witness is a false witness, having testified falsely against another, then you shall do to the false witness just as the false witness had meant to do to the other” (Deuteronomy 19:18b-19a NRSV). It is possible none of the people present had actually witnessed the woman having an affair, and if they had lied about witnessing it, then they would have been liable to be stoned as a false witness trying to have her stoned.

^h Literally, the word means ‘woman.’ However, addressing a woman as ‘woman’ in our culture is considered rude, an attempt to put her in her place, especially when done by a man. In Jesus’ culture, it was done as a respectful way to address someone.

ⁱ This is a compound word the preposition kata (against) and krino (assess, distinguish, question, sort/separate, judge).

^j This is the same Greek word, kurios, that is often translated as ‘lord’ or ‘master.’ It was used as a general way to address people respectfully, not only as a social position or title of nobility, rulership, or divinity.

^k The section starting at John 7:53 and ending with John 8:11 is not included in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. It seems to have been a later addition to the document. That fact does not lead to any particular conclusion about whether what it describes really happened, whether it was a widely shared story during the first century CE, or whether it is ‘inspired.’ Questions about whether it should be included in sacred scripture don’t depend on it being written by a particular person in a specific draft of a document. How we understand sacred scripture is a much larger conversation than determining which person wrote it and when.

^l The Greek just says ‘to them,’ but it seems to be referring to the Bible scholars and Pharisees from John 8:3 or to the Pharisees’ and lead priests’ assistants from John 7:32-33. If we take it to refer to the section added later (7:53-8:11), which makes more sense in the flow of how it is structured in the edition we have widely available, then it would be the Pharisees and Bible scholars. If we take this sentence to have been written this way before those verses were edited in, then it would refer to the assistants. Either way, Jesus is addressing his speech to the religious authorities and doing so in public where all the people who came to hear him teach can hear it, and it’s also the Pharisees who respond in the next sentence.

^m Parallel to John 5:31. Jesus said, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not trustworthy.” They are now, somewhat understandably, trying to use his own words against him.

ⁿ In the Greek, the word for “coming” here is in present tense, but the word for “came” earlier in the sentence is past tense.

^o Traditionally, ‘the flesh.’ The NET says ‘outward appearances.’ The idea is that it is done according to the priorities and motivations of the stuff the body is made of, which aren’t inherently wrong, but they are shortsighted and superficial, not a solid basis for assessing deeper realities.

^p Or ‘And in your law’ or since the way it is worded is emphatic, maybe ‘and in the law—which is yours—’. The Greek word nomos literally meant ‘law’ or ‘regulation’ but was routinely used to refer to the five books attributed to Moses, known in Hebrew as Torah, which can be translated as ‘law’ or usually more appropriate, as ‘instruction.’ The use of ‘your’ or ‘which is yours’ makes less certain, but the fact that Jesus then quotes Detueronomy seems to indicate he had Torah in mind and not just Pharisee tradition. A similar example is found in John 7:51 where Nicodemus refers to ‘our nomos’ and cites instruction on fair trials from Deuteronomy.

^q Traditionally, ‘men.’ However, the Greek word is anthropos, which means ‘person’ or ‘human’ or ‘humanity.’ It can occasionally be used to designate a male, but it should only be translated that way when set in contrast to a word that means ‘woman’ or ‘female.’

^r Reference to Deuteronomy 17:6 and Deuteronomy 19:15

^s Traditionally, ‘in.’ However, the Greek preposition en should only be translated as ‘in’ when it is about location or timing in most cases. It can show association (with), cause (because of), the instrument/how something is done (by/with), what something is in regard to (regarding/with reference to), manner/how something is done (through/with), showing something is adhering to a standard (according to the standard of), or with verbs of motion (to/toward/at). The traditional ‘in’ seems to be implying a preposition of reference, ‘regarding’: “you will die in connection to your deviation.” That could be an appropriate translation, but it is vague. A similar idea that seems to be more direct would be identifying the deviation as the cause, which fits with the teaching of Torah, which can be seen clearly in Deuteronomy 30:15-20.

^t The word hamartia is traditionally translated as ‘sin.’ The actual meaning is an archery term for missing the target; it’s a metaphor. The English word ‘sin’ has too much baggage—too many presuppositions attached—for it to be read with curiosity as a fresh message. It needs to be defined, not just repeated. Something like “ways of missing the target” might work could work as a fairly literal translation. I chose ‘deviations’ because it shows something is out of place, not in sync with something, and moving away from the desired direction. Jesus seems to use it in a sense of deviating from the direction provided by the Hebrew Bible, both ‘according to the spirit’ and ‘according to the letter,’ which sometimes can be difficult to follow until we learn to recognize the patterns of what Jesus prioritizes. It can be summarized as not following the path of Torah.

^u Traditionally, ‘to judge’

^v The word aphiemi is translated here as ‘send me away.’ Other translations use phrases like ‘left me alone.’ The word is the same that is used for ‘divorce’ in some places and ‘forgive’ in others. It carries a general meaning of creating separation and distance and can be applied in a number of ways, such as kicking someone out or letting go of claim to what someone owes.

^w Or ‘if you reside with’

^x Greek, logos. See note in John 1:1

^y Literally, ‘for the age.’ Traditionally, ‘forever.’ Traditionally, the word for ‘age,’ when it’s in an adjective form has been translated as ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting.’ It means ‘a really long time’ without specifying the precise length.

^z Or ‘resides’

^aa Greek, logos. See note in John 1:1

^bb Literally, ‘the work/actions of Abraham.’

^cc The word ‘real’ is not in the Greek. The context, however, makes it clear he is hinting that the father they claim—Abraham—is not who he is implying their father is. He is contrasting it with another figure. Their response makes it clear they understood him to be implying they had a different father.

^dd Literally, ‘the work/actions of your father’

^ee Greek, logos. See note in John 1:1.

^ff Greek, logos. See note in John 1:1.

^gg Literally, ‘for the age.’ Traditionally, ‘forever.’ Traditionally, the word for ‘age,’ when it’s in an adjective form has been translated as ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting.’ It means ‘a really long time’ without specifying the precise length. It’s possible it’s talking about a conscious afterlife, but if we’re thinking in terms of Hebrew culture and thought, going to Heaven when you die wasn’t really a thing, or at least was still a new idea during the time of Jesus, having been influenced by Greek philosophy. In the days of Abraham and other Hebrew Bible figures, the way one’s life continued was in the legacy one left through family relationships and the impact one had on the world. The scriptural context would be Deuteronomy 6:1-5, particularly verse 2 “to prolong your days,” and Deuteronomy 30:1-20, especially 15-20, which includes “To love the Lord your God, to heed His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life and your length of days to dwell on the soil which the LORD your God sword to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 2019). While not the same exact wording, the meaning of ‘heed my voice’ and ‘pays close attention to what I say’ or ‘guards/keeps/attends to my logos’ is parallel.

^hh Greek, logos. See note in John 1:1.

ⁱⁱ Putting ‘I am’ at the beginning of the statement is a better English translation, as compared with the traditional spot at the end of the statement. It is located at the end in the Greek, but English sentences tend to build toward the end while Greek sentences put whatever is being emphasized toward the beginning. Most people teach that this statement is Jesus claiming to be Yahweh, to be God. God gave a name to Moses in Exodus 3:14. It was the Hebrew for “I am” (‘Yahweh,’ which is how it appears everywhere other than Exodus 3:14, is actually the third person version of that name, meaning more literally, ‘the one who is.’) Leaving ‘I am’ at the end of the sentence here in John 8:58 emphasizes that connection. The grammar works best with it at the beginning while the theological connection is clearest with it at the end. The text itself does not specify what Jesus meant, but it seems the Judeans understood him to mean something worth executing him for, so they probably understood it to be a connection with the divine ‘I am.’ The audience would likely have heard echoes of Exodus 3:14, where God told Moses, “I am who I am” and to tell the people of Israel that “’I am’ sent me to you.” Whether they thought Jesus was claiming to be ‘I am’ or whether they thought Jesus was claiming to speak for God as a false prophet, they seemed to have thought they had enough evidence to convict him. John 8 then begins and ends and has in the middle of it references to Deuteronomy 17:2-7. “If there is found among you, in one of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and transgresses his covenant by going to serve other gods and worshiping them—whether the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden—and if it is reported to you or you hear of it, and you make a thorough inquiry, and the charge is proved true that such an abhorrent thing has occurred in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or that woman who has committed this crime and you shall stone the man or woman to death. On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first raised against the person to execute the death penalty, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst” (NRSV).