JOHN 8: ANYONE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN THROW THE FIRST STONE

We discussed Jesus’ reaction to the Pharisees wanting a woman stoned for adultery. When Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The lesson was that no one is qualified to judge others. We felt that his writing on the ground was a device to give the crowd time to calm down and listen and later, when he does it again, perhaps it was to give the crowd time to think about their own sins.

We wondered about the woman being “brought to justice” but the man was missing. Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 says both should be put to death for adultery but specifically requires the woman to be married. Perhaps the women was not married. I could find no Old Testament reference to punishment for sex outside of marriage. I hope anyone who reads this and knows of an Old Testament reference will comment.