Jesus And The Woman Taken In Adultery
The Pericope Adulterae ( /pəˈrɪkəpiː əˈdʌltəriː/) or Pericope de Adultera is a traditional name for a famous passage (pericope) about Jesus and the woman taken in adultery from verses 7:53-8:11 of the Gospel of John. The passage describes a confrontation between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees over whether a woman, caught in an act of adultery, ought to be stoned. Jesus shames the crowd into dispersing, and averts the execution.
Although in line with many stories in the Gospels and probably primitive (Didascalia Apostolorum refers to it, possibly Papias also), critics argue that it was "certainly not part of the original text of St John's Gospel." On the other hand, the Council of Trent declared that the Latin Vulgate was authentic and authoritative. The Latin Vulgate includes the adultery episode in John 7:53-8:11.
The parable, and its messages of not being quick to condemn when one is not blameless and tempering justice with mercy, have endured in Christian thought. Both "let him who is without sin, cast the first stone" and "go, and sin no more" have found their way into common usage.
The English idiomatic phrase to "cast the first stone" is derived from this passage. The subject was fairly common in art, especially from the Renaissance onwards; Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery by Pieter Bruegel is a famous example. There was a medieval tradition, originating in a comment attributed to Ambrose, that the words written were terra terram accusat ("earth accuses earth"), which is shown in some depictions in art, for example the Codex Egberti. There have also been other suggestions as to what was written.
Read more about Jesus And The Woman Taken In Adultery: The Passage, Textual History, History of Textual Criticism On John 7:53-8:11, Manuscript Evidence, Some of The Textual Variants
Famous quotes containing the words jesus, woman and/or adultery:
“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
—Bible: New Testament, Ephesians 3:20-21.
“When an old Woman begins to doat [sic], and grow chargeable to a Parish, she is generally turned into a Witch, and fills the whole Country with extravagant Fancies, imaginary Distempers, and terrifying Dreams. In the mean time, the poor Wretch that is the innocent Occasion of so many Evils begins to be frighted at her self, and sometimes confesses secret Commerces and Familiarities that her Imagination forms in a delirious old Age.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman taken in adultery as she looks out of a window at the rain but to describe four hundred people under the lights reaching for a foul ball. This is ceremony.”
—John Cheever (1912–1982)