John 8:3-4

8:3 The experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees ²  brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them 8:4 and said to Jesus, ³  “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.

[8:3]  ¹ tn Or “The scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[8:3]  ² sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[8:4]  ³ tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.