John 8:3-8

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. 8:5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone to death ⁴  such women. ⁵  What then do you say?” 8:6 (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against ⁶  him.) ⁷  Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. ⁸  8:7 When they persisted in asking him, he stood up straight ⁹  and replied, ¹⁰  “Whoever among you is guiltless ¹¹  may be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8:8 Then ¹²  he bent over again and wrote on the ground.

John 11:46-47

11:46 But some of them went to the Pharisees ¹³  and reported to them ¹⁴  what Jesus had done. 11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees ¹⁵  called the council ¹⁶  together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs.

John 11:57

11:57 (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees ¹⁷  had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus ¹⁸  was should report it, so that they could arrest ¹⁹  him.) ²⁰ 

John 12:19

12:19 Thus the Pharisees ²¹  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

John 12:42

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ²²  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ²³  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ²⁴  so that they would not be put out of ²⁵  the synagogue. ²⁶ 

[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.

[8:5]  ⁴ sn An allusion to Lev 20:10 and Deut 22:22-24.

[8:5]  ⁵ sn The accusers themselves subtly misrepresented the law. The Mosaic law stated that in the case of adultery, both the man and woman must be put to death (Lev 20:10, Deut 22:22), but they mentioned only such women.

[8:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “so that they could accuse.”

[8:6]  ⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author of 7:53–8:11.

[8:6]  ⁸ tn Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagrafw) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).

[8:7]  ⁹ tn Or “he straightened up.”

[8:7]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and said to them.”

[8:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “sinless.”

[8:8]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[11:46]  ¹³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[11:46]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “told them.”

[11:47]  ¹⁵ tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.

[11:47]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The συνέδριον (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word συνέδριον in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning “councils.” The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as “one of them” supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities.

[11:57]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.

[11:57]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:57]  ¹⁹ tn Or “could seize.”

[11:57]  ²⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:19]  ²¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ²² sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ²³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ²⁴ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  ²⁵ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ²⁶ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.