John 8:6
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They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
stooped down--It will be observed He was sitting when they came to Him. with his finger wrote on the ground--The words of our translators in italics ("as though He heard them not") have hardly improved the sense, for it is scarcely probable He could wish that to be thought. Rather He wished to show them His aversion to enter on the subject. But as this did not suit them, they "continue asking Him," pressing for an answer. At last, raising Himself He said.
Open source ↗In this chapter we have, I. Christ's evading the snare which the Jews laid for him, in bringing to him a woman taken in adultery (Joh 8:1-11). II. Divers discourses or conferences of his with the Jews that cavilled at him, and sought occasion against him, and made every thing he said a matter of controversy. 1. Concerning his being the light of the world (Joh 8:12-20). 2. Concerning the ruin of the unbelieving Jews (Joh 8:21-30). 3. Concerning liberty and bondage (Joh 8:31-37). 4. Concerning his Father and their father (Joh 8:38-47). 5. Here is his discourse in answer to their blasphemous reproaches (Joh 8:48-50). 6. Concerning the immortality of believers (Joh 8:51-59). And in all this he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself.
Open source ↗8:6 It is impossible to know what Jesus . . . wrote in the dust. It has been suggested that he wrote the sins of the accusers.
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.
One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.
Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.