Pericope de Adulterae

You may have previously read or heard the phrase, "Pericope de Adulterae." But what does it mean?

Pericope was defined over at the Theological Word of the Day blog as:
"A single unit of thought in the Scripture. This could comprise a sentence or verse (as in the Proverbs), a paragraph, or a series of paragraphs which makes up one argument or narrative. For example, the story of Abraham”s encounter with the angels and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is one pericope and the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is one pericope. When teaching or preaching the Scriptures, it is considered best to teach one pericope at a time, not necessarily one verse or chapter at a time."

The "Pericope de Adulterae" is the name given to the narrative regarding the woman caught in adultery found at John 8:1-11. The passage contains some very familiar phrases which have worked their way into our language, and literature, and culture:

Let the one without sin cast the first stone.

Where are your accusers?

Neither do I condemn thee.

Go and sin no more.



Most, or all, modern versions place this "Pericope" in brackets or notate it as not originally part of the gospel John. Now, I like to think, that in the main, I try to avoid contentious topics in this blog, yet I hope my friends bear with me as I register my conviction that this passage is authentic. Sometimes things may not be as they are popularly perceived and we should occasionally be encouraged to look a little closer and to consider a matter more carefully. I believe when considering "Which Greek Text is preferred?" that prior to rejecting passages known to be in use by believers for 1700 years by all, such a further investigation is warranted.

Perhaps you may be lacking access or exposure to the arguments in favor of the Pericope de Adulterae's authenticity and would appreciate the opportunity to dig deeper and consider more carefully. Enough said. If you would like access to "the other side" which is really the traditional side see the three links below. Keep in mind, the matter is much deeper than a few offhand comments by me or those included in the margins of some bible versions, I only hope with the links below to give you a glimpse into a few more facts than you may have been previously aware. Perhaps you will be persuaded to treat with reverent fear any thoughts of lightly dismissing the Pericope de Adulterae in case indeed it is the very Word of God.

First an incredible book, Recensio Synoptica Annotationis Sacrae, by Samuel Bloomfield. (It's not really written in Latin though like good old books includes Latin quotes sometimes with the translation thereof.) This link even includes a button, which, when pushed causes the book to be read out loud. Read from page 274-284. The Link should take you straight to page 274 of Vol III.

http://www.archive.org/stream/recensiosynoptic03bloo#page/274/mode/2up

The next link is Appendix I from John Burgon's book, Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/burgon/corruption.iii.xviii.html

Finally by the able Edward F. Hills, you will want to page down to item #4 of the link below where the discussion of the Pericope de Adulterae begins.
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjvdcha6.htm