An Analysis of the Story of the Adulterous Woman

An Analysis of the Story of the Adulterous Woman

Look which of you that never sin wrought,

But is of life cleaner than she,

Cast at her stones and spare her not,

Clean out of sin if that ye be.

(N-Town: Woman Taken In Adultery: Medieval Drama; Bevington, David; Houghton Mifflin, 1975)

Who among us has never sinned? And, in our place as fellow victims of our own all too human nature, have we any right to pass judgement on those who do the

same as we do, if with less discretion? If so, this begs the question of whether morality lies in following the social mores or if it is all in hiding from the public eye how

often you don’t follow them. It seems that Jesus, or at least John’s version1 of Jesus and, later, the playwright of the N-Town Cycle, following in his footsteps,

believed that the appearance of a moral life is worthless without the genuine article to buttress it. It sounds like a solid principle, and one that could be applied, even

today, but despite the similarities in the texts, did the mediaeval context provide less charitable messages along with the story’s original intended moral? And, for that

matter, is there more than first appears to that original moral?

Among the gospels, only John makes mention of the Adulterous Woman, which brings to question the probability of the actual occurrence. However, the

differences between John and the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) have led many scholars to believe that John may have been written to supplement

the material found in the other three gospels. It is believed that the Gospel of John was written later than the Synoptic gospels, but the debate still stands as to how

much later; estimates range from 75 A.D. to 145 A.D. Howe...

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...d find mercy for a fallen woman, so God could find

mercy for them, if only they would ask. This finding of space for life has traditionally been a Jewish endeavour in the attempt to understand and apply Torah, and

now, with this story, it is brought to the forefront of Christian thought and teachings, as well. Perhaps that is what the testing of Jesus is all about; perhaps it is a call

for us to test our own virtues, and find forgiveness for others and ourselves.

(words: 2426)

Footnotes:

1: John 8:3-8:11 contains the story of The Adulterous Woman.

2: Leviticus 20:10

If a man commits adultery with his neighbour’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

3: Deuteronomy 22:22

If a man be caught lying with a married woman both must die, the man lying with the woman and the woman; thus you shall purge evil from Israel.