10-16-2007, 02:48 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-16-2007, 02:50 AM by reepicheep.)
<b>Hadji wrote: "The earliest manuscripts do not include John 7:53-8:11." Any thoughts on this?</b>
You are correct. The earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of John do not contain this passage. For the first few centuries after the death of Christ, this story was circulated as a separate tradition (in both oral and written form). In later centuries, copyists tried inserting this passage in various places in the gospels including here, at the end of the Gospel of John, or after Luke 21:38.
Even though the passage was possibly (some scholars would say probably) not written by John, it logically fits into its current place (John 7:53-8:11) so that is where most bibles put it. But I suppose it could also be removed from John and made into a short book of its own.
Biblical scholars use the term "pericope" to refer to short manuscripts such as this one. And this particular pericope is known as the "Pericope Adulterae".
Pericope Adulterae