IV. Adulteress in the Gospel. — A remarkable exam- ple under the Jewish law in cases of this offence occurs in the account of the "woman taken in adultery" (yvvrj iv poi\tia Karti\i]ppiini), ^iven by one of the evan- gelists (John vii, 53, to viii, 11), from which some have even erroneously inferred that our Saviour re- garded her act as venial — a view that is ably refuted by Paley {Moral Philosophy, vol. i). It is true, great doubts exist as to the genuineness of the entire passage (see the dissertations of Dettmers, Viniicim aiiSivriar, etc., Frnkft. ad V. 1793 ; Staudlin, Pericopm de adultera Veritas et authentia defenditur, Gotting. 180C), as it is omitted in very many of the early MSS. and versions, and greatly corrupted in others (see Tischendorf, 7th ed. in loc), and rejected by numerous critics of note ; yet, as it is retained in some good texts and editions, and as its presence cannot be explained by ascetic or monkish predilections (since it is not only without a trace of the rigor of these, but appears so lax in its doctrine as to involve serious difficulty in its adjust- ment to the ethics of all who could have been the au- thors of the interpolation), it seems to present strong
claims to being true history, if not entitled to its place in the evangelical narrative (see Tregelles, Account of the Text of the N. T. p. 230-242). See the argu- ments and advocates on both sides in Kuiuol, Com- ment, in loc. See John.
From this narrative, many have supposed that the woman's accusers were themselves guilty of the crime (at that time very common, Mark viii, 38 ; oomp. Matt. xix, 10) which the)- alleged against her ; and as it was not just to receive the accusations. of those who are guilty of the evil of which they accuse others, our Lord dismissed them with the most obvious propriety. But it seems enough to suppose that the consciences of those witnesses accused them of such crimes as re- strained their hands from punishing the adulteress, who, perhaps, was guilty, in this instance, of a less enormous sin than they were conscious of, though of another kind. It may be, too, that their malevolent design to entrap our Lord was appealed to by him. and was no slight cause of their confusion, if they wished to found a charge which might affect his life. Their intended murder was worse than the woman's adultery ; especially if, as there is reason to believe, the woman had suffered some violence. Sec Stoning.
Sec Lcsle, De hisloria adulters (Fkft. ad V. 1GG2) ; Osiander, De historia adulterer, non adulterina (Tubing. 1751); Scherzcr, De historia adulterce (Lips. 1G82, 1727) ; Dieck, Geschickte v. der Ehebrecherin vom jur. Standpunkte, in Ullmann's Stud. u. Krit. 1832, p. 791- 822 ; Hug, De conjugii christ. vinculo indissolubili (Frib. 1816), p. 22 sq. ; Schulthess, Ueb. d. Perikope v. d. Ehebrecherin, in "Winer's N. Krit. Journ. v, 257- 314; Ileumann, Interpretatio ycO)ypa<piac. Christi (Got- ting. 1738); Hilliger, De senptione Christi in tt rram (Viteb. 1G72). Compare Lampe, Comment, in loc. : also Alford, Olshausen, Liicke, Meyer, and Tholuck, in loc. For further illustration, consult Saurin, Discours, x, 40; Pitman, Led. p. 407 ; Rragg, Miracles, ii, 227 ; Crit. Sac. Thes. Nor. ii, 494 ; Dp. Home, Disc, iii, 335; Enfield, Sermons, iii, 202 ; Simeon, Works, xiii, 429 ; Spencer, Serm. p. 188 ; Moysey, Serm. p. 249 ; Wil- liams, Serm. ii, 2GG. Sec Wedlock.
Adum'mim (Heb. Adummim' ', d^XHS., the red ones; Sept. 'ASap/iiv), a place on the border between Judah and Benjamin [see Tribe], and apparently an ascending road between Gilgal (and also Jericho) and Jerusalem, " on the south side of the 'torrent' " (Josh, xv, 7 ; xviii, 17), which is the position still occupied by the road leading up from Jericho and the Jordan valley to Jerusalem (Robinson, Researches, ii, 288), on the south face of the gorge of the Wady Kilt. See Maaleh-adummoi. Most commentators take the name to mean the place of blood (Heb. D^), and follow Jerome, who finds the place in the dangerous or moun- tainous part of the road between Jerusalem and Jeri- cho (in his time called corruptly Maledomim ; in Greek, "Avafia ; in Latin, Ascensus rufforum sive robentiurri), ami supposes that it was so called from the frequent effusion of blood by the robbers, by whom it was much infested. Others (see Keil, Comment, p. 3G5) attribute the name to the color of the rocks ; these, however, arc of white limestone. It is probably of a date and significance far more remote, and is rather derived from some tribe of " red men" [see Edom] of the earliest inhabitants of the country (see Stanley. Palest. p. 41G note), doubtless themselves banditti likewise. Indeed, the character of the road was so notorious, that Christ lays the scene of tho parable of the good Samaritan (Luke x) upon it; and Jerome informs us that Adummim or Adommim was believed to be tho place where the traveller (taken as a real person) l< fell among thieves." lie adds that it was formerly a vil- lage, but at that time in ruins, and that a fort and garrison was maintained here for tho safeguard of travellers (Onomast. s. v. Adommim, and in Epist. Paula). The travellers of the sixteenth and .-even-