The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 477

gcslod hy B11umgnrlcn-Ornsiue nncl LnthBrdt, enbmitterl to him. This is n1A: probable, and 11doptcd by Moulton, that Christ was ancl it would detract from the symbolism of nskocl to en.y "Aye" or "No" to 11n instant, the act. tumultnoue act of vongennco upon the Vere. 7, 8.-But when they continued ask- ndulteress. Let him eoy "No," they would ing him, he lifted up himself, 1 and said unto o.ccueo him of dolibomtoly ignoring nnd them, He that is without sin, let him first repudiating tho o.uthority of the Low of oe.st a stone e.t her. And a.gain he stooped Moses; lot him soy "Yes," they wore ready down, and with his finger 2 was writing on to atone tho woman there o.nd then, 11nd th~ ground. The imperfect tense of t-ypa,Pev, subsequently to throw the responsibility of twice repeatecl, seems more in harmony with such violation of Iloman juriscliction upon the symbolic meaning of the act than with the Lord Jesus 11s its instigator. Mayer's the record on his part of any special sen- objection, that no question at all had been tence of his supreme wisdom. Christ refuser! put to Christ on this supposition, is not to a.et the part of the civil magistrate, or to clear. It wns this. Clearly apprehending countenance a stormy outbreak of murderous that ndultery is II capital offence, and that passion against this flagrant sinner, to save there w11s a case before them upon which himself from their bitter malice. He rose, no doubt could be thl'own, they ask him, when the appearance of indifference could with the stones in their hands," Shall we kill not be maintained, e.nd at once arrested the this damsel or not?" If he says" No," then outbreak of their unscrnpnlous fury without they were prepared to denounce the Prophet presuming to repudiate the letter of the for his dogmatic trifling with the Law; if Law. He lifted the discussion from the "Yes," they are ready to do the deed, and judicial to the moral sphere. He does not fasten upon Jesus a.II the shame and guilt mean that none but the sinless can con- of the proceeding before the Roman governor. demn, or pronounce 'Derdict upon the guilty; It was a very 11nalogous problem to that but he calls for special freedom from similar concerning the tribute money reGordea in offence on the part of any man who should Mott. xxii. Bnt Jesus stooped down, and wish or dare to display his own purity by with his finger we.a writing on the ground taking part in the ezecutwn. The narrative (els .,.¾,, -,,¾11, into the earth). Some manu- would not suggest that every one of these scripts, E, G, and a.bout ninety cursives, a.censers had been in his time guilty of like add, µ'I, ,rpo111roio&µe11os, "not troubling him- offence, bnt lwaµ,}.fY"l-ros must at least mean self with them"-" e.s though he heard them that he was free from the desires which not" (Authorized Version).' This a.et is might lead to the commission of such sin, unparalleled in Scripture, even if the custom and Christ calls for inward saintliness and is still occ11sionally practised in the East. freedom from all irregular propension. He Mr. O'Neil, in his instructive volume, calls for persone.l chastity e.s the only • Palestine Explored,' records a curious possible moral condition for precipitately instnnce of a youth, who, after playing some ezecuting this ancient and severe law. The practice.I joke upon an old man, feigned question before the crowd (asked so craftily) utter ignore.nee of the surprise and cry of was, not whether Moses' Law wns to stand the old me.u by inste.nte.neonsly assuming or not, but whether these particular men, the position of one entirely abstracted from with their foul hearts and spurious zeal, all sublunary thought, in fa.et, bysittingon the were or were not at that particular moment ground and scribbling with his finger in the to encounter the displeasure of Roman power dust, "as though he heard and saw nothing by dashing the stones e.t the head of this of what had happened." Such e.n intention poor trembling creature of sin and shame; can only be attributed to our Lord on the un- whether they were morally competent to derstanding that it was a current method of condemn to immediate death, and carry the indicating an indisposition to have anything verdict into execution. Before this tremen- to say to the intruders. He we.a seated; he dous summons from the Holy One, conscience turned a.side from the excited crowd, and by could sleep no longer. The hypocrisy of a significant symbol expressed his displea- the entire manamvre stared them in the sure at their proceedings, and his perception face. of their craftiness. Conjecture he.s been Ver. 9.-And they when they heard it busy, but vainly, with the inquiry ns to 1 D reads A11,1tv,/,•11 1tal; e.nd T.R., civa.1<v- what our Lord wrote on the ground, and eome have urged (Godet) that he wrote the ,i,a•, with E, G, H, and fifty cursives. memorable sentence whioh follows, as a • R.T. here follows D. The manW!cript judge might write the verdict upon the case V and others have a curious addition, ei, ,r~v -yijv Evbs E,ccf.CTTov a.lrrWv TCls Q.1-'aP7la.s, 1 Some me.nusoripts read ital 1rpo111ro10~- "into the ground the sins of each one ot u•11or, equivalent to "ijiough he only pre- them." That gloss h~ a very avooryphnl te11d11d to write," • oharaotef.  350 THE GOSPl!:l, A.OOORDlNG 'l'O ST. JOHN. [ou. vnL 1-69.