The Woman Taken in Adultery

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.*

From John 8:1-11 in the Authorised Version (1611).

* Jesus’s solution to the dilemma was characteristically daring yet absolutely faithful to the traditions of Judaism. In Jewish law, a judge could not convict unless two witnesses agreed in their testimony, so he simply disposed of all the witnesses. The case was quite properly dismissed, and the Pharisees had to think of something else. See The Man Born Blind.

Précis
The Pharisees persisted in their demands for a judgement, so at length Jesus broke off from his writing and invited any man without sin to start the execution. To their credit, one by one the woman’s accusers turned away, until she was left alone with Jesus. He then dismissed her, with a gentle reminder not to cross the line again.
Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

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