John 8:3 (DBY)

Passage

And the scribes and the Pharisees bring [to him] a woman taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst,

Nearby Context

John 8:1 But Jesus went to the mount of Olives.

John 8:2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him; and he sat down and taught them.

John 8:3 And the scribes and the Pharisees bring [to him] a woman taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst,

John 8:4 they say to him, Teacher, this woman has been taken in the very act, committing adultery.

John 8:5 Now in the law Moses has commanded us to stone such; thou therefore, what sayest thou?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "scribes", "pharisees", "bring", "woman", "taken", "adultery", "having", and "midst". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "scribes" and "pharisees", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "And early in the morning he came..." into verse 4's "they say to him Teacher this woman...", so "scribes" and "pharisees" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "scribes" and "pharisees" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.