John 8:7 (KJV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

John 8:5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

John 8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

John 8:7 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.

John 8:8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

John 8:9 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "continued", "asking", "lifted", "himself", "said", "without", "first", and "cast". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "continued" and "asking", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "This they said tempting him that they..." into verse 8's "And again he stooped down and wrote...", so "continued" and "asking" 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 "continued" and "asking" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.