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Questions & Answers

Adulterous Woman

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Our Lord and the Faith › Adulterous Woman

The question

Is it true that when our Lord Jesus Christ said to the woman caught in adultery, “let him who is without sin cast the first stone”, He was referring specifically to the sin of sexual immorality? Is this the reason why the Pharisees left her alone, because they too had sinned sexually? Was not our Lord Jesus Christ referring to sin in general?

The answer

Some scholars believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was referring to the sin of sexual immorality, but our Coptic Orthodox church believes that He meant ANY sin, for the following reasons.
  1. Those that brought the woman were a group of scribes and Pharisees. It is hard to believe that every single one of them had committed the same sin of sexual immorality.

  2. If we accept the interpretation, that her accusers had a different sin from hers, then we would be saying that they had the right to condemn her. This is contrary to the teaching of the Holy Bible; for our Lord Jesus Christ taught us "Judge not, that you be not judged…. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" (Mt 7:1-3).
  3. According to this biblical passage "And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground."(Jn 8:8) some scholars believe that the Lord was writing each one's sin.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 109 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.