Bible Strands
John 8:6
They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Pharisees have just pressed Jesus for a ruling on the woman caught in adultery (v. 5); this verse narrates their motive before He answers (v. 7).
The words — πειράζοντες (peirazontes), "testing," is a deliberate probe aimed at producing a catchable answer; the stated goal is κατηγορεῖν (katēgorein), a legal term meaning "to bring a formal accusation."
The thread — The same testing verb appears in Luke 10:25, where a law expert stands up to trap Jesus; the act of writing on the ground echoes Jeremiah 17:13, where the faithless are "written in the dust."
Why it lands — The verse strips the question of its pretense: the woman is a prop, and Jesus' refusal to answer on their terms (bending down, writing) is the reader's cue to check whether their own "honest question" is really a snare.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.
- Luke 10:25 One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
- Psalms 38:12 Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.
- Ecclesiastes 3:7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
- Amos 5:10 There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
- Matthew 19:3 Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
- Numbers 14:22 not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
- Proverbs 26:17 Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
- Amos 5:13 Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.
- Luke 11:53 As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,