A familiar Bible saying, checked in context
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone
Altered wording
John 8:7 uses a longer KJV sentence addressed to accusers: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
By @The..Mustard..Seed · Updated
Read the relevant KJV passage
John 8:7So 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.
Compare the evidence
The accusers test Jesus, and he stoops to write on the ground before giving the familiar challenge.
John 8:6This 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.
The conversation ends with mercy and an instruction to sin no more; both belong to the account beyond the popular sentence.
John 8:11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
What the context adds
John 8:7 has the familiar challenge, though common retellings often change its order and wording. The account begins with an accusation and an attempt to test Jesus, not a general discussion in the abstract about whether anyone may name wrongdoing. He replies to the accusers and then speaks to the woman. Verse 11 records both the absence of condemnation from him and an instruction about her future conduct. The story deserves its own reading rather than being reduced to a formula.
A question to carry forward
Who asks the question in the scene, and what does Jesus say to each person after the accusers leave?
Keep reading
Read John 8:1–11 and note who asks the question and who leaves after the reply.
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