Why were they going to stone the adulteress but not Jesus?

Question

A friend of mine just posted this anser to my last question

"Roman law at the time did not allow the Jewish leaders to carry out capital punishment."

How come the Jews were going to stone the adulteress but not Jesus? This answer makes no sense.

Answer 1

They did try to stone Jesus at another point.


John 10:31..Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,but Jesus said to them,I have shown you many great miracles from the Father,For which of these do you stone me? v32..We are not stonning you for any of these.replied the Jews,but for blasphemy,because you,a mere man,claim to be God.

Answer 2

Probably because the jews who were talking about stoning the adulteress were more interested in trapping Jesus in His words than actually stoning the woman. (If one actually reads the details surrounding this biblical exchange, one will see that these people were trying to trap Jesus. Else why would they bring the woman to Jesus at all? He held no civil authority. One has to look at the context of the stories in order to understand their relevance.)

Additionally, the Jews who were talking about stoning the adulteress were not Caiaphus the High Priest nor part of his council, who had to answer to the Romans for any breach in the Roman laws that they committed... So perhaps compliance with Roman law wasn't foremost on minds of this group who approached Jesus with the adulteress. Of course it wasn't (see my first comment above).

EDIT: Good point, Dolores. The man vs woman legal standing probably also played a part here.

Answer 3

Read the Bible. Jesus was never accused of adultry. The woman was caught with someone else. It is a good question why the man was not brought before Jesus as well since Jewish law required execution of BOTH people. The simple answer is that the Jewish authorities were not interested in the woman but were trying to trick Jesus into incriminating himself. If he said "don't stone her", he would be going against Jewish law. If he said "stone her", he would be breaking Roman law. Instead he gave the brilliant answer of saying "let him who is without sin cast the first stone."

Answer 4

Your friend is only partially right. During Jesus' time, the Jewish authorities were not permitted to put someone to death for breaking a law. However, the Romans tolerated groups of Jews (as opposed to Jewish ruling bodies, such as the Sanhedrin) exacting capital punishment for violations of religious laws.

So why didn't the High Priest and Sanhedrin covertly order Jesus' death by stoning? This was previously tried on several occasions and, each time, Jesus slipped away. This necessitated a different tactic. I believe also that the Sanhedrin wanted Jesus to die in a more public, humiliating way. Therefore, they endorsed the method that closely resembles the following:

22 “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God."

This method, of course, is crucifixion, which only the Romans could do.

Answer 5

Perhaps via a court case, the Jews couldn't carry out capital punishment. But weren't the Jews going to stone her right there in the street, with no written record of it? Besides, back then, it's not hard to imagine that kind of thing would happen to a woman, even if Roman law made it illegal. No tell, no guilt, 'cause she was a woman. Had it been a man, it would have been different.

Answer 6

They were going to use the adulteress to trick Jesus into saying something against their law or her crime that they could use against Him in an effort to be able to stone Him by law, but He turned the tables on them when he said, "Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone." When the accusers left the woman in His company, He said to her, "Woman, where are thy accusers?" She said that they had gone away and Jesus replied, "Neither do I condemn thee, go and SIN NO MORE."

Answer 7

Mr. Nolte,
They wanted to. . . didn't you read John 8, and John 10?

One reason given in the Gospels is that the Pharisees were afraid of incurring the wrath of the people-- starting a riot. Another reason why they couldn't stone him is that he always semed to get away. . . somehow. Until that is, it was time for him to be taken prisoner.

Answer 8

because the answer is incorrect. According to the bible, Jesus was tried under roman law and not jewish law. Therefore, he would've been crucified and not stoned to death.
The bible also recants a tale of him avoiding getting stoned to death by other jews, so your friend is just misinformed.

Answer 9

Actually your question is interesting--When Christ came upon the Pharisees who were about to stone the adulteress to death,he asked them why--They told him they were judging this woman according to the Law of Moses--the "word of God".This excuse was unacceptable to Christ--& yet here we are---2,000 years later--& so-called Christians are still using the very same excuse to judge & condemn others--ironic eh!!???--I guess the more things change---the more they stay the same.--:]

Answer 10

Your ETERNAL SOUL is what matters! *HELL is REAL! JESUS SAVES! *Turn away from your sinful ways and put your trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God! You MUST be BORN AGAIN! This is spiritual rebirth! You MUST possess the Holy Spirit!* TURN TO JESUS TODAY! CATHOLIC DOCTRINE IS FALSE! Live HOLY and follow JESUS! The pleasure of sin is temporary! Hell is forever! Don’t curse or use God’s Name in vain!