Exegesis Essay John 8:1-11
This essay is on the Bible passage John 8:1-11. In this essay, I will use the process of exegesis by talking about the socio-historical criticism, literary criticism, and ideological criticism. In this passage a woman who commits adultery is brought to Jesus to receive her punishment. Jesus then announced that anyone who hasn’t sinned would be able to throw a stone at her; not a single person threw a stone. The woman was then released and was told to never sin again. By using the three different types of criticism, I now have a better, more thorough understanding of this passage, and the other passages we have studied as well.
Using socio-historical criticism I have learned that “stoning” was a form of punishment. Being “stoned” meant that the person who did wrong was to have stones thrown at them by the crowd. Sometimes the person being stoned would die from this punishment. This was usually a form of public humiliation as well and everyone was invited to throw stones. Although, in this passage, no one was able to throw stones because they were all sinners like the woman who committed adultery.
Another thing I noticed in this passage was that the scribes and Pharisees brought the woman who committed adultery to Jesus, instead of an officer or someone of high authority. I believe that in this time vigilantes were very common. That shows that many people took matters into their own hands. If they see anyone doing something that are against the rules, in this case Moses’ commandments, then they had the right to get that person in trouble on their own. Everyone had the right to persecute one another if caught breaking the rules, or sinning.
Through literary criticism I have discovered that this passage is about learning your lesson and to not be so quick to judge. The irony in his passage is that all these people were so quick to accuse this woman of being sinful, when in reality; they all were sinners as well. Jesus allowed whoever was free of sins to throw a
Using socio-historical criticism I have learned that “stoning” was a form of punishment. Being “stoned” meant that the person who did wrong was to have stones thrown at them by the crowd. Sometimes the person being stoned would die from this punishment. This was usually a form of public humiliation as well and everyone was invited to throw stones. Although, in this passage, no one was able to throw stones because they were all sinners like the woman who committed adultery.
Another thing I noticed in this passage was that the scribes and Pharisees brought the woman who committed adultery to Jesus, instead of an officer or someone of high authority. I believe that in this time vigilantes were very common. That shows that many people took matters into their own hands. If they see anyone doing something that are against the rules, in this case Moses’ commandments, then they had the right to get that person in trouble on their own. Everyone had the right to persecute one another if caught breaking the rules, or sinning.
Through literary criticism I have discovered that this passage is about learning your lesson and to not be so quick to judge. The irony in his passage is that all these people were so quick to accuse this woman of being sinful, when in reality; they all were sinners as well. Jesus allowed whoever was free of sins to throw a