Chapter Seven. The Pericope Adulterae At John 7.53–8.11: The Narrative

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates the manner in which Pericope Adulterae (PA) as a whole contributes to the Johannine narrative in its traditional location. The analysis presents PA in sections of text. The divisions are merely for convenience, however, and do not imply an inherent structure to the narrative. To summarize the analysis, PA's interpolator presents Jesus as several other gospel conflict stories do-in an interpretive battle with the Jewish leadership. The conflict of PA and its setting at the Temple in Jerusalem fit with the context of John 7, as some of PA's vocabulary (John 8.6, 8.11) also parallels Johannine vocabulary. PA's characters and other elements of its vocabulary, however, make clear that PA was not originally in Gospel of John (GJohn). Together, this evidence suggests that the individuals who inserted PA into GJohn paid close attention to the narrative, and narrative location, at which he/they inserted PA.Keywords: Gospel of John (GJohn); Jesus; Johannine narrative; Pericope Adulterae