John 8:4-5

Moses commanded such should be stoned.

The Mosaic enactment is found in Deuteronomy 22:22, and Leviticus 20:10. It required stoning in the case of. betrothed virgin, and also made the infidelity of. wife punishable with death. It was no feeling of outraged purity that brought these learned Scribes, thoroughly posted in the Mosaic teachings, to Christ. Long since the rigid observance of the Levitical law had been laid aside in questions of morals, and the nation under the influence of association with heathen, had become corrupt. The Scribes and Pharisees were themselves "whited sepulchers." They only thought that, by means of this guilty woman whom they had entrapped, they could annoy, possibly entangle and gain ground for accusing the Prophet of Galilee.