John 8:11

No man, Lord We must bear in mind that -Lord" may be too strong a translation of the Greek word, which need not mean more than -Sir" (see on John 6:34). But as we have no such ambiguous word in English, -Lord" is best.

Neither do I condemn thee He maintains in tenderness towards her the attitude which He had assumed in sternness towards her accusers: He declines the office of judge. He came not to condemn, but to seek and to save. And yet He did condemn, as S. Augustine remarks, not the woman, but the sin. With regard to the woman, though He does not condemn, yet He does not pardon: He does not say -thy sins have been forgiven thee" (Matthew 9:2; Luke 7:48), or even -go in peace" (Luke 7:50; Luke 8:48). "We must not apply in all cases a sentence, which requires His Divine knowledge to make it a just one" (Alford). He knew whether she was penitent or not.

go, and sin no more Or, go and continue no longer in sin. The contrast between the mere negative declaration and the very positive exhortation is striking. See on John 5:14.