John 8.1-59 tells us about the woman caught in adultery and taken to Yeshua to test him; he ignores her accusers and forgives her, causing the accusers to leave; Yeshua is the light of the world and the Pharisees from Shammai challenge him because they do not know Yehovah; Yeshua predicts that he is departing soon, leaving those in unbelief to die in their sins if they continue in the way they are going; Yeshua depends on the Father for all he says and does; he offers freedom from sin and death to those who believe in him and answers the response that they are already free because they are the seed of Abraham, but their actions prove otherwise and reveals their true father; he also answers their accusations that he has a demon; the promises connected to those who believe in Yeshua and obey the Torah; Yeshua claims to be Yehovah and avoids a stoning.
v 1…But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives (this was a popular place to pray and meditate. Other rabbis did it; he may have stayed in the home of Lazarus).
v 2…And early in the morning (this was the eighth day of the festival of Sukkot-Lev 23.36-called “Shemini (eighth) Atzeret (conclusion)” and it was a Sabbath day. The number “eight” is the number of “new beginnings” and it symbolizes the time after the Messianic Kingdom called the “Olam Haba” or “world to come” but it is also known as “the New Jerusalem”; the L’Olam Va’ed” or “forever, eternity”; “the eighth day”; the mount of the Lord” and “land of the living” to name a few of the idioms for this time period. It is described in Rev 21 and 22) that he came again into the temple (for the services and to teach), and all the people were coming to him, and he sat down (probably in the Court of the Women or Solomon’s Portico) and began to teach them.
v 3… And the scribes and the Pharisees (probably from the School of Shammai) brought a woman caught in adultery (she will be a type of Israel who has been caught in spiritual adultery) and having set her in the midst (to test him, to find an accusation against him because if they were really serious, they would have brought the man also, with two or more witnesses; this event will allude to the Sotah ceremony in Num 5.11-31; in this the woman symbolizes adultetous Israel, and that is why yhe man was not brought),
v 4… they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act (Lev 20.10; Deut 22.22-24 says that both were to be brought. Maybe one of their own number agreed to trap her to provoke this controversy, how else could they have “caught her in the act”).
v 5…Now in the Torah Moses commanded us to stone such women, what then do you say (they wanted to see if he followed Moses or would make a new “rule” and accuse him of not following the Torah)?”
v 6… And they were saying this testing him so that they might have grounds for accusing him (if Yeshua taught that the law was done away with, or that you were free from the law, this would have been a good time to bring that out; but if there was evidence he was teaching others to not follow the Torah, this would have invalidated him as the Messiah and they would have been correct to accuse him. This was the perfect time to teach what is taught in the churches today, but he doesn’t. She is being accused by the Torah, and he is going to use the Torah to save her). But Yeshua stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground (remember this was Sukkot. One of the Scriptures they were studying is Jer 17.13-14 where it says that the Messiah “is the mikvah (hope) of Israel. All who forsake me (the Messiah) will be put to shame. Those who turn away from me will be written down in the earth because they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, even the Lord.” This alludes to the Sotah ceremony in Num 5.17; He has just said the day before he was the fountain of living water, but these people don’t believe and are rejecting him, so he begins to write their names on the ground in fulfillment of this Scripture. They knew exactly what he was doing because they were studying this very Scripture).
v 7… But when they persisted in asking him, he straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin (or this sin in particular. It was said that this generation was so adulterous that they did not even do the Sotah ceremony found in Num 5.11-31 for suspected wives of adultery because the men were so guilty) among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her (the witnesses who saw the act being committed were to throw a stone first-Deut 17.7. By saying this he is disqualifying the witnesses if there were any, and to show that this was a trap that he wasn’t going to fall into. Yeshua uses the Torah to save her because two witnesses were needed. He uses their consciences and hearts to convict them. Sanhedrin 4.2-3 of the Talmud says that names were written down for guilty or innocent in a judgment or verdict).”
v 8… And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground (to publicly expose the names of those involved, who had rejected him).
v 9… And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones (they were wiser and they took the hint), and he was left alone (of those who tried to trap him), and the woman standing in the midst.
v 10… And straightening up, Yeshua said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you (she had a right to face her accusers, but where were the eyewitnesses? Biblical law says that there can be no capital punishment without 2-3 credible eyewitnesses)?”
v 11… And she said, “No one, Lord.” And Yeshua said, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way; from now on sin (this sin) no more (what he tells her is in line with the spirit of Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day, or new beginning. Also, in our Sukkot passage, the next verse, Jer 17.14, says “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed, save me, and I will be saved, for thou art my praise” and this is exactly what happens).
v 12… Again therefore Yeshua spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world (notice that he was in the Court of the Women, at a festival called “the Feast of Lights.” During Sukkot, they set up 4 posts in this court with four pots on each pole. These were full of oil and the discarded priestly garments were used as wicks. At night they were lit, lighting up the temple for services and dancing at night and could be seen for miles. These were called the “ner elohim” or light of God, as well as the “light of the world.” Sukkot is also called the Festival of the Nations because it speaks of the salvation of the nations as they are drawn to the “light” at the end of the birth-pains. Yeshua was also born during this feast. So the term “light of the world” is directly related to this feast and his function-Rev 1.12; Zech 4.2; Isa 42.3; Isa 9.1-3. So, Yeshua has used “the fountain of living water” or mayim chayim, and “the light of the world” to identify himself, both are idioms related to Sukkot); he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (eternal).”
v 13…The Pharisees, therefore, said to him, “You are bearing witness of yourself; your witness is not true (who knows if you are lying).”
v 14… Yeshua answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true (regardless of what you say); for I know where I come from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, or where I am going (they thought he was only a man, the son of Joseph from Galilee).
v 15… You people judge according to the flesh (by outward appearance); I am not judging anyone (alone, I have not come to do that this time).
v 16…But even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone (the only witness of what I say)), but I and the Father who sent me.
v 17… Even in your law (Deut 19.15; 17.6-7) it has been written, that the testimony of two men is true.
v 18… I am he who bears witness of myself (witness number one), and the Father who sent me bears witness of me (is witness number two).”
v 19… And so they were saying to him, “Where is your father (in a taunting way, they still see this on an earthly level, “produce this witness”)?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father, if you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
v 20…These words he spoke in the treasury (in the court of the women called the “Ezrat ha Nashim” where people put money into 13 trumpet-shaped collection boxes, which is why he said what he did in Matt 6.2), as he taught in the temple; and no one seized him, because his hour had not come (this was not the time nor the feast for his death anyway).
v 21… He said therefore again to them, “I go away (and I will), and you shall seek me (there will be a time of distress coming on this land which will culminate in the destruction of the land, city, and temple, but it will be too late) and shall die in your sin (amid the coming Jewish war against Rome, if not before); where I am going, you cannot come (he was going to the Father, in heaven).”
v 22… Therefore the Jews (the rulers from Shammai predominantly) were saying, “Surely he will not kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come (he will be beyond their reach)’?”
v 23… And he was saying to them, “You are from below (the unregenerate things of this world), I am from above (the heavenly realm); you are from this world (Greek “kosmos” the opposite of heaven), I am not of this world (this cosmos or world order of things).
v 24… I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins (and I have warned you already if you persist in your present course of action); for unless you believe that I am (the only savior of sinners; the Messiah; the only mediator between God and man, by faith and action) you shall die in your sins.”
v 25… And so they were saying to him, “Who are you (seeking to trap him)?” Yeshua said to them, “What have I been saying from the beginning (the same thing I have already told you, I haven’t changed my story)?
v 26… I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you (so I will hold those in reserve), but he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I speak to the world (the cosmos, the world order of things).”
v 27…They did not realize that he had been speaking to them about the Father (their hearts were hard and they were spiritually blind; the world does not know him).
v 28… Yeshua, therefore, said, “When you lift up the Son of Man (on the cross, like the serpent on the pole and the 4 poles in the Court of the Women), then you will know that I am he (the Messiah and all that I have told you), and I do nothing on my own initiative but I speak these things as the Father taught me (the Torah is his basis-Deut 18.13-19).
v 29…And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone (he was never forsaken), for I always do the things that are pleasing to him (he obeyed his word found in the Torah).”
v 30… As he spoke these things many came to believe in him.
v 31… Yeshua, therefore, was saying to those Jews who had believed him (he knew exactly who they were and when they believed), “If you abide (live) in my word (which was always consistent with the Torah and the Prophets), then you are truly talmidim of mine
v 31… and you shall know the truth (Psa 119.160, the Torah) and the truth (that you know) shall make you free (Psa 119.45; James 1.25, 2.12-because they will walk in his precepts).
v 33… They (these are the unbelieving Jews, not the ones addressed in v 31, who were also present and heard what was being said) answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone (which isn’t true; Abraham was told his seed would be slaves. They were under the yoke of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, the Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines and now Rome); how is it that you say, “You shall become free?”
v 34…Yeshua answered them, “Truly, truly (whenever you see this it is “Amen, amen” in Hebrew. Amen is related to the word for faith, “Emunah” and it means confidence, action), I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the servant to sin.
v 35… And the servant does not remain in the house forever (he can be set free from that household; some who profess to believe will not remain in the house of God forever. They will be removed, “cut off”), the son does remain forever (a servant can stay in the master’s house when the time of his servitude is over; his ear will be bored into the doorpost of the household, and he can go out at the Yovel or “jubilee” or when the master dies-Exo 21.6. But a son is attached to the household forever and cannot be removed).
v 36… If therefore the son shall make you free (from the household of sin, like in Rome when the father died, the son would set free the slaves born into the house), you shall be free indeed.
v 37… I know that you are Abraham’s offspring (by nature); yet you seek to kill me (which Abraham would never do, so you are under the power of sin), because my word has no place in you (they are not suited to you, they were not capable of understanding it).
v 38… I speak the things which I have seen with my Father (he saw these attributes in the Father, and they wanted to kill him because of his doctrine, but it was the Father’s doctrine, this infuriated them even more); therefore you do the things which you heard from your father (who you follow).”
v 39…They answered and said to him, ” Abraham is our father (but without the faith).” Yeshua said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham (works of faith).
v 40… But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do (he did not turn a deaf ear to the voice of God).
v 41… You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of fornication (insinuating he was in relation to his birth): we have one father, God (they were the seed of Abraham, of the fathers, the prophets, we know the word of God. And Israel has been called “God’s son”).”
v 42… Yeshua said to them, “If God were your Father (and that can only happen through adoption, regeneration, being born again), you would love me; for I proceeded from God, for I have not even come on my own initiative, but he sent me.
v 43… Why do you not understand what I am saying (like God questioned Adam, ‘Where are you?”)? It is because you cannot hear (with spiritual discernment and understanding) my word.
v 44…You are of your father the devil (the serpent, and serpents are deaf and have no ears, like v 43. They have the nature of him, by imitation, for example. This term was common and used against those from Beit Shammai by the first-century sage R. Dosa in the Talmud, Yevamot 16a; this is figurative language meaning “not following the truth”-Isa 57.4; Rev 2.9, 3.9) and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning (He plotted the death of the Messiah for 4000 years through Adam, Haman, Pharaoh, Herod, etc. In Yeshua’s case, he was a murderer because Yeshua was without sin and used Beit Shammai to plot his death. In the case of humans, he is only an executioner because the wages of sin are death. However, a case can be made that he murdered Adam and Eve by lying to them, causing them to sin, which in turn brought death to everyone else) and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own (nature); for he is a liar, and the father of lies (contrary to the truth of the word of God).
v 45…But because I speak the truth you do not believe me.
v 46… Which one of you convicts me of sin (with evidence to back it up)? If (or “since) I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?
v 47… He who is of God (a true believer) hears the words of God (which at that time were the Torah, Prophets and the Writings called the “Tanak”-it is the same today); for this reason, you do not hear because you are not of God (exist out of God and partakers of his nature-John 3.6-7; 2 Pet 1.4).”
v 48… The Jews answered (the unbelieving ones of v 33, not the believing ones in v 31) and said to him, “Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan (an irreligious man who was loose in his Torah observance, including their oral law; they had said this before but it is not recorded. They thought this because he is treating the “sons of Abraham” so harshly and that he was not a true, religious man, misinterpreting the Torah. This was the same as calling him a heretic and an idolater) and having a demon (you are crazy, out of your mind)?”
v 49… Yeshua answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me (by wicked charges).
v 50…But I do not seek my glory; there is one who seeks and judges.
v 51…Truly, truly (Hebrew “Amen, amen” meaning so be it, that’s the way it is. Amen is related to the word “Emunah” which means faith, confidence, action) I say to you if anyone keeps (guards) my word he shall never see death (second death, condemnation-Rev 20.11-15).”
v 52…The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he shall never taste death .’
v 53…Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham, who died (he was a great man, and he died)? The prophets died too (and they kept and taught the word of God); whom do you make yourself out to be (they thought he was a fake)?”
v 54…And Yeshua answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God (the covenant God, which he made with Abraham; you make claims believing you will enter life based on race)’;
v 55… and you have not come to know him, but I know him; and if I say that I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word (was Torah observant, obey his will in all things).
v 56… Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day (the “Yom’ot Mashiach” or the days of the Messiah, to see the Messiah); and he saw it (by faith, in the things that happened to him. From the promise that the nations would be blessed through him to the miraculous birth of Isaac, to the Akedah, the binding of the sacrifice of Isaac as a type of Yeshua; and Abraham calling the name of the place he almost sacrificed Isaac “Adonai Yireh” which means “the Lord will see” in Gen 22.1-19) and was glad.”
v 57… The Jews, therefore, said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old (the mandatory age of retirement for the Levites), and have you seen Abraham (Yeshua did not claim to have seen Abraham)?”
v 58…Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly (Hebrew “Amen, amen”), I say to you, before Abraham was born (came to exist), I am (I existed, I am the eternal God, referring to Exo 3.14).
v 59…Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him (thought what he said was blasphemous. The Temple was still being built and there were stones around-John 2.20); but Yeshua hid himself, and went out of the temple.
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