John 7:53-8:11 ( NOT in the ESV)
[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11…the woman caught in adultery]
Does John 7:53-8:11 belong in the Bible? It can be a scary question to consider. If this passage about the woman caught in adultery (and Jesus telling the Jewish men present to “cast the first stone”) was not in the original autograph (the actual original written by the Apostle John), then what other passages are in the bible that should not be there? And if there are more, then how can we trust the contents of our modern versions?
You can see the danger.
That being said, you need not worry. There are excellent answers and an excellent defense of the reliability and accuracy of our modern versions. In fact, scholars have determined that our modern translation is over 99% accurate to the originals, and none of the remaining 1% that includes passages like John 7:53-8:11 — as well as other simple translation mistakes like punctuation and misspelled words — has any impact on the crucial doctrines of Scripture. The bible in your hands today is remarkably accurate…even miraculously so.
The study of these kinds of biblical issues is called Textual Criticism and it has been undertaken by Believers and unbelievers alike…by scholars who love the bible as well as those who wish to see it thrown into the garbage heap of history. I was first exposed to it while taking classes in seminary for my master’s degree and it put me on my heels…at first. But as I learned more about it, my confidence in the reliability of our modern bible went UP, rather than down. My trust in the Word of God INCREASED. The STRENGTH of my biblical foundation was SAFE against the ravages of time and human error.
If you would like to learn a bit more about this subject (and I hope you do), here are three great (and concise) articles for you to read:
