I found this non denominational site fascinating.
adultera.awardspace.com/TEXT/MSS-top10.html
I have bracketed things I found interesting ]
"Codex D and the Pericope de Adultera
Codex D is obviously a unique and fascinating early textual witness. We cannot hope to untangle its mystery here. However, we can sum up a few salient points:
(1) Although
D is a late 4th or early 5th century manuscript, it certainly represents a much older text. This is evident from its many early and primitive readings throughout. Whether some textual variations were ‘blended’ in or found in the master-copy from which it was made, these readings came from even older manuscripts. It cannot be dismissed as simply a 5th century ‘creation’ out of free literary or editing activity. Almost all of its significant readings, even the unique ones, demand serious attention from scholars, and many can be independantly confirmed as ancient.
(2) Regardless of its character, and even the character of the passage (John 7:53-8:11) under consideration, Codex
D remains a powerful witness to the popularity of the Pericope de Adultera among both Latin and Greek readers prior to the 5th century. One critic has tried to dismiss this singular survivor as a mere ‘blip’ on the radar. But it appears to be the tip of a long lost iceberg.
(3) Although dated slightly after Jerome’s time (circa 380 A.D.), it is clearly not a copy of Jerome’s Vulgate. This is significant, because it confirms Jerome’s statement that there were many copies “both Greek and Latin containing the Pericope de Adultera in his own time”. Jerome obviously believed it was an ancient reading even then, for he explicitly states he bypassed the ‘editions’ of his contemporaries and sought out the most ancient manuscripts he could find to produce his Latin Translation. And here Jerome leaves no doubt as to his assessment of the passage, since he includes it in his Latin Vulgate, and it has stood there ever since.
Code:
This having been said, it must be admitted that the version of the story in Codex **D** has suffered a few minor omissions and the dislocation of a verse, in comparison to the common version of the story found in the traditional Byzantine text.
But the value of Codex **D** is not so much in the word for word accuracy of its text (it may have been conformed to the Latin in places by its own scribe/editor). Rather it is in the undeniable testimony of the ***existance*** of the **Pericope de Adultera** in its standard place in John earlier than the 5th century.
And this is no real surprise after all. We have at least five early fathers testifying of its existance and authenticity at the turn of the 4th century: Ambrose, Didymus, Jerome, Augustine, etc., and many later fathers.
At least one critic has tried to get some mileage out of the fact that Codex
D is the
only 4th/5th century MS containing the verses. If Codex
D didn’t exist, it is noted, the earliest surviving manuscript with the passage would be from the 7th or 8th century.
But this is a really a mistatement of the significance of the evidence. If pigs could fly, then yes, the Pericope de Adultera could be said to have flown into the stream of transmission in the 8th or 9th century. But pigs don’t fly, and the testimony of codex
D alongside that of a dozen early fathers, some of whom were brilliant scholars and multilingual masters, makes it clear that our passage existed where it is today from times of the earliest surviving manuscripts.]"
It is lengthy view at early writings, BUT I enjoyed it. I only posted it’s summation. This sample is found near the bottom.
I think we can rest assured that before this sample, Church Fathers knew of this teaching and it’s significance.
I leave it for all.
