What did Jesus write? (John 8:6-8)

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I searched the forums, and couldn’t find a previous thread on this one- anyone have any idea what Jesus wrote here?

6 And this they said tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus bowing himself down, wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When therefore they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again stooping down, he wrote on the ground.

(If there’s another thread about this already, please feel free to direct me to it, I couldn’t find it on my search)

Thanks,
Cari
 
No one really knows what he wrote if anything. Some think he wrote the sins of the accusers, some think he may have been just doodling, but no one really knows.
 
Cari said:
I searched the forums, and couldn’t find a previous thread on this one- anyone have any idea what Jesus wrote here?

6 And this they said tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus bowing himself down, wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When therefore they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again stooping down, he wrote on the ground.

(If there’s another thread about this already, please feel free to direct me to it, I couldn’t find it on my search)

Thanks,
Cari
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I have seen it suggested that He wrote their names; to fulfill **Jeremiah 17:13 **
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake thee shall be put to shame; those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth,
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for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. Unfortunately the newer translations eliminate this reference to writing in the earth in their attempt to explain its meaning.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
I have seen it suggested that He wrote their names; to fulfill **Jeremiah 17:13 ** Unfortunately the newer translations eliminate this reference to writing in the earth in their attempt to explain its meaning.

Nobody knows what he wrote. Any suggestions are unfounded speculation.
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I thought it was the world’s first Soduku! But I may be wrong!
 
Paper was unavailable and it was very common for people to gather and write in the dirt and sand. I picture Christ the Teacher using this method to illustrate a point. I think that it must be not of great importance or the image or word He made in the dirt would have been mentioned in the Bible.
 
As others have said, nothing is definative. I think it matters less what he wrote as to why he wrote anything in that situation. He shows almost an indifference to them.

They come to test and catch Him and in effect to become like them in accusing her. He ignores them and acts very nonchalant about the whole situation.
 
Verisimilitude said:
As others have said, nothing is definative. I think it matters less what he wrote as to why he wrote anything in that situation. He shows almost an indifference to them.

They come to test and catch Him and in effect to become like them in accusing her. He ignores them and acts very nonchalant about the whole situation.
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Strangely enough, this is the most satisfying answer I’ve gotten (aside from the Suduku one- man I hate those!). I like the image of “cool as a cucumber” Jesus, showing such indifference to their traps (not that my satisfaction is important in areas of scriptual interpretation :rolleyes: ).

Thanks, everyone who answered!
C
 
It is interesting that Jesus catches them in their own trap. They think He must either uphold the law of Moses and say “stone her”, in which case they will denounce Him to the Romans for ordering an execution. Or, He will not order her stoning, in which case they can reject Him for denying Moses. However, He hands the hot potato back to them. He says “let the one without sin cast the first stone”. The Pharisees claim to be perfect, without sin. Now they can either act on that claim and throw a stone, in which case the Romans will come down on them. Or they can renounce their claim to perfection. It was about then that they heard their mothers’ calling them and had to leave the scene.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
It is interesting that Jesus catches them in their own trap. They think He must either uphold the law of Moses and say “stone her”, in which case they will denounce Him to the Romans for ordering an execution. Or, He will not order her stoning, in which case they can reject Him for denying Moses. However, He hands the hot potato back to them. He says “let the one without sin cast the first stone”. The Pharisees claim to be perfect, without sin. Now they can either act on that claim and throw a stone, in which case the Romans will come down on them. Or they can renounce their claim to perfection. It was about then that they heard their mothers’ calling them and had to leave the scene.
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Man, you are so wrong!!!

Their tassles needed cleaning. It wasn’t their mothers!!! 😉
 
In actual fact no definite answer can be given here due to the lack of positive verification criteria. Only mystical interpretations are possible, bcs they seem to deal with no positive content; they deal with symbols of the truth and not with the truth itself. This is how Vencelao Ivanov, a great Russian poet and thinker thought about the matter.
His idea (generally rendered) was that the Lord wrote his New Testament to His Bride - the Earth, identified with the adulteress, and that His writing was a sign of His vow to the Earth (important is that the Earth is not the same as the world, kosmos = evil).

Tradition sais Jusus did write on the earth ἕνος ἑκάστου ἀυτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας „the sins of every one of them“ (Metzger B. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. N. Y., 1994. Р. 190) - i.e. the sins of the accusers. Also we can read that “Jesus was writing the commandments of God” and that “perhaps Jesus was writing their * personal transgressions of the law, or perhaps He wrote their names in the earth beside the commandments they had broken” (mountainretreatorg.net/faq/ground.html).

I think the Lord could also have written on the Earth the sins of the adulteress; it was a symbolic act of the death of her sins and a mystical substitution of her own death acc the letter of the law.*
 
As I was reading today, I came to the story about Jesus writing in the dirt as the accusers stood by ready to stone the woman…and I see alot of people wondering what He wrote…no one really knows for sure. I did read something that to me may come pretty close…Grace happens here. This is what Grace is all about, ’ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.’ For so long after begining my walk with Him…I still had doubts about the fact that I don’t ever have to allow the accuser (satan) to be the one I listen to. I DO have an advocate in Jesus Christ, who day and night stands up for me and tells me…you are covered by grace. I think I am finally being able to accept that and don’t have to feel guilty anymore. Satan would have me believe other wise…and overdose me with guilt. Not true…approiate guilt is ok…it’s God saying…wake up now…this is not what I want for you. It may seem very clear to some and think I am confused and don’t know what I’m talking about…and it may be true to some point, but I am not done yet and God is not finished with me yet and I won’t give up on me because I know God won’t give up on me. I was made to do good works for God. I won’t find Him in doing good works, but I will find good works in Him…thank you for listening.
 
Actually, in the KJV it says "…and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not." It shows it in the Greek in my interlinear version as well. Maybe some manuscripts have it and others don’t? 🤷 But if that’s the more accurate rendering of the passage, it sounds a lot like he was being nonchalant, as verisimilitude said above.
 
We do not know what he wrote. The passage is symbolic. The Jews at the time knew only God wrote with his finger (the ten commandments and Daniel where the finger wrote on the wall). Only God can forgive sins.

Jesus forgave her sins and wrote in the earth with his finger. Both pointing to his being the Messiah.
 
Here is a theory I once heard…

The woman was probably looking down out of shame and fear.
Jesus bent down and wrote in the sand as an excuse to place himself in her line of vision.
 
Maybe it’s only important because details like this point to the writer being an actual eyewitness. Why would that kind of detail be passed down orally?
 
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