John 7:53

Joh 7:53 to John 8:11. John 8:53. “ And every one went away to his own house. John 8:1. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2. And at the break of day, he came again into the temple; and all the people came to him;and he sat down and taught them. 3. Now the scribes and the Pharisees bring to him a woman taken in adultery;and having set her in the midst of the company, 4 they say to him, Master this woman has been taken in adultery, in the very Acts 5 now, in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such persons; as for thee therefore, what dost thou say? 6. They said this to test him, that they might be able to accuse him;but Jesus, stooping down, wrote with his finger on the ground. 7. As they continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast the stone at her. 8. Then he stooped down again and wrote on the ground. 9. They having heard this and being reproved by their conscience, went out, one by one, beginning with the eldest even to the last;and Jesus was left alone with the woman who was standing in the midst of the company. 10. Then Jesus, lifting himself up and no longer seeing any one but the woman, said to her, Woman, where are thine accusers?Did no one condemn thee? 11. She said, No one, Lord. Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more. ”

Ver. 53. Does the expression: every one went away refer, as seems natural from the context, to the members of the Sanhedrim, who return to their homes after the meeting, John 7:45-52 ? In that case, the remark is an idle one. Or does it refer to the whole people who, when the feast was ended, returned from the temple to their dwellings. This meaning would in itself be more acceptable. It was perhaps the meaning of this verse in the context from which the story has been detached. But in the narrative of John nothing leads us to this meaning of the word every one. Herein is an indication of a foreign intercalation.