When the Punishment does not Fit the Crime
Abstract
This article covers a social scientific exegesis of John 8:7, concluding that Jesus is referring to the violent reactions to adultery that the effected men exhibited. The death penalty for adultery seems like an exaggerated punishment, even by the Torah's own standard (Exo 21:23-25). When this happens it is usually because of social pressures, and in the case of adultery these pressures are the violence of the resulting kinship feuding. This thesis will conclude that the sin that Jesus speaks of in John 8:7, is the violence involved in the resulting kinship feuding. Although this is a new interpretation, this article will argue that there is significant evidence in Matthew to indicate that Jesus held this position.
References
Barrett, Charles K. The Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Westminster Press, 1978.
Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John. The Anchor Bible. Edited by William Foxwell Albright, and David Noel Freedman Vol. 1, London: Geoffrey Chapman Publishers, 1966.
Carson, D. A. The Gospel According to John. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1991.
Hanson, K. C. All in the Family: Kinship in Agrarian Roman Palestine. The Social World of the New Testament: Insights and Models. Edited by Jerome H. Neyrey, and Eric C. Stewart Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008.
Hartley, John E. Leviticus. Word Biblical Commentary. Edited by David A. Hubbard, and Glenn W. Barker Vol. 4, Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1992.
Levine, Baruch A. Numbers 1-20. The Anchor Bible Edited by and David Noel Freedman William Foxwell Albright Vol. 4, New York: Doubleday, 1993.
Lindars, Barnabas. The Gospel of John. New Century Bible Commentary. Edited by Matthew Black Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972.
Lundbom, Jack R. Deuteronomy: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013.
Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. 3rd ed. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.
Malina, Bruce J., and Richard L. Rohrbaugh. Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998.
———. Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels. 2nd ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2003.
Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. 3rd ed. London, New York: United Bible Societies, 1971.
Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus 17-22: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Bible. Edited by William Foxwell Albright, and David Noel Freedman Vol. 2, New York: Doubleday, 2000.
Miller, Patrick D. The Ten Commandments. Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church. Edited by Patrick D. Miller Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.
Moloney, Francis J. The Gospel of John. Sacra Pagina Series. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington Vol. 4, Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1998.
Neyrey, Jerome H. Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998.
Otto, Eckart. The Holiness Code in Diachrony and Synchrony in the Legal Hermeneutics of the Pentateuch. The Strata of Priestly Writings. Edited by Sarah Shectman & Joel Baden Zurich: Theologischer Veriag Zurich, 2009.
Phillips, Anthony. Ancient Israel's Criminal Law: A New Approach to the Decalogue. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1970.
Ridderbos, Herman. The Gospel According to John: A Theological Commentary. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Pubishing Company, 1997.
Rofé, Alexander. Deuteronomy: Issues and Interpretation. Old Testament Studies. Edited by David J. Reimer New York: T & T Clark, 2002.
Rohrbaugh, Richard L. "Honor: Core Value in the Biblical World." In Understanding the Social World of the New Testament, edited by Dietmar Neufeld and Richard E. DeMaris. New York, NY: Routledge, 2010.
Schnackenburg, Rudolf. The Gospel According to St. John. 3 vols. New York: The Seabury Press, 1980.
Wenham, Gordon J. The Book of Leviticus. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Edited by R. K. Harrison Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
