John 8:4

“They say unto him, Master, etc.] They applied to him in a handsome and respectful manner, the better to cover their ill design: this woman was taken in adultery; by two persons at least, who could be witnesses of it; otherwise the accusation was not legal; (see <051915> Deuteronomy 19:15); though in the case of a wife suspected of adultery, they admitted a single witness as valid f364: in the very act; or “in the theft itself”, for adultery is a theft; it is an unlawful use of another’s property; see this word used in the same sense, in Heliodor, l. 1. sect. 11.”

“woman . . . in adultery . . . Moses . . . commanded . . . should be stoned--simply put to death (Deu 22:22), but in aggravated cases, at least in later times, this was probably by stoning (Eze 16:40). but what sayest thou--hoping, whatever He might answer, to put Him in the wrong:--if He said, Stone her, that would seem a stepping out of His province; if He forbade it, that would hold Him up as a relaxer of the public morals. But these cunning hypocrites were overmatched.”

“8:4 The form of the Greek sentence emphasizes the legal claim against the woman. She had been caught while committing the sin of adultery. The law required two witnesses and carefully outlined what evidence was needed.”