8:6a

They said this to test Him: The pronoun They refers to the religious leaders who had brought the woman to Jesus.

The religious leaders wanted Jesus to say something that would cause trouble for him. The Law of Moses said that both the woman and the man must die. However, the Roman government then did not allow the Jews to execute (punish by killing) anyone without permission. So if Jesus said that the woman must die, the religious leaders could accuse him of disobeying Roman law. If Jesus said that she should not die, then they could accuse him of disobeying the Law of Moses.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

They were using this question as a trap (New International Version)
-or-
They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
They were asking this to trick Jesus (New Century Version)

8:6b

in order to have a basis for accusing Him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translated as basis means “to accuse someone, possibly in a law court.” The leaders wanted a reason, or excuse, to accuse Jesus of saying something wrong. They wanted to be able to accuse him of speaking against either the law of Moses or Roman law.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

so that they might have some charge to bring against him (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
they wanted to…bring some charge against him (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 8:6a–b

In some languages it may be necessary to explain what the religious leaders hoped to do. They hoped to force Jesus to say something that they could use to accuse him. For example:

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him. (New Living Translation (2004))

Paragraph 8:6c–9

Jesus did not at first answer the people who asked him about the sinful woman. He bent down and wrote something in the sand. Then he said that the person who had not sinned could throw the first stone. Beginning with the oldest, each of those who accused the woman left her. They knew that they too had sinned.

8:6c

But: In the Greek text this verse connects to the previous verse with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as But. It indicates here that something happened that was not expected. The religious leaders asked a question, but rather than answer it as we would expect, Jesus did not answer it. Instead he wrote on the ground.

Translate this conjunction in a way that is natural in your language.

Jesus bent down and began to write: Jesus was sitting down and he bent over so he could write on the ground. This implies that he did not look at the religious leaders. He seemed to ignore them.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

Jesus, bending over, wrote

on the ground with His finger: The Greek phrase that Berean Standard Bible translates as on the ground with His finger indicates that Jesus used his finger to make letters on the ground. Use the expression that is natural in your language. For example:

in the dust with his finger (New Living Translation (2004))

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