8:5a

The Greek begins this verse with a conjunction that introduces some background information. In some languages it is more natural to leave this word implied, which the Berean Standard Bible did.

In the Law: The phrase the Law refers to the set of laws that God gave Moses for the people of Israel to follow. Because the speakers and the listeners were all Jews (descendants of Israel), in some languages it may be natural to say it was their law. For example:

in ⌊our (incl.)⌋ law

Moses commanded us to stone such a woman: Moses lived about fifteen hundred (1500) years before the time of Christ. In 1:17 the author mentions that God gave the Jewish law through him. Moses was also the author of the books of the law. Deuteronomy 22:22, found in the books of the law, commanded that the Jews punish adulterers with death.

to stone: This verb means to throw stones at someone in order to kill that person. This was the normal method people in ancient Israel used to punish someone with death. This particular method of punishment is not mentioned in Deuteronomy 22:22.

such a woman: The Greek phrase that Berean Standard Bible translates as such a woman means “women who commit adultery.” The command in Deuteronomy 22:22 required the death of both the man and the woman who committed adultery. However, the religious leaders did not mention this. Nor did they bring the man who committed adultery with the woman with them.

8:5b

So: The Greek conjunction that Berean Standard Bible translates literally as So means “Therefore.” It could just indicate a shift from the background information in 8:5a to the question that they had. Many English translations do not translate this conjunction.

Here is another way to translate this conjunction:

Therefore

what do You say?: In the Greek the pronoun You is singular and refers to Jesus. It is emphasized in the Greek. The speakers contrasted Moses and Jesus. For example:

and you—what do you say?

In some languages it is natural to indicate an object for the verb say. For example:

What do you say we should do ? (New Century Version)

– or –

What do you say about it ? (Revised English Bible)

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