Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 8:6

"And this they said, trying him, that they might have [whereof] to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground." — John 8:6 (ASV)

The Pharisees’ question was emphatic: “You, there! What do you say?” Jesus made no reply but “bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” It was, incidentally, the only occasion on record that refers to his writing; what he wrote is impossible to say. When his questioners kept pressing him for an answer, Jesus replied by putting the dilemma back on them. For this particular offense there would normally be no witnesses, since its nature would demand privacy. Either the witnesses became such by accident, which would be unusual; or they were present purposely to create the trap for Jesus, in which case they themselves were guilty; or they condoned the deed, and this would make them partners in it. Since Jewish law required the witnesses in any case of capital punishment to begin the stoning, each one of the accusers would either have to admit that he was guilty or else refrain from demanding the woman’s death.