The first to systematically apply the critical marks of the Alexandrian critics was
Origen:
[15]
"In the Septuagint column [Origen] used the system of diacritical marks which was in use with the Alexandrian critics of Homer, especially Aristarchus, marking with an
obelus under different forms, as "./.", called lemniscus, and "/.", called a hypolemniscus, those passages of the Septuagint which had nothing to correspond to in Hebrew, and inserting, chiefly from Theodotion under an asterisk (*), those which were missing in the Septuagint; in both cases a metobelus (Y) marked the end of the notation."
Early textual critics familiar with the use and meaning of these marks in classical Greek works like
Homer, interpreted the signs to mean that the section (John 7:53-8:11) was an
interpolation and not an original part of the Gospel.
During the 16th Century, Western European scholars – both
Catholic and
Protestant – sought to recover the most correct Greek text of the
New Testament, rather than relying on the
Vulgate Latin translation. At this time, it was noticed that a number of early manuscripts containing John's Gospel lacked John 7:53-8:11 inclusive; and also that some manuscripts containing the verses marked them with critical signs, usually a
lemniscus or
asterisk. It was also noted that, in the lectionary of the Greek church, the set gospel reading for Pentecost runs from John 7:37 to 8:12, but skips over the twelve verses of this pericope.
Beginning with Lachmann (in Germany, 1840), reservations about the pericope became more strongly argued in the modern period, and these opinions were carried into the English world by
Samuel Davidson (1848–1851),
Tregelles (1862), and others; the argument against the verses being given body and final expression in
Hort (1886). Those opposing the authenticity of the verses as part of John are represented in the 20th century by men like Cadbury (1917), Colwell (1935), and
Metzger (1971).
According to 19th century text critics
Henry Alford and
F. H. A. Scrivener the passage was added by John in a second edition of the Gospel along with 5:3.4 and the 21st chapter.[
citation needed]
On the other hand, many scholars strongly defend the Johannine authorship of these verses. This group of critics is typified by such scholars as Nolan (1865), and
Burgon (1886); and find modern counterparts and apologists in Hoskier (1920), O.T. Fuller (1978), Pickering (1980), Hodges & Farstad (1985), Pierpont, and Robinson (2005).
Almost all modern translations now include the Pericope de Adultera at John 7:53-8:11; but most enclose it in brackets, and/or add a note concerning the oldest and most reliable witnesses.
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