Shane D.

Yaw

Commentary on the Torah of Yeshua

The Story of the Woman Caught in Adultery

Shane Yaw 3/11/2014

FOREWORD In this commentary, I have sought to maintain the integrity of words of the Messiah while providing an interpretation that is easily discernible to the common person. The reader will be introduced to supposedly new terms which may not have been encountered apart from attendance in a Judaic studies program. Throughout the commentary you will be apprised of Jewish concepts found in the Talmud and in the Torah commentaries of Jewish rabbis. I have explained every concept taking into consideration that most readers will have little or no knowledge of these concepts, especially in light of the barriers between the English and Hebrew language itself. However, these barriers did not hinder me from actively promoting the truth of the concepts being introduced. For instance, the reader will take notice that the name of the Messiah is called Yeshua in this commentary. This is no accident. The original name of the Messiah was Yeshua HaMashiach or Yeshua ben Yosef, which literally translates to Joshua the Messiah and Joshua the son of Joseph respectively. The name Jesus Christ, which is the Greek translation of the aforementioned name, is intentionally left out of this commentary to stress the vital fact that the Messiah was Hebrew and not Greek. The references I make to the English version of the bible are taken from the New International Version, specifically John 8:2-11, regarding the woman caught in adultery. The Hebrew context was taken directly from the Hebrew Bible, which is called the Tanakh. The references made to the Talmud are from the Babylonian Talmud. The verse which I am providing commentary is underscored, bolded, and capitalized; while the commentary itself is in regular print located directly below the versed being referenced.

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AT DAWN HE APPEARED AGAIN IN THE TEMPLE COURTS, WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND HIM, AND HE SAT DOWN TO TEACH THEM. What is important to know here are the facts: that Yeshua was in the Temple, that he was sitting, and that he was teaching. From these crucial and distinct facts we can discern many things that were hidden regarding the Messiah. First, he was teaching. This tells us was he was doing and what he was not doing. If Yeshua was teaching, then he was a teacher and not a judge. In Deuteronomy 17:8-9, Moshe said, If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge--whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults--take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. Go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. Therefore, we must ask ourselves, why they took the woman to Yeshua if he was not a judge. Does an accused criminal appear before a judge or a pastor for sentencing? These things I will get to later. Moreover, we can no longer accept the false premise that Yeshua was a carpenter. Only one person could sit and teach in the Temple the King of Israel. So, therefore, this portion is laying out the case that Yeshua was, in fact, the king of Israel. I would like you to keep this verse in mind because it becomes vital to expanding your knowledge of the Messiah later when I explain what this same crowd of accusers did later.
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THE TEACHERS OF THE LAW AND THE PHARISEES BROUGHT IN A WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY. THEY MADE HER STAND BEFORE THE GROUP 4 AND SAID TO JESUS, TEACHER, THIS WOMAN WAS CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF ADULTERY. In verses 3 and 4, three words are repeated twice. This is done for a good reason, which is to draw your attention to the fact that the woman was innocent. As we carefully examine these two verses, we notice that the words woman, caught, and adultery are repeated twice. The word woman is repeated twice because two people commit the act of adultery, a man and a woman. However, the Pharisees brought only a woman. The word caught is repeated twice because two witnesses are required to condemn a person to death but there were no witnesses. Finally, the word adultery is repeated twice because there are two methods of executing a woman for adultery; yet, stoning is not one of those methods. Lets take a look at how each of these conclusions can be correctly derived at by the study of Torah. As I said earlier, two people commit the act of adultery and two people are to be put to death for the act of adultery. Leviticus 20:10 states, If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. So the Torah clearly says both: the adulterer and the adulteress, the man and the woman, shall be put to death. In this situation, only a woman was brought out to be executed. This is the first indication that the woman was innocent. Moving along, I also stated that there are two methods of executing a woman for adultery. Leviticus 20:10 commands that the adulterers be put to death but it does not specifically state how they should be put to death. In the Talmud Bavli, Tractate Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yohanan said that any reference of the Torah to the death penalty without specifically

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mentioning how it is to be carried out can only be done by strangulation. This is the first method of executing a woman caught for adultery. The second is found in Leviticus 21:9. "If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire. Thus, the two methods of executing a woman for adultery were to burn her if she was the daughter of a priest or to strangle her if she was not. Now we come to the issue of the witnesses, to which I say that there were no witnesses. Where were the witnesses if this woman was caught in adultery? The fact that the woman is still alive proves that there were no witnesses. In Deuteronomy 17:6-7, Moshe said, On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. It is the duty of witness to step forward and testify. No one did. The shouts of the crowd cannot be taken as witnessing. Exodus 23:2-3 states, Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit. Thus, there were no witnesses because no one stepped forward to testify. IN THE LAW MOSES COMMANDED US TO STONE SUCH WOMEN. NOW WHAT DO YOU SAY? Here is an apparent contradiction to the Torah in light of what I have taught. However, there is a secret to be revealed when we expound the words such women. This verse should alert us to the fact that the woman was betulah, or a virgin. It should also alert us that the woman was also erusin, meaning she was engaged but still resided with her father because she had not been married yet. This is the only time when a woman is not brought before a judge to be tried and executed; and, this is the only time when a woman is stoned. Deuteronomy 22:13-14 describes this situation, If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her, dislikes her and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity." When we read further down in verses 21-22, it elaborates, If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman's virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. We can now see something we previously could not - which is the relationship between the woman caught in adultery and Yeshua. She was not brought before a judge. She was brought before Yeshua as he taught in the Temple. Deuteronomy 22:21-22 provides the reason why she was not taken to the judge. She was brought to her father. Does fact offend you? It should not because Yeshua said in Matthew 5:17, Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. This means that Yeshua came to perform each and every mitzvoth that was required of him, even the mitzvoth to be fruitful and multiply. It was not an error or omission on the part of the Pharisees. This was done deliberately as we shall see.
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THEY WERE USING THIS QUESTION AS A TRAP, IN ORDER TO HAVE A BASIS FOR ACCUSING HIM.

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This verse is what is known as the golden rule in legal research. It is the statement which identifies the intent of the author. It is also the reference by which we must interpret the rest of the writing. For example, there are civil laws that prohibit assaults. However, it was never the intent of the ones who wrote the law to completely ban all assaults. Should we ever neglect to incorporate the golden rule into our interpretation of the law, then even all forms of selfdefense would be criminal. So here, we know that the Pharisees were intending to accuse Yeshua. What would cause more damage to his reputation: a woman who was innocent or a woman who was guilty, a woman who was his daughter or a woman who was a stranger? Now, if the woman was not his daughter, then he could have saved himself much trouble, as we shall later see, by sending the crowd to the judge. BUT JESUS BENT DOWN AND STARTED TO WRITE ON THE GROUND WITH HIS FINGER. Now, we come to the illogical assumptions made by Christians that Yeshua was writing the names of everyone who committed adultery with the woman. If they had, in fact, studied the Torah they would know the truth. Yeshua said the truth will set you free. In Deuteronomy 22:15-17, Moshe commanded, the young woman's father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate proof that she was a virgin. Her father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. Now he has slandered her and said, 'I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town. It is clear Yeshua was defending the woman and stating the case that she was a virgin. Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzhak, who is commonly known as Rashi, expounded this same verse from the Book of Deuteronomy. He said that the word cloth was not to be taken literally since the cloth could be lost, laundered, damaged, or destroyed. Furthermore, the cloth could be used in a fraudulent manner. He stated that the word cloth meant that her father shall state her defense which shall be plain as a cloth that is spread out. He further elaborated, her father and not her mother, which means only the father could defend a woman, at that time, and no else.
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WHEN THEY KEPT ON QUESTIONING HIM, HE STRAIGHTENED UP AND SAID TO THEM, LET ANY ONE OF YOU WHO IS WITHOUT SIN BE THE FIRST TO THROW A STONE AT HER. 8 AGAIN HE STOOPED DOWN AND WROTE ON THE GROUND .9 AT THIS, THOSE WHO HEARD BEGAN TO GO AWAY ONE AT A TIME, THE OLDER ONES FIRST, UNTIL ONLY JESUS WAS LEFT, WITH THE WOMAN STILL STANDING THERE. Until now, I have not offered you scriptural proof that there were no witnesses. These verses meet that burden of proof. Yeshua asked the crowd to be the first to throw a stone at her. The true and correct interpretation for his remark is found in Deuteronomy 17:7, which says, The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you. Accordingly, Yeshua was calling for

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witnesses since it was the duty of the witness to cast the first stone. He was definitely not justifying the womans sin. He knew that the woman was innocent and hence, there was no way to convict her by the precepts of the Torah. By saying cast the first stone, he was expressing the confidence he had in her innocence. This differs significantly from the doctrine of the Christians. At this point, I will call your attention to another illogical assumption made by Christians which pertains to the reason why the Pharisees could not throw a stone. Their assumption is that they committed adultery with her themselves. This is completely false. Such doctrine is a license for immorality. It undermines the concept of justice by a logical fallacy called two wrongs make a right. This technically means that since one person did something wrong, the other person, likewise, should not be punished for doing something. This goes against what is written in the Torah, which states in Deuteronomy 27:26, "Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" Furthermore, there is no scriptural proof that the Pharisees did anything immoral with the woman and to speculate that they did without any evidence is just as egregious as the Pharisees accusations themselves. For these reasons, the entire notion of the Pharisees having committed adultery with her is utterly insane. What sin was Yeshua referring to in this verse. Obviously, he was referring to Edim Zomemim, or false witnesses. He was stating with subtlety that they were lying. This situation is like a poor man who pretended to be rich. When the king heard him brag of his wealth, the king said, Since you are so rich, why dont you pay your taxes? The poor man went away embarrassed. So we can no longer continue to make the same misinterpretations of this verse. They were false witnesses, not adulterers, at least from what we can derive from the limited information we are given. They left because there was a dire penalty for being a false witness. In Deuteronomy 19:16-21, Moshe said, If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Although this was the consequence of perjury, Yeshua taught another message. In Matthew 5:38-39 Yeshua said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. In order to grasp the full meaning of this statement, we are required to know the sefiroth, or the attributes of the Almighty, otherwise it would easily be considered an argument for extreme passivity. In Hebrew thought the right side of God was the side of mercy

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while the left side was the side of judgment. Therefore, to turn the right cheek when someone slaps you meant to show mercy on the first blow and to show judgment on the second. Up to this point, the crowd of false accusers struck Yeshua once on his right cheek, the side of mercy. So for these reasons, the false accusers were allowed to leave. Yet, despite the mercy that was shown by Yeshua, this group of Pharisees continued to sin. As I stated at the beginning of this commentary, Yeshua was in the Temple and he was teaching. I also said that these were crucial facts because they tell us what the crowd did after. It tells us that they were in collusion with Yehudah, or Judas Iscariot; and, that they were the ones who later arrested Yeshua on the Mount of Olives. In Matthew 26:55 it states, In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. JESUS STRAIGHTENED UP AND ASKED HER, WOMAN, WHERE ARE THEY? HAS NO ONE CONDEMNED YOU? 11 NO ONE, SIR, SHE SAID. I have already established that the witnesses are the first to cast the stone in an execution. So to witness also meant to condemn a person who sinned. Here, it is made clear once again. There were no witnesses. THEN NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU, JESUS DECLARED. GO NOW AND LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN. In light of everything that I have taught, we can now see this verse from a different perspective. There should be no doubt in your mind that the woman was innocent. This was proven by the Torah itself. There should be no doubt that the woman was Yeshuas daughter, otherwise the Pharisees would have sent her to the judge for condemnation. So here are the consoling words of a father to his daughter. Then neither do I condemn you means I have forgiven you for what you did specifically to me. Yeshua said in Matthew 10:35, For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. The woman married someone she shouldnt have, most likely a man who hated the Messiah himself.
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GLOSSARY

Betulah: a virgin girl. Edim Zomemim: a group of false accusers. Erusin: a woman who is engaged to be married but still resides with her father. Moshe: the Hebrew name of the prophet Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt. Pharisees: a political party at the time of Yeshua that was founded in Persia. Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzhak: a Jewish Torah commentator. He was born in Troyes, France, and lived from 1040 to 1105. Rabbi Yohanan: a commentator in the Talmud. Sanhedrin: the highest court of law in Israel. Sefiroth: the attributes of God. Talmud Bavli: the collection of ancient Jewish writings that forms the basis of Jewish religious law, consisting of the early scriptural interpretations Mishnah and the later commentaries on them Gemara. Tanakh: the Hebrew Bible which consists of the entire Old Testament. Lit. an acronym for the Torah (Law), Neviim (Prophets), and Ketubim (Writings) Torah: the first five books of the Bible which is the foundation of all Jewish law. Yeshua: the Hebrew name of the Son of God; also known as Jesus Christ.

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INDEX

Deuteronomy 17:6-7 ....................................................................................................................... 4 Deuteronomy 17:7 .......................................................................................................................... 5 Deuteronomy 17:8-9 ....................................................................................................................... 3 Deuteronomy 19:16-21 ................................................................................................................... 6 Deuteronomy 22:13-14 ................................................................................................................... 4 Deuteronomy 22:15-17 ................................................................................................................... 5 Deuteronomy 27:26 ........................................................................................................................ 6 Leviticus 20:10 ............................................................................................................................... 3 Leviticus 21:9 ................................................................................................................................. 4 Matthew 26:55 ................................................................................................................................ 7 Matthew 5:38-39 ............................................................................................................................. 6

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