Adultery: “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18). This commandment forbids a married person to have sexual relations with a person who is not his or her spouse. Yet, David breaks the marriage bond to have Bathsheba (2 Sm 11:4). Besides, since the commandment is based on the concept that women are properties of their husbands (Ex 20:17), only married or betrothed women and their partners in sin could be accused of this sin and sentenced to death by stoning (Lv 20:10; Dt 22:22-23; Ez 16:40). Husbands who have sexual relations with uncommitted women are not covered by the law and are required only to pay for damages (Dt 22:28ff).
A woman caught in adultery is brought before Jesus. She is being used to trap Jesus; her partner has been allowed to go free. If Jesus pardons the woman, he will violate the Law of Moses. But if he agrees to the stoning, he will contradict his own teaching about love and forgiveness.
Jesus responds by holding a mirror up to the scribes and the Pharisees and making them see their own sinfulness. After all, in biblical language, any sin is infidelity to God or adultery (Hos 2:4ff; 3:1ff; Ez 16:1ff). Despite their self-righteousness, the accusers give up and leave. Left alone with the woman, Jesus neither condemns her nor condones adultery. He urges her to turn away from sin and puts her on the road to new life.