Only with the inclusion of the Pericope Adulterae can we place the action of John 7 and John 8 on consecutive days.

John 7:53 “They went each to his own house”; John 8:1-2 “but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple …”

The significance of this comes from the fact that Ch 7 takes place during the Festival of Tabernacles, where the people are to dwell in temporary shelters for the festival. Ch 7 then ends on the last great day of the Festival where Jesus proclaims “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.“

Leviticus 23 tells us this is the 23rd day of the 7th month and the next day, John 8, will be the 24th.

The only other place this day is discussed in the bible is Nehemiah 9; Neh 9:1 “On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together … “. The intentional parallels between John 8 (inclusive of the PA) and Nehemiah 9 are then undeniable.

Neh “Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law”; John “all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such.”

Neh “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law.”  John “And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman”

Neh “They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.”  John “Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death”

Neh “By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.” John “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Neh “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us” John “Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin”

Neh “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are YHWH … You are the YHWH God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham” John “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am”

Neh “You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.”  John 6&7

Nehemiah’s YHWH is the I AM of the Pericope Adulterae “But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them”

Neh 9:11 “you threw their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.”  John 8:7 “Let him who is without sin throw the first stone“.