4, 5. woman … in adultery … Moses … commanded … should be stoned—simply put to death (De 22:22), but in aggravated cases, at least in later times, this was probably by stoning (Eze 16:40).
but what sayest thou—hoping, whatever He might answer, to put Him in the wrong:—if He said, Stone her, that would seem a stepping out of His province; if He forbade it, that would hold Him up as a relaxer of the public morals. But these cunning hypocrites were overmatched.