DNJ.1. It is known that the earliest copies of John do not contain this powerful vignette. Scribes inserted it into John at various points in the manuscript, and even into Matthew. No doubt their reasoning was that the story had the ring of truth and should be included in the church's lessons that were read aloud to the congregations.
It seems highly plausible that they had recovered a recollection of someone who had been present during the incident but which for some reason had shown up in church archives after the four gospels were written down. We don't know what Jesus wrote in the dust. It seems unlikely that such an enigmatic detail would have been made up out of whole cloth. This peculiarity, by its unexplained presence, lends veracity to the story.
It seems highly plausible that they had recovered a recollection of someone who had been present during the incident but which for some reason had shown up in church archives after the four gospels were written down. We don't know what Jesus wrote in the dust. It seems unlikely that such an enigmatic detail would have been made up out of whole cloth. This peculiarity, by its unexplained presence, lends veracity to the story.
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