Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·166 of 348
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
They never said that.
What people say
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
What was actually said
"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Jesus of Nazareth — Gospel of John 8:7 (KJV, 1611)
Why it stuck
Modern quoters say "he who" where grammar calls for "him who" (object of "let"). The adverb "first" also migrates from verb to noun — "cast first a stone" becomes "cast the first stone."
The pericope of the adulteress is absent from the earliest surviving manuscripts of John.
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