But they did not bring the man

You probably know this story:

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"

She said, "No one, Lord."

And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

John 8:3-11 (NKJV)

I've heard many discussions of this story that point out that the Pharisees brought only the woman and not the man. She was "caught in adultery, in the very act". This would rather imply that the man was there at the time also. So why didn't they bring him to be stoned as well? It's always assumed that the reason why they only brought the woman was sexism: A woman who commits adultery is shameful and a slut and deserves to be punished. A man who commits adultery is just, well, boys will be boys, right? What's the big deal?

Non-Christians in particular like to point this out. They often present it as an example of the out-dated sexism of Christianity.

But as the text doesn't say anything about the man, we should not jump to conclusions about why he was not also brought to Jesus. It is possible that the reason was sexism. But frankly I think this is unlikely. The Pharisees were fanatically devoted to the letter of the Old Testament Law. And the Law was very clear on this point: Leviticus 20:10, "The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death." Both the man and the woman were to be executed.

There are many possible reasons why they might not have brought the man. Sexism is one. But other possibilities are:

He might have escaped. Maybe when the Pharisees burst in the room he jumped out the window and got away but they managed to grab the woman.
They might have taken him somewhere else. Perhaps when they grabbed these people, they split into two groups, one dragging the man in one direction and the other dragging the woman in another.
They may have deliberately brought only the woman to Jesus. The whole point was to set a trap for Jesus where he would have to choose between justice and mercy. A woman is more likely to bring out feelings of compassion in a man.
They might have already killed him. Perhaps they stoned him first, then got the idea of bringing the woman to Jesus.

Whatever happened to the man is, apparently, not important to the story, so the writer does not mention it. All we can do is guess. But we can't leap to the conclusion that the reason was sexism, no matter how trendy an explanation that may be for everything.

By the way, even if it was sexism, it is not clear how this is something that Christians should be embarrassed about or need to explain away. It wasn't Christians who did it, it was the Pharisees, who were the enemies of the Christians.

By the way number two: Note that Jesus did not tell her that her adultery was okay as long as she and the man really loved each other. He concluded by telling her not to sin any more.

Island of Sanity

But they did not bring the man

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