30‐50. *Many believed in Him, but others remained incredulous (33), and to these He says that they are not the children of Abraham, but of the devil.* 51‐59. *Challenged by the Jews, He declares Himself greater than Abraham; and when they were about to stone Him for this declaration, He hides Himself.* Authenticity of John vii. 53‐viii. 11. This is the second of the three passages in our Gospel, whose authenticity has been seriously questioned. See Introd. VI. We shall sum up the evidence by which the critical question must be decided, and then say what we think as to the genuineness of the passage. Evidence against Authenticity. 1. _Manuscripts._—The passage is wanting in the four oldest Greek MSS. that we possess, viz., in B, א, A, C; the two former of which are thought by critics to belong to the fourth, and the two latter, to the fifth century; also in four other _uncial_ MSS., in more than sixty _cursives_, and in thirty‐three Evangelistaries.(63) In about fifty other MSS., though read, it is marked as doubtful. 2. _Versions._—It is wanting in the best MSS. of the “Vetus Itala;” in the “Simple” and “Figured” Syriac; in most MSS. of the Coptic; in all of Gothic, and in some of the Armenian. 3. _Fathers._—The passage is not commented upon by any of the Greek fathers that wrote upon this Gospel. 4. _Internal evidence_ is said to prove the passage spurious, because of the use of many words and phrases not elsewhere used by St. John.(64) Evidence in favour of Authenticity. 1. _Manuscripts._—The passage is found in seven _uncial_ MSS. (one of which, D, though itself only of the sixth century, is thought to represent the text of the Gospels as it stood in the second century); in more than three hundred cursives, and in six Evangelistaries. 2. _Versions._—The passage is found in the Latin Vulgate, in the Arabic, Persian, Ethiopic, Syriac of Jerusalem, Slavic, and Anglo‐Saxon. 3. _Fathers._—_The passage_ is read by nearly all the Latin fathers—Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Leo the Great, Chrysologus, Sedulius, Cassiodorus, &c.; and in the _Apostolic Constitutions_, a work of the third, or, at the latest, the fourth century.