In the Gospel of John, what did Jesus write on the ground before addressing the woman accused of adultery?

In the Gospel of John, the text does not say what Jesus wrote on the ground before addressing the woman accused of adultery.

John 7:53–8:11 says that Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground, then did so again after telling anyone without sin to cast the first stone. The passage never identifies the words, letters, or symbols he wrote. As a result, specific proposed messages are interpretations rather than biblical facts.

The episode is famous for Jesus’ response, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” The accusers leave one by one, and Jesus tells the woman to go and sin no more.

This passage also has a major textual-history issue. It is absent from many early Greek manuscripts and appears in different locations in some later manuscripts. Nevertheless, it has had enormous influence on Christian ethics, art, literature, and popular discussions of mercy.