I looked on the net about this passage in John not to be entered until 400 years later and found some information worth considering:
https://biblehub.com/q/Why_is_John_8_1_missing_in_some_texts.htm
“Why The Omission Occurred
1. Early Transmission Patterns. Shorter readings are characteristic of second‐century papyri. Copyists frequently omitted marginal or floating traditions until a consensus location stabilized”
there are more under that heading.
further down the article:
“Patristic Testimony For Authenticity
• Papias (c. AD 110, via Eusebius, Hist. Ecclesiastes 3.39) speaks of “a woman accused before the Lord of many sins,” an apparent reference to this account.
• The Didascalia Apostolorum (c. AD 230) cites Christ’s words, “Let the one among you without sin be the first to cast a stone.”
• Didymus the Blind (c. AD 360) quotes the narrative, affirming its inclusion in “certain copies.”
• Jerome (Vulgate Prologue to John, c. AD 406) states he found it “in many Greek and Latin manuscripts.”
Thus by the fourth century the story was widely known across linguistic streams; its earlier written form, though sparsely preserved, must antedate those citations”.
https://biblehub.com/q/Why_is_John_8_1_missing_in_some_texts.htm
To clarify,I wasn’t suggesting the incident with the woman and Jesus’statement never happened.
I thought the article was discussing only the reference to writing in the sand.