Why did the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ask the Jews about the ruling on adultery in the Torah, despite his prior knowledge of it?

The Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, was unlettered; he could neither read nor write. His questioning of the two Jews about the ruling on adultery in the Torah was a question of affirmation and obligation. His knowledge of this was either by Allah’s informing him, or by the informing of the Companions who embraced Islam from among the Jews. As for his statement to Adi ibn Hatim that he knew his religion better than him, it was a challenge and a refutation to Adi, and a demonstration of his prophethood, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, through what Allah revealed to him of the unseen, whether past, such as Adi’s eating of the quarter share, or future, such as the conquest of Khosrau’s treasures. Thus, there is no contradiction between the two situations.