Acts 23:8
in Acts 23For the Sadducees say that there is neither a resurrection, nor angels, nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
KJV
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
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This verse in Acts 23
Commentary
11 notes on this verseOf the Sadducees I am silent, who, springing from the root of this error, had the hardihood to adjoin to this heresy the denial likewise of the resurrection of the flesh. The Pharisees I pretermit, who were "divided" from the Jews by their superimposing of certain additaments to the law, which fact likewise made them worthy of receiving this very name; and, together with them, the Herodians likewise, who said that Herod was Christ.
This site's exposition
a dispute broke out
on Acts 23:7-9
The Sadducees say that there is neither a resurrection, nor angels, nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. The scene shows a real fault line inside Second Temple Judaism over the resurrection.
This site's exposition
neither a resurrection, nor angels, nor spirits
The verse names three denials and then says the Pharisees acknowledge them all, where the Greek has both. John Chrysostom explains that angel and spirit are counted as one. Adam Clarke adds that the Sadducees received the five books of Moses and looked for reward in this life alone.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"For the Sadducees indeed," etc. The Sadducees have no knowledge of anything incorporeal, perhaps not even God; so gross are they: whence neither do they choose to believe that there is a Resurrection.
"But the Pharisees," it says, "confess both." And yet there are three things: how then does he say both? "Spirit and Angel" is put as one. When he is on their side, then they plead for him.
The Sadducees, being arrogant, perhaps do not even know God. Therefore, they do not wish to believe in a resurrection. But the Pharisees confess both. And indeed there are three. How then does he say, "both"? Either because he calls spirit and angel one, or …
The Medieval Church1 voice
The Sadducees, being senseless, perhaps did not even know God, and therefore do not believe that there will be a resurrection. "The Pharisees acknowledge both." However, the Sadducees do not acknowledge three things (the resurrection, the existence of an Angel, and the existence of a …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection - It is strange, since these denied a future state, that they observed the ordinances of the law; for they also believed the five books of Moses to be a revelation from God: yet they had nothing in view but temporal good; and they understood the promises in the law as referring to these things alone. In order, therefore, to procure them, they watched, fasted, prayed, etc., and all this they did that they might obtain happiness in the present life.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee--The true reading seems to be, "the son of Pharisees," that is, belonging to a family who from father to son had long been such. of the hope and resurrection of the dead--that is, not the vague hope of immortality, but the definite expectation of the resurrection.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the Sadducees say - They believe. No resurrection - Of the dead. By this doctrine they also understood that there was no future state, and that the soul did not exist after death. See the notes on Mat 22:23. Neither angel - That there are no angels. They deny the existence of good or bad angels. See the notes on Mat 3:7. Nor spirit - Nor soul. That there is nothing but matter. They were materialists, and supposed that all the operations which we ascribe to mind could be traced to some modification of matter. The Sadducees, says Josephus (Jewish Wars, book ii. chapter 8, section 14), “take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and rewards in Hades.” “The doctrine of the Sadducees is this,” says he (Antiq., book 18, chapter 1, section 4), “that souls die with the bodies.” The opinion that the soul is material, and that there is nothing but matter in the universe, has been held by many philosophers, ancient and modern, as well as by the Sadducees. Confess both - Acknowledge, or receive both as true; that is, that there is a future state, and that there are spirits distinct from matter, as angels, and the disembodied souls of people. The two points in dispute were: (1) Whether the dead would be raised and exist in a future state; and, (2) Whether mind was distinct from matter. The Sadducees denied both, and the Pharisees believed both. Their belief of the Latter point was, that spirits existed in two forms - that of angels, and that of souls of people distinct from the body.
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Σαδδουκαῖοι | saddoukaioi | Sadducees | G4523 → | 14 times |
| μὲν | men | indeed | G3303 → | 176 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| λέγουσιν | legousin | say | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| εἶναι | einai | there to be | G1511 → | 123 times |
| ἀνάστασιν | anastasin | resurrection | G386 → | 42 times |
| μήτε | mete | neither [to be] | G3383 → | 34 times |
| ἄγγελον | angelon | angel | G32 → | 175 times |
| μήτε | mete | nor [to be] | G3383 → | 34 times |
| πνεῦμα· | pneuma | spirit; | G4151 → | 378 times |
| Φαρισαῖοι | pharisaioi | Pharisees | G5330 → | 97 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ὁμολογοῦσιν | homologousin | confess | G3670 → | 26 times |
| τὰ | ta | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀμφότερα.¶ | amphotera | both. | G297 → | 14 times |
ΣαδδουκαῖοιSadducees
saddoukaioiG4523 →14 times
μὲνindeed
menG3303 →176 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
λέγουσινsay
legousinG3004 →1325 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
εἶναιthere to be
einaiG1511 →123 times
ἀνάστασινresurrection
anastasinG386 →42 times
μήτεneither [to be]
meteG3383 →34 times
ἄγγελονangel
angelonG32 →175 times
μήτεnor [to be]
meteG3383 →34 times
πνεῦμα·spirit;
pneumaG4151 →378 times
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisees
pharisaioiG5330 →97 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
ὁμολογοῦσινconfess
homologousinG3670 →26 times
τὰ<the>
taG3588 →19766 times
ἀμφότερα.¶both.
amphoteraG297 →14 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 20:27Then some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to question Him.
it leads to
- Acts 4:1–2
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 22:23–33
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 12:18–27
Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 23:6–8
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 15:12
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
- Acts 4:1–2
Through
Acts 4:1While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,
it leads to
- Acts 23:6–9
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 22:4
And Judas went to discuss with the chief priests and temple officers how he might betray Jesus to them.
- Acts 6:12
So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,
- Acts 23:6–9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Acts

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 49; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Tertullian, Pseudo-Tertullian Against All Heresies and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.
