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Mark 12:20

in Mark 12

Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed;

KJV

Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.

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This verse in Mark 12

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Now there were seven brethren,.... In a certain family, at a certain place; perhaps at Jerusalem, who were brethren by the father's side; for such only were reckoned so, and such only did this law oblige: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed: no child: hence it is clear that the ancient Jews used the word seed, of a single person, as these Sadducees did; though modern ones deny such an use of it in our present controversies with them about the sense of Gen 3:15; See Gill on Mat 22:25.

This site's exposition

who say there is no resurrection

on Mark 12:18-23

The Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, build their trap on Deuteronomy 25:5-6, that the man is to marry his brother’s widow. Seven brothers marry the woman in turn, a case built to make resurrection look absurd.

This site's exposition

Now there were seven brothers

Gill notes that the law Moses wrote bound only brothers of the same father. The first brother married and died with no children, so the second was bound to marry the widow. Each death keeps the case inside what Moses wrote.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

A certain heretical sect of the Jews called Sadducees denied the resurrection, and said that there was neither angel nor spirit. These then coming to Jesus, craftily proposed to Him a certain tale, in order to show that no resurrection should take place, or had taken place; and therefore there is added, And they asked him, saying, Master. And in this tale they lay down that seven men had married one woman, in order to make men draw back from belief in the resurrection.
But in a mystical sense: what can this woman, leaving no seed of seven brothers, and last of all dying, mean except the Jewish synagogue, deserted by the seven-fold Spirit, which filled those seven patriarchs, who did not leave to her the seed of Abraham, that is, Jesus Christ? For although a Son was born to them, nevertheless He was given to us Gentiles. This woman was dead to Christ, nor shall she be joined in the resurrection to any patriarch of the seven; for by the number seven is meant the whole company of the faithful. Thus it is said contrariwise by Isaiah, Seven women shall take hold of one man; (Is. 4:1) that is, the seven Churches, which the Lord loves, reproves, and chastises, adore Him with one faith. Wherefore it goes on: And Jesus answering, said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, not knowing the Scripture, neither the power of God?

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Mark · Written before 1107.

proposed

The Sadducees were such heretics among the Jews who said that there is neither Resurrection, nor Angel, nor Spirit. Being crafty people, they invented such a story in order to overthrow thereby the truth of the Resurrection. They pose a question about something that never …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

12-14 ), in the raising of so many to life, miraculously, both in the Old Testament and in the New, and especially in the resurrection of Christ ( Eph. i. 19, 20 ), are all earnests of our resurrection by the same power ( Phil. iii. 21 ); according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.

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The Nineteenth Century1 voice

These verses relate a conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and the Sadducees. The religion of these men, we know, was little better than infidelity. They said there was "no resurrection." They too, like the Pharisees, thought to entangle and perplex our Lord with hard questions. The Church of Christ must not expect to fare better than its Master. Formalism on one side and infidelity on another, are two enemies for whose attacks we must always be prepared. We learn from this passage, how much unfairness may often be detected in the arguments of infidels .
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

These verses relate a conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and the Sadducees. The religion of these men, we know, was little better than infidelity. They said there was "no resurrection." They too, like the Pharisees, thought to entangle and perplex our Lord with hard questions. The Church of Christ must not expect to fare better than its Master. Formalism on one side and infidelity on another, are two enemies for whose attacks we must always be prepared. We learn from this passage, how much unfairness may often be detected in the arguments of infidels . The question propounded by the Sadducees is a striking illustration of this. They tell him of a woman who married seven brothers in succession, had no children, and outlived her seven husbands. They ask, "whose wife" of all the seven the woman would be "in the resurrection?" It may well be surmised that the case was a supposed and not a real one. On the face of it there is the strongest appearance of improbability. The chances against such a case occurring in reality, are almost infinite. But that was nothing to the Sadducees. All they cared for was to raise a difficulty, and if possible to put our Lord to silence. The doctrine of the resurrection they had not the face manfully to deny. The possible consequences of the doctrine were the ground which they chose to take up. There are three things which we shall do well to remember, if unhappily we have at any time to argue with infidels. For one thing, let us remember that an infidel will always try to press us with the difficulties and abstruse things of religion, and especially with those which are connected with the world to come. We must avoid this mode of argument as far as possible. It is leaving the open field to fight in a jungle. We must endeavor, as far as we can, to make our discussion turn on the great plain facts and evidences of Christianity.

The words behind it

13 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Mark: the study guide →Read Mark 12 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.

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