Mark 12:18
in Mark 12Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
KJV
Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
⋯
This verse in Mark 12
Commentary
15 notes on this verseTheir specious inquiry concerned the flesh, whether or not it would be subject to marriage after the resurrection; and they assumed the case of a woman who had married seven brothers, so that it was a doubtful point to which of them she should be restored. Now, let the purport both of the question and the answer be kept steadily in view, and the discussion is settled at once.
This site's exposition
which say there is no resurrection
on Mark 12:18-23
The Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection, bring their own trap next, built on the levirate marriage law of Deuteronomy 25:5-6, a brother's duty to raise up seed for a brother who dies childless. Seven brothers married the same woman in succession by that law and all died without seed, a scenario stacked to make resurrection look absurd, whose wife shall she be of them. The bench reads the question as a reductio meant to embarrass rather than to learn, the Sadducees' denial of resurrection standing behind the whole exercise.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
They put to him the strongest case they could to impair his credibility. They fashioned a contorted argument to pursue the question which they had initiated. Their deceptive inquiry concerned the flesh, whether or not it would be subject to marriage after the resurrection. They assumed the case of a woman who had married seven brothers, so as to make it doubtful as to which of them she should be restored. Now, let the gist both of the question and the answer be kept steadily in view, and the discussion is settled at once in this way: The Sadducees indeed denied the resurrection, while the Lord affirmed it. In affirming it, he reproached them as being both ignorant of the Scriptures—which declare the resurrection—and disbelieving of the power of God as able to raise the dead. He then spoke without ambiguity of the dead being raised.
Therefore no solicitude arising from carnal jealousy will, in the day of the resurrection, even in the case of her whom they chose to represent as having been married to seven brothers successively, wound any one of her so many husbands; nor is any (husband) awaiting her to put her to confusion. The question raised by the Sadducees has yielded to the Lord's sentence.
If, then, forasmuch as there is in the law a precept that a man is to take in marriage the wife of his brother if he have died without children, for the purpose of raising up seed to his brother; and this may happen repeatedly to the same person, according to that crafty question of the Sadducees; men for that reason think that frequency of marriage is permitted in other cases as well: it will be their duty to understand first the reason of the precept itself; and thus they will come to know that that reason, now ceasing, is among those parts of the law which have been cancelled.
The Medieval Church2 voices
The Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him. There were two sects among the Jews, one of the Pharisees and the other of the Sadducees. The Pharisees, who preferred justice of traditions and observances which they called "deuterosis," were commonly known as …
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.
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
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?
(non occ.) After that our Lord has prudently escaped the crafty temptation of the Pharisees, it is shown how He also confounds the Sadducees, who tempt Him; wherefore it is said: Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection.
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
Then came unto him the Sadducees,.... The same day, immediately after he had silenced the Pharisees and Herodians: these were a set of men distinct from the former, in some of their sentiments, especially in their religions ones, and particularly in the following: which say there is no resurrection: of the dead, in a literal sense, either general or particular; See Gill on Mat 22:23; and they asked him, saying; as in the next verse.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
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 .
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection--"neither angel nor spirit" (Ac 23:7). They were the materialists of the day. See on Ac 23:6. and they asked him, saying--as follows:
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
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.
See this question, concerning the resurrection, explained in detail on Mat 22:23-32 (note).
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἔρχονται | erchontai | come | G2064 → | 628 times |
| Σαδδουκαῖοι | saddoukaioi | Sadducees | G4523 → | |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| αὐτὸν | auton | Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| οἵτινες | oitines | who | G3748 → | 144 times |
| λέγουσιν | legousin | say | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| ἀνάστασιν | anastasin | a resurrection | G386 → | |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| εἶναι, | einai | being | G1511 → | 123 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐπηρώτων | eperoton | they were questioning | G1905 → | 56 times |
| αὐτὸν | auton | Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| λέγοντες· | legontes | saying; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἔρχονταιcome
erchontaiG2064 →628 times
ΣαδδουκαῖοιSadducees
saddoukaioiG4523 →
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
αὐτὸνHim
autonG846 →5565 times
οἵτινεςwho
oitinesG3748 →144 times
λέγουσινsay
legousinG3004 →1325 times
ἀνάστασινa resurrection
anastasinG386 →
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
εἶναι,being
einaiG1511 →123 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐπηρώτωνthey were questioning
eperotonG1905 →56 times
αὐτὸνHim
autonG846 →5565 times
λέγοντες·saying;
legontesG3004 →1325 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
2 Timothy 2:18who have deviated from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already occurred, and they undermine the faith of some.
it leads to
- 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?
- 1 Timothy 1:19
holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith.
- Hebrews 3:10
Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’
- 1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
- Luke 8:13
The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall…
- 1 Corinthians 15:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Mark
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh; Tertullian, ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 36; Tertullian, To His Wife Book I; Tertullian, On Monogamy; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.