Font Size
Luke 20:27-40
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Luke 20:27-40
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
27 Some Sadducees,[a] those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to him,(A) 28 [b]saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’(B) 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. 30 Then the second 31 and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.[c] 37 That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;(C) 38 and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”(D) 39 Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well.” 40 And they no longer dared to ask him anything.(E)
The Question About David’s Son.[d]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 20:27 Sadducees: see note on Mt 3:7.
- 20:28–33 The Sadducees’ question, based on the law of levirate marriage recorded in Dt 25:5–10, ridicules the idea of the resurrection. Jesus rejects their naive understanding of the resurrection (Lk 20:35–36) and then argues on behalf of the resurrection of the dead on the basis of the written law (Lk 20:37–38) that the Sadducees accept. See also notes on Mt 22:23–33.
- 20:36 Because they are the ones who will rise: literally, “being sons of the resurrection.”
- 20:41–44 After successfully answering the three questions of his opponents, Jesus now asks them a question. Their inability to respond implies that they have forfeited their position and authority as the religious leaders of the people because they do not understand the scriptures. This series of controversies between the religious leadership of Jerusalem and Jesus reveals Jesus as the authoritative teacher whose words are to be listened to (see Lk 9:35). See also notes on Mt 22:41–46.
Luke 20:27-40
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Luke 20:27-40
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
The Question about the Resurrection
27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28 and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man[a] shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30 then the second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him another question.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 20:28 Gk his brother
Luke 20:27-40
Good News Translation
Luke 20:27-40
Good News Translation
The Question about Rising from Death(A)
27 (B)Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said, 28 (C)“Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man's brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.’ 29 Once there were seven brothers; the oldest got married and died without having children. 30 Then the second one married the woman, 31 and then the third. The same thing happened to all seven—they died without having children. 32 Last of all, the woman died. 33 Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.”
34 Jesus answered them, “The men and women of this age marry, 35 but the men and women who are worthy to rise from death and live in the age to come will not then marry. 36 They will be like angels and cannot die. They are the children of God, because they have risen from death. 37 (D)And Moses clearly proves that the dead are raised to life. In the passage about the burning bush he speaks of the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive.”
39 Some of the teachers of the Law spoke up, “A good answer, Teacher!” 40 For they did not dare ask him any more questions.
Read full chapter
Luke 20:27-40
New American Standard Bible
Luke 20:27-40
New American Standard Bible
Is There a Resurrection?
27 (A)Now some of the (B)Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him, 28 and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that (C)if [a]a man’s brother dies, [b]leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to [c]marry the wife and raise up children [d]for his brother. 29 So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; 30 and the second 31 and the third [e]married her; and in the same way [f]all seven [g]died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, [h]which one’s wife does the woman become? For [i]all seven [j]married her.”
34 Jesus said to them, “The sons of (D)this age marry and the women are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to (E)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are (F)sons of God, being [k]sons of the resurrection. 37 But as for the fact that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed this in (G)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord (H)the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 (I)Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for (J)all live to Him.” 39 Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 For (K)they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 20:28 Lit someone’s brother
- Luke 20:28 Lit having
- Luke 20:28 Lit take
- Luke 20:28 I.e., as his brother’s heir
- Luke 20:31 Lit took
- Luke 20:31 Lit the seven also
- Luke 20:31 Lit left no children, and died
- Luke 20:33 Lit of which of them
- Luke 20:33 Lit the seven
- Luke 20:33 Lit had her as wife
- Luke 20:36 I.e., participants in
Luke 20:27-40
New International Version
Luke 20:27-40
New International Version
The Resurrection and Marriage(A)
27 Some of the Sadducees,(B) who say there is no resurrection,(C) came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.(D) 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come(E) and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children,(F) since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[a](G) 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.(H)
Footnotes
- Luke 20:37 Exodus 3:6
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.