The Sadducees and the Resurrection

23 That same day some Sadducees,(A) who say there is no resurrection, came up to him and questioned him:(B) 24 “Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.[a](C) 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first got married and died. Having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second also, and the third, and so on to all seven. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had married her.”[b]

29 Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like[c] angels in heaven.(D) 31 Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God: 32 I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?[d](E) He[e] is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

33 And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

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Footnotes

  1. 22:24 Dt 25:5
  2. 22:28 Lit all had her
  3. 22:30 Other mss add God’s
  4. 22:32 Ex 3:6,15–16
  5. 22:32 Other mss read God

A Question about the Resurrection(A)

23 That same day some Sadducees, who claim there is no resurrection, came to Jesus[a] and asked him, 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for his brother.’[b] 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing happened with the second brother, and then the third, and finally with the rest of the brothers.[c] 27 Finally, the woman died, too. 28 Now in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be, since all of them had married[d] her?”

29 Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power, 30 because in the resurrection, people[e] neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels[f] in heaven. 31 As for the resurrection from the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God when he said, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?[g] He[h] is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 22:23 Lit. him
  2. Matthew 22:24 Cf. Deut 25:5-6
  3. Matthew 22:26 Lit. with the seven
  4. Matthew 22:28 The Gk. lacks married
  5. Matthew 22:30 Lit. they
  6. Matthew 22:30 Other mss. read God’s angels
  7. Matthew 22:32 Cf. Exod 3:6
  8. Matthew 22:32 Other mss. read God