Mark 12:23

23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife."

Mark 12:23 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 12:23

In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise
This last clause, "when they shall rise", is omitted in two copies of Beza's, and in the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, because, perhaps, it might be thought superfluous; but this is agreeably to the way of speaking and writing with the Jews: so in the Targum on ( Zechariah 3:7 ) : (Knyxa aytym twyxab) , "in the quickening of the dead I will quicken thee"; or, in the resurrection of the dead I will raise thee. The question put on supposition of a resurrection, and that these seven brethren, and the wife they all had should rise, then is,

whose wife shall she be of them?
of the seven brethren;

for the seven had her to wife.
She was, according to law, the lawful wife of all seven; what particular and special claim could one have to her above the rest? (See Gill on Matthew 22:28).

Mark 12:23 In-Context

21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.

22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died.

23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife."

24 Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.