Mark 12:23

23 In the resurrection, when they rise, {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 he died without leaving descendants. And the third likewise.
22 And the seven did not leave descendants. Last of all the woman also died.
23 In the resurrection, when they rise, {whose} wife will she be? For the seven had her [as] wife.
24 Jesus said to them, "Are you not deceived because of this, [because you] do not know the scriptures or 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.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "who of them"
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