Luke 20:28

28 They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.

Luke 20:28 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 20:28

Saying, master, Moses wrote unto us
In ( Deuteronomy 25:5 ) where the substance of what follows is contained, though not in express words:

if any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without
children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up
seed unto his brother;
the meaning of which is, that if a man died without issue, and left a wife behind him, his next brother, if unmarried, was to marry his wife, and the first child born of her, was to be reckoned the deceased's, and to inherit his estate; (See Gill on Matthew 22:24).

Luke 20:28 In-Context

26 So they failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they became silent.

27 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead.

28 They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.

29 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children.

30 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died.

Footnotes

• [a]. See Deut 25:5-6 .