Acts 23:8

8 For the Sad'ducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

Acts 23:8 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 23:8

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection
Of the dead, being ignorant of the Scriptures, and the power of God; see ( Matthew 22:23 Matthew 22:29 ) .

neither angel nor spirit;
the Ethiopic version reads, "nor Holy Spirit": but the sense seems to be, that they did not believe any such species of beings as angels, nor indeed any spirits whatever, which were immaterial or immortal; for as for the spirit or soul of man, they took that to be only the temperament of the body, and that it died with it, and did not exist in any separate state after this life: for so Josephus F24 says, that they deny the permanence of the soul, and rewards and punishments in the invisible state. And, according to the Talmudic F25 writers, they denied that there was any other world than this:

but the Pharisees confess both;
the resurrection of the dead, and that there are spirits, both angels and the souls of men, which are immortal. Josephus, in the place before referred to, says, that they hold that every soul is incorruptible or immortal; and that they held the resurrection of the dead, is manifest from the Talmud F26, and other writings of theirs; the Syriac version renders it, "the Pharisees confess all these things"; to which agree the Arabic and Ethiopic versions.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 10. sect. 19.
F25 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 54. 1. & Gloss. in ib. & Pirke Abot R. Nathan, c. 5.
F26 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 90. 2.

Acts 23:8 In-Context

6 But when Paul perceived that one part were Sad'ducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial."
7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sad'ducees; and the assembly was divided.
8 For the Sad'ducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
9 Then a great clamor arose; and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended, "We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?"
10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by 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.