Mark 12:23

23 Then [Therefore] in the resurrection, when they shall rise again, whose wife of these shall she be? for seven had her to 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, and neither he left seed. And the third also.

22 And in like manner the seven took her, and left no seed. And the woman the last of all died. [And seven took her, and left no seed. And the woman last of all is dead.]

23 Then [Therefore] in the resurrection, when they shall rise again, whose wife of these shall she be? for seven had her to wife.

24 And Jesus answered, and said to them, Whether ye err not therefore, that ye know not [the] scriptures, neither the virtue of God? [+And Jesus answering said to them, Whether ye err not therefore, not knowing the scriptures, neither the virtue of God?]

25 For when they shall rise again from death, neither they shall wed, nor shall be wedded, but they shall be as angels of God in heavens. [+Forsooth when they shall rise again from dead, neither they wed, nor be wedded, but they shall be as angels of God in heaven.]