Mark 12:23

23 In the resurrection, then, ^[a] whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”

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 Then the second one married the widow, but he also died and left no children. And the third did likewise.

22 In this way, none of the seven left any children. And last of all, the woman died.

23 In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?

25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally In the resurrection, when they rise,