Mark 12:20

20 Well, there once were seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless.

Mark 12:20 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 12:20

Now there were seven brethren
In a certain family, at a certain place; perhaps at Jerusalem, who were brethren by the father's side; for such only were reckoned so, and such only did this law oblige:

and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed:
no child: hence it is clear that the ancient Jews used the word seed, of a single person, as these Sadducees did; though modern ones deny such an use of it in our present controversies with them about the sense of ( Genesis 3:15 ) ( 22:18 ) ; (See Gill on Matthew 22:25).

Mark 12:20 In-Context

18 Some Sadducees, the party that denies any possibility of resurrection, came up and asked,

19 "Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother is obligated to marry the widow and have children.

20 Well, there once were seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless.

21 The second married her. He died, and still no child. The same with the third.

22 All seven took their turn, but no child. Finally the wife died.