Mark 12:27

27 He is not the God of dead, but of living men. You are in grave error."

Mark 12:27 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 12:27

He is not the God of the dead
This is our Lord's reasoning upon the passage; showing from hence, that since God is the God of these persons, they must be now alive in their souls, for God is not the God of the dead; and that their bodies must rise again, or he will not be the God of their whole persons;

but the God, of the living:
the word "God", in this clause, is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, but retained in the Persic and Ethiopic versions; (See Gill on Matthew 22:32);

ye therefore do greatly err;
signifying, that it was not a slight mistake, an error of small importance, but a very great one; inasmuch as it was contrary to the Scriptures, and derogated from the power of God, and destroyed that covenant interest, which God has in his people, and particularly in the principal men of their nation, who were the fathers and founders of them.

Mark 12:27 In-Context

25 For when they have risen from among the dead, men do not marry and women are not given in marriage, but they are as angels are in Heaven.

26 But as to the dead, that they rise to life, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?'

27 He is not the God of dead, but of living men. You are in grave error."

28 Then one of the Scribes, who had heard them disputing and well knew that Jesus had given them an answer to the point, and a forcible one, came forward and asked Him, "Which is the chief of all the Commandments?"

29 "The chief Commandment," replied Jesus, "is this: `Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;