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Matthew 22:23-33
New Catholic Bible
Matthew 22:23-33
New Catholic Bible
23 Marriage and the Resurrection.[a] On that same day, the Sadducees, who assert that there is no resurrection, approached him and posed this question, 24 “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies without having children, his brother[b] is to marry his brother’s wife and raise up children for his brother. 25 Now there were seven brothers who belonged to our group. The first one married and died without issue, and therefore left his wife to his brother. 26 The same result occurred with the second brother and the third, right down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman herself died. 28 Now at the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be, inasmuch as all of them had her?”
29 Jesus answered them, “You are in error, for you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. They are like the angels in heaven.
31 “And in regard to the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God himself said to you: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 22:23 Faith in a resurrection became common only toward the end of the Old Testament period. Not all shared the certainty; the Sadducees, the aristocrats of the priestly class and men concerned more with politics than with religion, considered it a rather debatable theological novelty. They debate it with Jesus, using arguments that emerge as caricature and prevent access to the heart of the question. Jesus answers in the name of the Jewish faith in God: God stands on the side of life.
- Matthew 22:24 If a man dies . . . his brother: this custom is known as the “law of the levirate,” from the Latin word for brother-in-law (levir). It was intended to continue the family line of the deceased brother (see Deut 25:6).
Matthew 22:23-33
New International Version
Matthew 22:23-33
New International Version
Marriage at the Resurrection(A)
23 That same day the Sadducees,(B) who say there is no resurrection,(C) came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.(D) 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures(E) or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;(F) they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[a]?(G) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.(H)
Footnotes
- Matthew 22:32 Exodus 3:6
New International Version (NIV) 
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