Luke 20:29-33

20:29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman ¹  and died without children. 20:30 The second ²  20:31 and then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. 20:32 Finally the woman died too. 20:33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? ³  For all seven had married her.” ⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).

² tc Most mss (A W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) have the words, “took the wife and this one died childless” after “the second.” But this looks like a clarifying addition, assimilating the text to Mark 12:21. In light of the early and diverse witnesses that lack the expression (א B D L 0266 892 1241 co), the shorter reading should be considered authentic.

³ sn The point is a dilemma. In a world arguing a person should have one wife, whose wife will she be in the afterlife? The question was designed to show that (in the opinion of the Sadducees) resurrection leads to a major problem.

⁴ tn Grk “For the seven had her as wife.”