Hebrews 11:35

11:35 and women received back their dead raised to life. ¹  But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life. ² 

Isaiah 26:19

26:19 ³ Your dead will come back to life;

your corpses will rise up.

Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! ⁴ 

For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, ⁵ 

and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The Valley of Dry Bones

37:1 The hand ⁷  of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed ⁸  me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 37:2 He made me walk all around among them. ⁹  I realized ¹⁰  there were a great many bones in the valley and they were very dry. 37:3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.” 37:4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 37:5 This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath ¹¹  into you and you will live. 37:6 I will put tendons ¹²  on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath ¹³  in you and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. There was a sound when I prophesied – I heard ¹⁴  a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 37:8 As I watched, I saw ¹⁵  tendons on them, then muscles appeared, ¹⁶  and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath ¹⁷  in them.

37:9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, ¹⁸  – prophesy, son of man – and say to the breath: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’” 37:10 So I prophesied as I was commanded, and the breath came into them; they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely great army.

37:11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 37:12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 37:13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 37:14 I will place my breath ¹⁹  in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord – I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”

Daniel 12:2

12:2 Many of those who sleep

in the dusty ground will awake –

some to everlasting life,

and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. ²⁰ 

Matthew 22:23-32

Marriage and the Resurrection

22:23 The same day Sadducees ²¹  (who say there is no resurrection) ²²  came to him and asked him, ²³  22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children ²⁴  for his brother.’ ²⁵  22:25 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. 22:26 The second did the same, and the third, down to the seventh. 22:27 Last ²⁶  of all, the woman died. 22:28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” ²⁷  22:29 Jesus ²⁸  answered them, “You are deceived, ²⁹  because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels ³⁰  in heaven. 22:31 Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, ³¹  22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ³²  He is not the God of the dead but of the living!” ³³ 

Luke 14:14

14:14 Then ³⁴  you will be blessed, ³⁵  because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid ³⁶  at the resurrection of the righteous.”

John 5:29

5:29 and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. ³⁷ 

John 11:24-25

11:24 Martha said, ³⁸  “I know that he will come back to life again ³⁹  in the resurrection at the last day.” 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ⁴⁰  even if he dies,

Acts 4:2

4:2 angry ⁴¹  because they were teaching the people and announcing ⁴²  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ⁴³  and Stoic ⁴⁴  philosophers were conversing ⁴⁵  with him, and some were asking, ⁴⁶  “What does this foolish babbler ⁴⁷  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ⁴⁸  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ⁴⁹ 

Acts 17:31-32

17:31 because he has set ⁵⁰  a day on which he is going to judge the world ⁵¹  in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, ⁵²  having provided proof to everyone by raising ⁵³  him from the dead.”

17:32 Now when they heard about ⁵⁴  the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, ⁵⁵  but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

Acts 23:6

23:6 Then when Paul noticed ⁵⁶  that part of them were Sadducees ⁵⁷  and the others Pharisees, ⁵⁸  he shouted out in the council, ⁵⁹  “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection ⁶⁰  of the dead!”

Acts 24:15

24:15 I have ⁶¹  a hope in God (a hope ⁶²  that ⁶³  these men ⁶⁴  themselves accept too) that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁶⁵ 

Acts 24:21

24:21 other than ⁶⁶  this one thing ⁶⁷  I shouted out while I stood before ⁶⁸  them: ‘I am on trial before you today concerning the resurrection of the dead.’” ⁶⁹ 

Acts 26:8

26:8 Why do you people ⁷⁰  think ⁷¹  it is unbelievable ⁷²  that ⁷³  God raises the dead?

Romans 6:5

6:5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. ⁷⁴ 

Romans 6:1

The Believer’s Freedom from Sin’s Domination

6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase?

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ⁷⁵ 

Philippians 3:21

3:21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours ⁷⁶  into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ⁷⁷  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Philippians 4:14-18

4:14 Nevertheless, you did well to share with me in my trouble.

4:15 And as you Philippians know, at the beginning of my gospel ministry, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in this matter of giving and receiving except you alone. 4:16 For even in Thessalonica ⁷⁸  on more than one occasion ⁷⁹  you sent something for my need. 4:17 I do not say this because I am seeking a gift. ⁸⁰  Rather, I seek the credit that abounds to your account. 4:18 For I have received everything, and I have plenty. I have all I need because I received from Epaphroditus what you sent – a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, very pleasing to God.

Philippians 4:2

4:2 I appeal to Euodia and to Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

Philippians 2:18

2:18 And in the same way you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.

[11:35]  ¹ tn Grk “received back their dead from resurrection.”

[11:35]  ² tn Grk “to obtain a better resurrection.”

[26:19]  ³ sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.

[26:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[26:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.

[26:19]  ⁶ sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).

[37:1]  ⁷ tn Or “power.”

[37:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “caused me to rest.”

[37:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he made me pass over them, around, around.”

[37:2]  ¹⁰ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and is here translated as “I realized” because it results from Ezekiel’s recognition of the situation around him. In Hebrew, the exclamation is repeated in the following sentence.

[37:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I am about to bring a spirit.”

[37:6]  ¹² tn The exact physiological meaning of the term is uncertain. In addition to v. 8, the term occurs only in Gen 32:33; Job 10:11; 40:17; and Jer 48:4.

[37:6]  ¹³ tn Or “a spirit.”

[37:7]  ¹⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[37:8]  ¹⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[37:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “came up.”

[37:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “spirit.”

[37:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or “spirit,” and several times in this verse.

[37:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “spirit.” This is likely an allusion to Gen 2 and God’s breath which creates life.

[12:2]  ²⁰ sn This verse is the only undisputed reference to a literal resurrection found in the Hebrew Bible.

[22:23]  ²¹ sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

[22:23]  ²² sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.

[22:23]  ²³ tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[22:24]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).

[22:24]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

[22:27]  ²⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “For all had her.”

[22:29]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[22:29]  ²⁹ tn Or “mistaken” (cf. BDAG 822 s.v. πλανάω 2.c.γ).

[22:30]  ³⁰ tc Most witnesses have “of God” after “angels,” although some mss read ἄγγελοι θεοῦ (angeloi qeou; א L ˹³ {28} 33 892 1241 1424 al) while others have ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ (angeloi tou qeou; W 0102 0161 Ï). Whether with or without the article, the reading “of God” appears to be motivated as a natural expansion. A few important witnesses lack the adjunct (B D Θ {0233} ˹ 700 {sa}); this coupled with strong internal evidence argues for the shorter reading.

[22:31]  ³¹ tn Grk “spoken to you by God, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legontos) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[22:32]  ³² sn A quotation from Exod 3:6.

[22:32]  ³³ sn He is not God of the dead but of the living. Jesus’ point was that if God could identify himself as God of the three old patriarchs, then they must still be alive when God spoke to Moses; and so they must be raised.

[14:14]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate that this follows from the preceding action. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[14:14]  ³⁵ sn You will be blessed. God notes and approves of such generosity.

[14:14]  ³⁶ sn The passive verb will be repaid looks at God’s commendation.

[5:29]  ³⁷ tn Or “a resurrection resulting in judgment.”

[11:24]  ³⁸ tn Grk “Martha said to him.”

[11:24]  ³⁹ tn Or “will rise again.”

[11:25]  ⁴⁰ tn That is, will come to life.

[4:2]  ⁴¹ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ⁴² tn Or “proclaiming.”

[17:18]  ⁴³ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ⁴⁴ sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ⁴⁵ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁸ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ⁴⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[17:31]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “fixed.”

[17:31]  ⁵¹ sn The world refers to the whole inhabited earth.

[17:31]  ⁵² tn Or “appointed.” BDAG 723 s.v. ὁρίζω 2.b has “of persons appoint, designate, declare: God judges the world ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν through a man whom he has appointed Ac 17:31.”

[17:31]  ⁵³ tn The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") indicates means here.

[17:32]  ⁵⁴ tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[17:32]  ⁵⁵ tn L&N 33.408 has “some scoffed (at him) Ac 17:32” for ἐχλεύαζον (ecleuazon) here; the imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to scoff”).

[23:6]  ⁵⁶ tn BDAG 200 s.v. γινώσκω 4 has “to be aware of someth., perceive, notice, realize”; this is further clarified by section 4.c: “w. ὅτι foll….Ac 23:6.”

[23:6]  ⁵⁷ sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.

[23:6]  ⁵⁸ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[23:6]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:6]  ⁶⁰ tn That is, concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected. Grk “concerning the hope and resurrection.” BDAG 320 s.v. ἐλπίς 1.b.α states, “Of Israel’s messianic hope Ac 23:6 (ἐ. καὶ ἀνάστασις for ἐ. τῆς ἀν. [obj. gen] as 2 Macc 3:29 ἐ. καὶ σωτηρία).” With an objective genitive construction, the resurrection of the dead would be the “object” of the hope.

[24:15]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “having.” The participle ἔχων (ecwn) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

[24:15]  ⁶² sn This mention of Paul’s hope sets up his appeal to the resurrection of the dead. At this point Paul was ignoring the internal Jewish dispute between the Pharisees (to which he had belonged) and the Sadducees (who denied there would be a resurrection of the dead).

[24:15]  ⁶³ tn Grk “a hope in God (which these [men] themselves accept too).” Because the antecedent of the relative pronoun “which” is somewhat unclear in English, the words “a hope” have been repeated at the beginning of the parenthesis for clarity.

[24:15]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “that they”; the referent (these men, Paul’s accusers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:15]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “the unjust.”

[24:21]  ⁶⁶ tn BDAG 433 s.v. ἤ 2.c has “οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἤ nothing else than…Ac 17:21. τί…ἤ what other…than…24:21.”

[24:21]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “one utterance.”

[24:21]  ⁶⁸ tn Cf. BDAG 327 s.v. ἐν 1.e, which has “before, in the presence of, etc.”

[24:21]  ⁶⁹ sn The resurrection of the dead. Paul’s point was, what crime was there in holding this religious belief?

[26:8]  ⁷⁰ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate that the second person pronoun (“you”) is plural (others in addition to King Agrippa are being addressed).

[26:8]  ⁷¹ tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 3 states, “τί ἄπιστον κρίνεται παρ᾿ ὑμῖν; why do you think it is incredible? Ac 26:8.” The passive construction (“why is it thought unbelievable…”) has been converted to an active one to simplify the translation.

[26:8]  ⁷² tn Or “incredible.” BDAG 103 s.v. ἄπιστος 1 states, “unbelievable, incredible…τί ἄπιστον κρίνεται παρ᾿ ὑμῖν…; why does it seem incredible to you? Ac 26:8.”

[26:8]  ⁷³ tn Grk “if.” The first-class conditional construction, which assumes reality for the sake of argument, has been translated as indirect discourse.

[6:5]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “we will certainly also of his resurrection.”

[1:13]  ⁷⁵ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[3:21]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “transform the body of our humility.”

[3:1]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[4:16]  ⁷⁸ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[4:16]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “several times”; Grk, “both once and twice.” The literal expression “once and twice” is frequently used as a Greek idiom referring to an indefinite low number, but more than once (“several times”); see L&N 60.70.

[4:17]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “Not that I am seeking the gift.” The phrase “I do not say this…” has been supplied in the translation to complete the thought for the modern reader.