Mark 12:18-21

Marriage and the Resurrection

12:18 Sadducees ¹  (who say there is no resurrection) ²  also came to him and asked him, ³  12:19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us: ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man ⁴  must marry ⁵  the widow and father children ⁶  for his brother.’ ⁷  12:20 There were seven brothers. The first one married, ⁸  and when he died he had no children. 12:21 The second married her and died without any children, and likewise the third.

[12:18]  ¹ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). They also did not believe in resurrection or in angels, an important detail in v. 25. See also Matt 3:7, 16:1-12, 22:23-34; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 4:1, 5:17, 23:6-8.

[12:18]  ² sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:18]  ³ tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[12:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “his brother”; but this would be redundant in English with the same phrase “his brother” at the end of the verse, so most modern translations render this phrase “the man” (so NIV, NRSV).

[12:19]  ⁵ tn The use of ἵνα (Jina) with imperatival force is unusual (BDF §470.1).

[12:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “raise up seed” (an idiom for fathering children).

[12:19]  ⁷ 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.

[12:20]  ⁸ tn Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).