^12:18Sadducees⁴¹ (who say there is no resurrection)⁴² also came to him and asked him,⁴³^12:19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us: ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man⁴⁴ must marry⁴⁵ the widow and father children⁴⁶ for his brother.’⁴⁷^12:20There were seven brothers. The first one married,⁴⁸ and when he died he had no children.

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Footnotes

41 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, 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164–166]; 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]; 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.
42 This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.
43 Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
44 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 , ).
45 The use of ἵνα (hina) with imperatival force is unusual ( §470.1).
46 Grk “raise up seed” (an idiom for fathering children).
47 A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1–12; , Yevamot; Josephus, 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.
48 Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and questioned him: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife behind but no child, that man should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Sadducees—who say there is no resurrection—came up to him and began to ask him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone’s brother dies and he leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, that his brother should take the wife and father descendants for his brother. There were seven brothers, and the first took a wife. And when he died, he did not leave descendants.

KJV 1900King James Version

Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.

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