Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children.
Parallel translations
- WEB There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless.
- KJV There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.
- BSB Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a wife, but died childless.
- NASB So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless;
- NLT Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Their hypothetical begins: the first of seven brothers marries a woman and dies without children.
Overview
The Sadducees construct an exaggerated scenario to expose what they think is the foolishness of resurrection. By multiplying husbands they hope to create an impossible tangle. The story is artificial, built only to trap Jesus rather than to seek truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Jer 22:30Yahweh says, “Record this man as childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; for no more shall a man of his offspring prosper, sitting on David’s throne, and ruling in Judah.”
- Lev 20:20If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 20:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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