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Author: Stephen Weller
704 words, 4 minutes read time

Seven Brothers and One Wife

Scripture: Matthew 22:23, 25, 27-28; Mark 12:19, 21; Luke 20:31

With the previous lesson we finished the section about paying taxes to Caesar and concluded that we are to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” With this lesson we will begin a new section which is about another question that Jesus was asked, this time concerning marriage and the resurrection.

^{Mt 22:23} The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him, ^{Mk 12:19} “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. ^{Mt 22:25} Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. ^{Mk 12:21} And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring, ^{Lk 20:31} and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. ^{Mt 22:27} After them all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

The Sadducees were a “small group who derived their authority from the activities of the temple. They were removed from the common people by aristocratic and priestly influence as well as by their cooperation with Rome’s rule.” (Matthew 3:7, Footnote, p. 1824, ESV Study Bible, Copyright © 2008 by Crossway Bibles). Since “they drew mainly or exclusively on the Pentateuch for doctrine they did not believe in the resurrection, a theme developed more clearly in later OT books.” (Matthew 22:23, Footnote, p. 1869, ESV Study Bible, Copyright © 2008 by Crossway Bibles). They come to Jesus with an interesting question about the resurrection.

They formed their question from what Moses said in Deuteronomy 25:5 – 10 ESV: ⁵ “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. ⁶ And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ⁷ And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ ⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰ And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’”

Their question related to a wife who had been married to all seven brothers of a certain family; each one she was married to died, leaving her alone as a widow. When all eight of them meet in heaven, the Sadducees wanted to know which brother would have her for a wife since they had all been married to her in fulfillment of the law of Moses.

We will cover the response Jesus made to their question in the next lesson.

Conclusion

It would appear that living with this woman was dangerous to one’s health in that all seven brothers died as her husband. This was simply an example the Sadducees made up for their question to Jesus. In answering their question, Jesus has the opportunity to help them understand that they are wrong concerning the resurrection.