Mark 12:20
A focused desk for reading, commentary, cross-references, original language notes, and your own observations.
Mark 12:20
20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
Chapter Context
Mark 12 is a action-oriented gospel chapter in the New Testament that explores themes of prayer, holiness, love. Written during the mid first century CE (c. 65-70 CE), this chapter should be understood within its historical context: Composed during or just after Nero's persecution when eyewitnesses were disappearing.
The chapter can be divided into several sections:
- Verses 1-5: Introduction and setting the context
- Verses 6-12: Development of key themes
- Verses 13-20: Central message and teachings
- Verses 21-44: Conclusion and application
This chapter is significant because it provides guidance for worship and spiritual devotion. When studying this passage, it's important to consider both its immediate context within Mark and its broader place in the scriptural canon.
Verse Study
Mark 12:20
20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
Analysis
Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed (ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὶ ἦσαν· καὶ ὁ πρῶτος ἔλαβεν γυναῖκα, καὶ ἀποθνῄσκων οὐκ ἀφῆκεν σπέρμα). The Sadducees begin their hypothetical with seven brothers—the number of completion in Hebrew thought, chosen to maximize the scenario's complexity. The first brother married but died childless (ouk aphēken sperma, οὐκ ἀφῆκεν σπέρμα, "left no seed")—the exact condition triggering levirate marriage obligation.
This test case resembles the story in Tobit 3:8; 7:11 (deuterocanonical book, c. 200 BC) where Sarah's seven husbands die before consummating marriage. The Sadducees' hypothetical may allude to this known story, though their version has each brother fulfill the levirate duty before dying. The scenario's improbability is deliberate—they're constructing a reductio ad absurdum argument: if resurrection were true, this situation would create impossible complications, therefore resurrection must be false.
Historical Context
The number seven appears throughout Scripture as symbolic of completion or perfection (creation week, Genesis 2:2; seven days of feasts, Leviticus 23; seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24). While the Sadducees' scenario was hypothetical, ancient Near Eastern cultures practiced levirate marriage, and cases of multiple brothers dying childless, though rare, could occur. The book of Tobit (accepted as canonical by Catholics and Orthodox) contains a similar story where the demon Asmodeus kills Sarah's seven husbands. Whether the Sadducees alluded to Tobit (which they wouldn't accept as Scripture) or created an original hypothetical, their point was clear: resurrection creates marital chaos. Jesus will demonstrate they fundamentally misunderstood resurrection life.
Reflection
- What does the Sadducees' use of an extreme hypothetical reveal about attempting to disprove biblical doctrines through logical puzzles?
- How might we similarly construct unlikely scenarios to avoid accepting difficult biblical teachings?