New Testament · Gospel

Mark 12:20

The Widow's Offering

Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children. Mark 12:20 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Mark 12:20, in plain English

Here's how their story went: the first brother married, then died without having any children.

Why it's here

This is the setup for an increasingly unlikely scenario — but the Sadducees thought it was a checkmate against resurrection.

Who's speaking

The Sadducees continue building their hypothetical.

Where it sits in the story

It starts simply enough: a marriage, a death, no children. But the Sadducees are just getting warmed up.

A Closer Look

The scholar's commentary

The hypothetical begins with the first of seven brothers, establishing the levirate chain that will create the Sadducees' intended reductio ad absurdum.

Language and setting

While the scenario is contrived, it draws on a legitimate legal tradition to construct what the Sadducees believe is an irrefutable logical problem for resurrection belief.

Voice

The Sadducees continue their hypothetical scenario.

Significance

The first domino falls in the Sadducees' elaborate thought experiment, which will escalate through all seven brothers to create maximum theological confusion.

In context

Mark 12:18–22

18Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:

19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.

20Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children.

21Then the second one married the widow, but he also died and left no children. And the third did likewise.

22In this way, none of the seven left any children. And last of all, the woman died.

Read all of Mark 12 — Trick questions from every direction, a scribe who almost gets it, and a poor widow who gives everything — two small coins that outweigh them all.

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