And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
Mark 12:22 is part of a hypothetical case put to Jesus by the Sadducees, built on Moses' law for raising up offspring or seed for a dead brother, in which seven brothers in succession married the same woman, each died leaving no child or seed, and last of all the woman also died. The Sadducees who posed it differed widely from the Pharisees, being skeptical in belief, denying the resurrection, and rejecting future rewards and punishments. The story was framed as a trap to perplex Jesus and entangle Him in His words, to confuse other minds, and by heaping ridicule on that portion of the law to bring all the Mosaic institutions into contempt.
The example was set up to force the challenge of whose wife the woman would be in the resurrection. It assumed that the resurrection would restore the same earthly relationships and married life, an assumption Jesus rejected. Its reasoning was built on a false foundation and showed ignorance of the true teachings of Scripture and of the power of God, whereas a right understanding of the Scriptures is the fountain of all pure heavenly knowledge.
The verse stands within Jesus' response to those who rejected Him, as a warning whose foreshadowed outcome applies to sinners who refuse to receive Him as Redeemer.
Mark 12:22 is part of a hypothetical case put to Jesus by the Sadducees, built on Moses' law for raising up offspring or seed for a dead brother, in which seven brothers in succession married the same woman, each died leaving no child or seed, and last of all the woman also died. The Sadducees who posed it differed widely from the Pharisees, being skeptical in belief, denying the resurrection, and rejecting future rewards and punishments. The story was framed as a trap to perplex Jesus and entangle Him in His words, to confuse other minds, and by heaping ridicule on that portion of the law to bring all the Mosaic institutions into contempt.
The example was set up to force the challenge of whose wife the woman would be in the resurrection. It assumed that the resurrection would restore the same earthly relationships and married life, an assumption Jesus rejected. Its reasoning was built on a false foundation and showed ignorance of the true teachings of Scripture and of the power of God, whereas a right understanding of the Scriptures is the fountain of all pure heavenly knowledge.
The verse stands within Jesus' response to those who rejected Him, as a warning whose foreshadowed outcome applies to sinners who refuse to receive Him as Redeemer.