Matius 22:23-40
Konteks22:23 The same day Sadducees 1 (who say there is no resurrection) 2 came to him and asked him, 3 22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children 4 for his brother.’ 5 22:25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother. 22:26 The second did the same, and the third, down to the seventh. 22:27 Last 6 of all, the woman died. 22:28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” 7 22:29 Jesus 8 answered them, “You are deceived, 9 because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels 10 in heaven. 22:31 Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, 11 22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 12 He is not the God of the dead but of the living!” 13 22:33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.
22:34 Now when the Pharisees 14 heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, 15 they assembled together. 16 22:35 And one of them, an expert in religious law, 17 asked him a question to test 18 him: 22:36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 19 22:37 Jesus 20 said to him, “‘Love 21 the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 22 22:38 This is the first and greatest 23 commandment. 22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 24 22:40 All the law and the prophets depend 25 on these two commandments.”
[22:23] 1 sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
[22:23] 2 sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.
[22:23] 3 tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[22:24] 4 tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).
[22:24] 5 sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.
[22:27] 6 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[22:28] 7 tn Grk “For all had her.”
[22:29] 8 tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
[22:29] 9 tn Or “mistaken” (cf. BDAG 822 s.v. πλανάω 2.c.γ).
[22:30] 10 tc Most witnesses have “of God” after “angels,” although some
[22:30] sn Angels do not die, nor do they eat according to Jewish tradition (1 En. 15:6; 51:4; Wis 5:5; 2 Bar. 51:10; 1QH 3.21-23).
[22:31] 11 tn Grk “spoken to you by God, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legontos) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[22:32] 12 sn A quotation from Exod 3:6.
[22:32] 13 sn He is not God of the dead but of the living. Jesus’ point was that if God could identify himself as God of the three old patriarchs, then they must still be alive when God spoke to Moses; and so they must be raised.
[22:34] 14 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
[22:34] 15 sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
[22:34] 16 tn Grk “for the same.” That is, for the same purpose that the Sadducees had of testing Jesus.
[22:35] 17 tn Traditionally, “a lawyer.” This was an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law.
[22:35] 18 tn Grk “testing.” The participle, however, is telic in force.
[22:36] 19 tn Or possibly “What sort of commandment in the law is great?”
[22:37] 20 tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[22:37] 21 tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).
[22:37] 22 sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.
[22:38] 23 tn Grk “the great and first.”
[22:39] 24 sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.
[22:40] 25 tn Grk “hang.” The verb κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi) is used here with a figurative meaning (cf. BDAG 566 s.v. 2.b).
