Matthew 22 28

Matthew 22:28 kjv

Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

Matthew 22:28 nkjv

Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her."

Matthew 22:28 niv

Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"

Matthew 22:28 esv

In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."

Matthew 22:28 nlt

So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her."

Matthew 22 verses

Matthew 22 28 Meaning

Matthew 22:28 presents the climactic question posed by the Sadducees to Jesus concerning the nature of marriage in the resurrection. Following their elaborate hypothetical scenario involving a woman and seven brothers under the levirate law, their query, "Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her," reveals their skepticism about the resurrection by projecting earthly conditions onto the post-resurrection state. They seek to expose what they perceive as an absurdity in the belief of bodily resurrection by implying it would lead to unsolvable social complexities. The verse encapsulates their challenge to Jesus' teaching and to the very doctrine of resurrection itself.

Matthew 22 28 Context

Matthew chapter 22 depicts Jesus facing a series of calculated challenges from various Jewish factions seeking to trap Him. First, the Pharisees and Herodians attempt to ensnare Him with a question about paying taxes to Caesar (Matt 22:15-22). Immediately after this, the Sadducees, a wealthy priestly class who only accepted the Pentateuch and rejected the oral law, the resurrection of the dead, angels, and spirits (Acts 23:8), approach Jesus. Their intention is not genuine inquiry but a hostile attempt to discredit Jesus by presenting a scenario that, to their rationalistic minds, proves the absurdity of resurrection. They base their question on the Mosaic law of levirate marriage (Deut 25:5-6), which required a brother to marry his deceased, childless brother's widow to raise up offspring for the deceased. They concoct an extreme, perhaps even mocking, case of a woman who successively marries seven brothers, all dying childless, culminating in the woman herself dying. This verse, Matt 22:28, then presents their "unanswerable" question: in the resurrection, with whom will she be married? This serves as a direct assault on the concept of resurrection by implying it leads to illogical and complex marital claims, something they believed would make the afterlife untenable or laughable.

Matthew 22 28 Word analysis

• Therefore (Greek: Oun - οὖν): This conjunction serves as a concluding particle, marking the climax and logical outflow of the elaborate hypothetical scenario the Sadducees just presented (Matt 22:25-27). It indicates their drawing a final "rational" inference from their carefully constructed "problem."
• in the resurrection (Greek: en tē anastasei - ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει):
  • Anasatsis (ἀνάστασις) means "a standing up again," or "rising again." It refers specifically to the Sadducees' point of contention—the physical return to life after death. They challenge the very possibility or practical implications of this concept, which they themselves deny. This phrase explicitly targets the doctrine they reject, positioning their question as a test for anyone who does believe in it, including Jesus.
• whose wife (Greek: tinos gynē - τίνος γυνή):
  • Tinos (τίνος): "whose," emphasizing a point of contention over ownership or rightful claim.
  • Gynē (γυνή): Can mean "woman" or "wife." In this context, given the preceding verses about marriage, it clearly refers to "wife," emphasizing the relational status within marriage. The Sadducees' query highlights the earthly institution of marriage and its potential continuation in the resurrected state, which they find problematic.
• will she be (Greek: estai - ἔσται): Future indicative of "to be," signifying a state or condition. They are asking for a definitive answer about her marital status in the supposed future reality of the resurrection.
• of the seven? (Greek: ek tōn hepta - ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά): Literally "out of the seven." This specifies the multitude of previous husbands from their hypothetical case. It amplifies the apparent difficulty of the situation by presenting multiple contenders for the wife's claim, intended to render the concept of resurrection unmanageable or absurd.
• For (Greek: gar - γάρ): A causal conjunction, providing the reason or justification for their question. It connects back to the previous detailed narrative.
• they all (Greek: pantes autēn - πάντες αὐτήν): Refers to the seven brothers described in their story, underscoring that every single one of them had been her husband, further complicating the issue according to their logic.
• had her. (Greek: eschon autēn - ἔσχον αὐτήν): Aorist tense of echō (ἔχω), meaning "to have," "possess," or "take as wife." In this context, it confirms that each brother, sequentially, was married to her and shared marital relations with her, strengthening their premise of shared claims.

Words-group analysis:

• "Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven?": This is the core rhetorical question of the Sadducees, designed to highlight the supposed absurdity of marriage persisting in a resurrected state. It projects their carnal, earthly understanding of relationships onto the spiritual, transformed nature of the afterlife.
• "For they all had her.": This statement serves as the justification and "proof" for the difficulty of their question. By emphasizing that all seven brothers had been legally and physically married to her, they believe they've presented an insurmountable dilemma for any proponent of the resurrection. It underlines the physical, procreative, and legalistic understanding of marriage prevalent in their worldview, which they cannot reconcile with the idea of resurrection without logical contradiction.

Matthew 22 28 Bonus section

The Sadducees' question in Matthew 22:28 highlights a common human tendency to extrapolate present conditions indefinitely into the future, especially concerning the afterlife. Their argument collapses because they fail to grasp that resurrection does not simply mean resuscitation to a mortal life, but a glorious transformation into a new, eternal mode of existence that operates on divine principles rather than fallen human ones. Their focus on the legalistic implications of levirate marriage—a temporary, earthly ordinance designed for a specific purpose (to raise up offspring for the deceased brother, Deut 25:5-6)—prevents them from comprehending an eternal reality where such needs are transcended. Jesus' reply moves beyond their carnal reasoning to illuminate the spiritual reality of God's power to create something new and glorious. It reveals that the ultimate family identity in the resurrection will not be defined by human lineage or marriage but by one's relationship with God.

Matthew 22 28 Commentary

Matthew 22:28 encapsulates the Sadducees' theological attack on the resurrection. Their question, though couched in a legalistic hypothetical, reveals their fundamental disbelief and a profound misunderstanding of both God's power and the nature of the life to come. They could only conceive of resurrection as a mere continuation of earthly existence, including its institutions like levirate marriage, which primarily served for procreation and maintaining family lines. Their error lies in projecting the conditions and purposes of this fallen world onto the perfect, transformed reality of God's future kingdom.

Jesus' subsequent response (Matt 22:29-32; Mark 12:24-27; Luke 20:34-38) dismantles their flawed premise by highlighting two critical mistakes: first, their ignorance of the Scriptures (which implied resurrection, notably through God identifying as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, indicating they were alive); and second, their ignorance of the power of God, which transcends human limitations and earthly paradigms. In the resurrection, Jesus reveals, there will be no marriage because people will be "like angels" (not implying genderless or sexless, but free from the earthly need for procreation and earthly marital ties). Marriage, as an institution for procreation and companionship in this present age, is fulfilled and transcended in the eternal reality, where believers relate directly to God in a glorified state, undivided by earthly attachments in the same way. The question served to reveal the Sadducees' spiritual blindness and to allow Jesus to teach a profound truth about the transformed nature of resurrection life.