Luke 20:29

Luke 20:29, in plain English

They set up a story: there were seven brothers. The first married a woman but died without kids.

Why it's here

It's a hypothetical scenario designed to make the idea of resurrection seem impossible. Seven brothers, one wife — who does she belong to in the afterlife?

Who's speaking

The Sadducees begin their elaborate hypothetical, setting the stage for their 'unanswerable' question.

Where it sits in the story

Seven brothers, one wife, no children. It's a thought experiment designed to make resurrection look ridiculous. But Jesus is about to show that their problem isn't resurrection — it's their imagination.

The scholarly reading

The hypothetical begins: seven brothers successively marry the same woman as each dies childless. The scenario is intentionally extreme to make the resurrection question seem absurd.

Language and setting

The use of seven brothers maximizes the absurdity of the scenario. This was likely a stock Sadducean argument against resurrection, used repeatedly in debates with Pharisees.

Voice

The Sadducees present their carefully constructed hypothetical scenario.

Significance

The Sadducees lay out an elaborate scenario involving seven brothers and one widow. The number seven isn't random — it's designed to push the 'absurdity' of resurrection to its logical limit.

27Then some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to question Him.

28“Teacher,” they said, “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.

29Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a wife but died childless.

30Then the second

31and the third married the widow, and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children.

Read all of Luke 20 — The religious leaders challenge Jesus' authority. He answers with a parable about murderous tenants that leaves them furious and afraid.