Luke 20:31
What does Luke 20:31 mean?
A plain-English look at Luke 20:31 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Luke 20:31 means
The Sadducees continued their hypothetical to its extreme conclusion: the third brother also married the woman, and then, "likewise the seven also left no children, and died." This means all seven brothers, in succession, married the same woman, and each died childless. This improbable scenario was meticulously constructed to highlight what they saw as the absurdity of the resurrection. If all seven had her as a wife on earth, they reasoned, whose wife would she be in the resurrection? They believed this dilemma proved the resurrection was a logical impossibility and therefore false.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And the third took her; and in the same way, all the seven, without having any children, came to their end.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and the third took her, and in like manner also the seven--they left not children, and they died;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And the third took her. And in like manner, all the seven: and they left no children and died.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890and the third took her: and in like manner also the seven left no children and died;
Context
This verse culminates the Sadducees' elaborate hypothetical scenario, bringing the series of seven brothers marrying the same woman to its completion. It immediately follows the previous verse and directly precedes the final detail of the woman's death, completing the setup for their ultimate question about the resurrection and exposing their flawed understanding of the afterlife.
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