St Matthew Chapter XXII : Verses 23-33
Contents
- Matt. xxii. 23-33. Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text.
- Additional Notes: The resurrection of the body. The Immortality of the soul.
Matt. xxii. 23-33
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| You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
In illo die accesserunt ad eum sadducaei, qui dicunt non esse resurrectionem : et interrogaverunt eum,
24 Saying: Master, Moses said: If a man die having no son, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up issue to his brother.
dicentes : Magister, Moyses dixit : Si quis mortuus fuerit non habens filium, ut ducat frater ejus uxorem illius, et suscitet semen fratri suo.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first having married a wife, died; and not having issue, left his wife to his brother.
Erant autem apud nos septem fratres : et primus, uxore ducta, defunctus est : et non habens semen, reliquit uxorem suam fratri suo.
26 In like manner the second, and the third, and so on to the seventh.
Similiter secundus, et tertius usque ad septimum.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
Novissime autem omnium et mulier defuncta est.
28 At the resurrection therefore whose wife of the seven shall she be? for they all had her.
In resurrectione ergo cujus erit de septem uxor? omnes enim habuerunt eam.
29 And Jesus answering, said to them: You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
Respondens autem Jesus, ait illis : Erratis nescientes Scripturas, neque virtutem Dei.
30 For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall be as the angels of God in heaven.
In resurrectione enim neque nubent, neque nubentur : sed erunt sicut angeli Dei in cælo.
31 And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken by God, saying to you:
De resurrectione autem mortuorum non legistis quod dictum est a Deo dicente vobis :
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Ego sum Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob? Non est Deus mortuorum, sed viventium.
30 And the multitudes hearing it, were in admiration at his doctrine.
Et audientes turbæ, mirabantur in doctrina ejus.
Notes
23. the Sadducees. This is the first time we find them in contact with Jesus ; hitherto they had held aloof. Though few, they were an important sect.
who say. Some authorities, following certain good MSS., read “saying” (λέγοντες). If this reading be correct, then the Sadducees came to our Lord and put forward their particular doctrine. Other MSS. and versions have (ὅι λέγοντες) “ who say,” in which case the historian simply lays down their particular belief.
no resurrection. St Luke confirms this : — For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit ; but the Pharisees confess both (Acts xxiii. 8).
24. Master, Moses said, etc. This law is laid down in Deut. (xxv. 5, 6) —
When brethren dwell together, and one of them diefh without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another ; but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother ; and the first son he shall have of her he shall call by his name, that his name be not abolished out of Israel. It is sometimes called the “Levirate Law,” from Lat. levir, a brother-in-law. The same law exists in various Eastern nations. The first child of this second marriage was considered as the son of the deceased brother and bore his name. Thus we read that when Her the son of Juda died, Onan married Thamar, his widowed sister-in-law (Gen. xxxviii.). The law seemed also to apply to near kinsmen, as we see in the case of Booz marrying Ruth, when a nearer kinsman gave up his right, saying, I yield up my right of next akin ; for I must not cut off the posterity of my own family. Do thou make use of my privilege, which I profess I do willingly forego (Ruth iv. 6).
raise up issue. Offspring who should perpetuate the family.
25. there were . . . seven brethren. It was probably an imaginary case, since the Jews objected greatly to obeying this law.
28. At the resurrection. This question was often proposed by the Sadducees in their discussions with the Jewish rabbis. Their object was to ridicule the doctrine of the resurrection. The Pharisees generally solved the problem by replying that the woman would be the wife of the first husband.
29. You err, not knowing, etc. Jesus assigns two reasons for their error —
(1) They are ignorant of the Scriptural doctrine of the resurrection.
(2) They are ignorant of God's power to change the human fleshly body into a spiritual body when He shall raise it from the dead.
30. For in the resurrection they shall neither, etc. Jesus deals with the second error first, and shews that life after death will be under totally different conditions, for men will not marry, neither will women be given in marriage, nor is there any need of marriage, since death will no longer exist, but they are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection (St Luke xx. 36).
marry nor be married. The men married, women were married.
31. concerning the resurrection of the dead. Jesus now refutes the first error, and shews that the words I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, imply that there is a resurrection, otherwise God would be the God of the dead. The argument stands thus : God is the God of the living only. He is the God of Abraham, etc. ; then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living. Further, we infer that since they, the ancestors of the Jewish race, are living, therefore their descendants are also to live eternally.
have you not read, etc. ? Our Lord appeals to the Pentateuch, and refutes the Sadducees by quoting the very prophet whom they had mentioned.
In St Mark’s gospel, the question is put more fully. And as concerning the dead that they rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying : I am the God of Abraham, etc. The words “ in the bush” are a reference to Exod. iii., which was known from its contents as the Bush. It was customary to name chapters and sections after their contents. Thus David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan was called the Bow (2 Kings i. 17-27), and the vision of Ezechiel (i. 15-28) was known as the Chariot.
Jesus corrects all their false views in detail, since He touches on —
The resurrection, angels and spirits (i.e. disembodied souls and resuscitated beings).
St Paul, speaking of the resurrection, also says that it is a different state of existence. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption,, it shall rise in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body. If there be a natural body, there is also a spiritual body, etc. (1 Cor. xv. 42-44).
32. but of the living. From St Mark we find that our Lord here repeated emphatically, You therefore do greatly err.
33. And the multitudes, etc. Three results followed from our Lord's forcible answer to the Sadducees —
(a) The multitudes hearing it, were in admiration at his doctrine.
(b) And some of the scribes answering, said to him: Master, thou hast said well (St Luke xx. 39).
(c) And after that they durst not ask him any more questions (St Luke xx. 40).
It is highly probable that the Sadducees had previously proposed this question concerning the seven brothers to the Pharisees, and that it had invariably been unsatisfactorily solved ; hence when Jesus gave a positive answer, and refuted their absurd, material ideas, the admiration of the multitude was called forth
Additional Notes
31. Concerning the resurrection of the dead, etc. The Jews held the doctrine of the resurrection of the body as the necessary consequence of the immortality of the soul. The Sadducees denied the resurrection, precisely because they disbelieved in the immortality of the soul, rejecting both angels and spirits. The Catholic Church professes her belief in —
1. The resurrection of the body.
2. Life everlasting.
These doctrines are based on the following grounds : —
I. The resurrection of the body.
1. Proofs from the Scriptures.
“ And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some unto life everlasting and others unto reproach to see it always ” (Dan. xii. 2).
“ They that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life ; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment” (St John v. 29).
“ He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day ” (St John vi. 55).
2. The Catholic Church, inspired by the Holy Ghost, teaches this doctrine in her creeds. There are also frequent allusions to it in her offices and liturgy.
3. Reason teaches us that —
(a) If the soul is to be punished or rewarded eternally, it is but just that the body, which was the instrument of the soul, should share its lot eternally.
(b) The soul has a natural longing and affection for the body, its dwelling-place, and this desire cannot remain eternally unfulfilled.
(c) Even pagans hold this doctrine as conformable to nature.
II. The Immortality of the soul.
1. Proofs from Scripture.
“ And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection ” (2 Mach. xii. 43).
Note if the dead no longer exist, it is useless to pray for them.
“ And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just into life everlasting” (St Matt. xxv. 46).
2. The infallible Church has always held the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.
3. Reason teaches us that —
(a) Man has an inborn desire for immortality.
(b) Since sin is so often unpunished in this world, there must be some retribution in the next world.
(c) Both pagans and non-Catholics have generally held that the soul is immortal.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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