Mark 12:25

Mar 12:25. Ἐκ νεκρῶν, out from the dead) The ἐκ, out from among, implies the new condition of the saints when they rise again out of the state of the dead, at the same time that it does not set aside the universality of the resurrection.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. when they shall rise] Had they known the power of God they could not have imagined that it was limited by death, or that the life of “the children of the resurrection” was a mere repetition of man’s present mortal existence. Compare the argument of St Paul in 1Co_15:39-44, based on the endless variety of the creative power of God.

as the angels] The Sadducees denied not only the Resurrection, but the existence also of angels and spirits (Act_23:8). In His reply, therefore, our Lord embraces the whole area of their unbelief. He refers to the angels in heaven as persons, whose personal existence was a fact. Moreover in these words we have one of the few revelations which He was pleased to make as to the state after death. They imply that, as St Paul teaches, at the Resurrection “we shall be changed” (1Co_15:44), and the “spiritual body” will not be liable to the passions of the “natural body.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He is not the God of the dead,.... This is our Lord's reasoning upon the passage; showing from hence, that since God is the God of these persons, they must be now alive in their souls, for God is not the God of the dead; and that their bodies must rise again, or he will not be the God of their whole persons;

but the God, of the living: the word "God", in this clause, is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, but retained in the Persic and Ethiopic versions; See Gill on Mat 22:32;

ye therefore do greatly err; signifying, that it was not a slight mistake, an error of small importance, but a very great one; inasmuch as it was contrary to the Scriptures, and derogated from the power of God, and destroyed that covenant interest, which God has in his people, and particularly in the principal men of their nation, who were the fathers and founders of them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

Ver. 25. {See Trapp on "Mat 22:30"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. Are as the angels — Their bodies are divested of their earthly grossness and become ethereal and glorious. As none are born in heaven, so none are married. The appetites of the body, and all the affection thereon founded, cease. The love in heaven may be the continuance of love on earth. It will doubtless often exist between the same parties. But it will be purer, more blissful, and glorious.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But are as angels in heaven not "the angels;" the oi is omitted. The blessed, after the resurrection, will be like angels as to purity, as to a spiritual life, as to immortality, as to happiness and glory. There will be no necessity for marriages in heaven. Here, on earth, the father dies, but he lives on in his children after death. In heaven there is no death, but every one will live and be blessed for ever; and therefore it is that St. Luke adds here, "Neither can they die any more." St. Augustine says, "Marriages are on account of children; children on account of succession; succession on account of death. But in heaven, as there is no death, neither is there any marriage."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When they rise from the dead, neither men marry nor women are given in marriage.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

from the dead Lit. from amongst; cf., Php 3:11 Here it is the first resurrection. (See Scofield "1Co 15:52").

angels (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίζονται. The former, as in class. Grk, of the man, the latter of the woman, who is given in marriage by her father (1Co 7:38). The questioners did not see that God could not only grant life in another world, but also make it very different from life in this world. The Sadducees assumed that, unless the conditions of life hereafter are the same as in this life, there can be no future life at all. Marriage is necessary here to preserve the race, but where all are immortal there is no need of marriage. In Enoch (xv. 6, 7) the Lord says to the Angels, “You were spiritual, in the enjoyment of eternal immortal life, for all generations of the world. Therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for the spiritual have their dwelling in heaven.”

ὡς ἄγγελοι. Angels do not marry, because they are immortal, and those who rise from the dead are like them. This comparison is in all three, and it had special point in dealing with Sadducees, correcting another of their errors (Act 23:8). It tells us nothing respecting the manner of the resurrection, but it tells us that those who rise will not die again, and it assures us that such beings as Angels, who live under very different conditions from those under which we live here, exist. Cf. Mar 8:38; also Mar 13:27 = Mat 24:31; Mat 13:32 = Mat 24:36; Mat 13:39; Mat 13:41; Mat 13:49; Mat 18:10; Mat 25:31; Mat 26:53; Luk 12:8-9; Luk 15:10; Luk 16:22; Joh 1:51. It is unreasonable to suggest that in all these passages the Evangelists attribute their own beliefs to Christ, and that He never sanctioned the doctrine by the words which they report. See Latham, A Service of Angels, pp. 52–60.

ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. It is remarkable that Mk has this expression, while Mt. has ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. We might have expected exactly the converse. See on εἰδώς (Mar 12:15) and cf. Mar 13:32 = Mat 24:36.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25.] The ὅταν … ἀναστῶσιν here is general, not as in ver. 23: see note there.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. This verse contains Jesus’ statement of the power of God in the resurrection. He has power not only to raise, but so to change the body, that marriage ceases to be one of its functions. It was because they were ignorant of this, that the Sadducees thought their case of seven husbands would be an argument against the resurrection.

ὅταν … ἀναστῶσιν—whenever they arise. ὅταν leaves the time of the resurrection indefinite. γαμίζονται—denotes the act of the father in bestowing his daughter in marriage.2 ὡς ἄγγελοι—the angels come as a race, not from procreation, but directly from creation. The power of God appears in this, in the transformation and clarifying of the resurrection body, so that marriage is not a part of the future state.

γαμίζονται, instead of γαμίσκονται, Tisch. Treg. WH. א BCDGLU Δ 1, 124, 209. Omit οἱ after ἄγγελοι, Tisch. (Treg.) WH. RV. א CDFKLMU ΔΠ Memph. Harcl.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.