Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 22:25

"Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first married and deceased, and having no seed left his wife unto his brother;" — Matthew 22:25 (ASV)

Like the Pharisees, the Sadducees approach Jesus with insincere respect (“Teacher”; cf. v.16). They begin by citing the Mosaic levirate law (Dt. 25:5–6), according to which, if a man dies without children, his younger brother must marry the widow and sire children who would legally be heirs of the deceased brother. Probably in Jesus’ day the law was little observed.

Though the case brought by the Sadducees could have happened, it is most likely hypothetical, fabricated to confound Pharisees and others who believed in resurrection. Their question presupposes that resurrection life is an exact counterpart to earthly life; and if so, the resurrected woman must be guilty of incestuous marriages or arbitrarily designated the wife of one of the brothers. And if so, which one? Or—and this is the answer the Sadducees pressed for—the whole notion of resurrection is absurd.