Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
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Luke 20:34-36 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”
Parallel Translations
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Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage.
But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
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Iesus answered and sayde vnto them. The chyldre of this worlde mary wyves and are maryed
but they which shalbe made worthy to enioye that worlde and the resurreccion from deeth nether mary wyves nether are maryed
nor yet can dye eny moare. For they are equall vnto the angels: and are the sonnes of God in as moche as they are the chyldre of the resurreccion.
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Then Iesus answered, and sayd vnto them, The children of this world marry wiues, and are married.
But they which shalbe counted worthy to enioy that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry wiues, neither are married.
For they can die no more, forasmuch as they are equall vnto the Angels, and are the sonnes of God, since they are the children of the resurrection.
Cross-references (35)
- 2 Thessalonians 1:5 (v35) This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also…
- Daniel 12:2-3 (v35) Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those…
- John 5:29 (v35) and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
- Matthew 12:32 (v35) Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven…
- Philippians 3:21 (v36) who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to…
Show all 35 cross-references
- Revelation 21:4 (v36) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The…
- Matthew 22:30 (v36) For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.
- Luke 16:8 (v34) “His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser…
- Luke 21:36 (v35) Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before…
- Acts 5:41 (v35) They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name.
- Acts 24:15 (v35) having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
- Luke 17:27 (v34) They ate, they drank, they married, and they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came and…
- 1 Corinthians 15:42 (v36) So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.
- Hebrews 13:4 (v34) Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Revelation 20:6 (v36) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God…
- Matthew 22:29 (v35) But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
- Mark 12:24 (v35) Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God?
- Mark 12:25 (v36) For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
- Romans 8:17-23 (v36) and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with…
- 1 Corinthians 7:2-16 (v34) But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband give his wife…
- 1 Corinthians 15:26 (v36) The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
- Hebrews 11:35 (v35) Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better…
- 1 John 3:1-2 (v36) See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us,…
- Revelation 3:4 (v35) Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn’t defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
- Revelation 22:9 (v36) He said to me, “See you don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the…
- Isaiah 25:8 (v36) He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away…
- Hosea 13:14 (v36) I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction?…
- Zechariah 3:7 (v36) “Yahweh of Armies says: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will follow my instructions, then you also shall judge my house, and shall…
- 1 Corinthians 15:49 (v36) As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
- Ephesians 5:31 (v34) “For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (v36) But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have…
- Revelation 5:6-14 (v36) I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been…
- Revelation 7:9-12 (v36) After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and…
- Revelation 22:2-5 (v36) in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit…
- 1 Corinthians 15:52-54 (v36) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv34, 36 They are called here in this place, the children…
They are called here in this place, the children of this world, which live in this world: and not they, that wholly are given to the world, as before Luke 16:8, which are contrary to the children of light.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv35–36 29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first…
29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.
30 And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.
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31 And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.
32 Last of all the woman died also.
33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.
34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
Ver. 35. Nor are given in marriage] Hence some collect, that the difference of sexes shall continue after the resurrection: wherefore else should our Saviour say, that they shall then neither marry nor be given in marriage? Sed hic επεχω. Haymo is over confident, I suppose, in that gloss he gives here, Quod viri in suo sexu resurgent, feminae in sexu muliebri. Erunt habentes membra genitalia, non autem voluntatem coeundi.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv34–36 For he is not a God of the dead,…
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living,.... See Gill on Mat 22:32.
for all live unto him. The Persic version, reads, "all these live unto him"; namely, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for though they are dead to men, they are not to God; their souls live with him, and their bodies will be raised by him: he reckons of them, as if they were now alive, for he quickens the dead, and calls things that are not, as though they were; and this is the case of all the saints that are dead, as well as of those patriarchs. The Ethiopic reads, "all live with him"; as the souls of all departed saints do; the Arabic version reads, all live in him; so all do now, Act 17:28.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv34–36 The children of this world - The inhabitants of…
The children of this world - The inhabitants of earth, marry and are given in marriage - As being all subject to the law of mortality; so that the species is in need of being continually repaired.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv34, 36 Verse 34. The children of this world] Men and…
Verse 34. The children of this world] Men and women in their present state of mortality and probation; procreation being necessary to restore the waste made by death, and to keep up the population of the earth.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v36 The children of resurrection; i.e. of the just, who…
The children of resurrection; i.e. of the just, who shall rise to a happy resurrection: not but that the wicked shall also rise, but to their condemnation and greater misery. (Witham) --- Jesus Christ begins with stating the wide difference between the state of things in this mortal life and in that which is to come: that marriage necessary here, will be unnecessary hereafter. For, in this life, they are children of men, subject to death, and therefore under the necessity of continuing their race by generation; but in the next life, they shall be children of resurrection, living for eternity, never to die, and consequently sons of God, and immortal. Resurrection is a kind of regeneration to immortality. Hence St. Paul explains to our Saviour’s rising again, these words of the 2nd Psalm: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv34, 36 said unto them--In Mat 22:29, the reply begins with…
said unto them--In Mat 22:29, the reply begins with this important statement:--"Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures," regarding the future state, "nor the power of God," before which a thousand such difficulties vanish (also Mar 12:24).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv35–36 35. They which shall be accounted worthy—From the words…
35. They which shall be accounted worthy—From the words accounted worthy, some draw the inference that the resurrection is conditional and partial; that it is limited to the worthy, while the wicked are left in perpetual extinction. It is an unwarranted conclusion. For, 1. The Greek word here rendered accounted worthy is often elegantly put for equum censetur, it is thought proper, or it seems good; good, that is, in the present case, to the Divine Mind. The meaning then would be: Those who by the Divine will shall attain the resurrection. Their resurrection would be not dependent upon personal worthiness, but upon God’s plan; whether of a part or the whole. 2. As the question of the Sadducees, (briefly feigning to be orthodox,) which Christ here answers, regarded solely the children of Abraham, who were assumed to be of course heirs of the blessed resurrection, it is of the blessed resurrection, or the blessed side of the resurrection, only, that Jesus now speaks, to which the worthy alone do in fact attain. In the same manner Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, as writing for the Christian alone, describes only the glorious resurrection. In neither case is it implied that there is not also, and at the same time, a resurrection of the unjust, (Act_24:15,) or resurrection of damnation, Joh_5:29.
Resurrection from the dead—Literally, resurrection from dead. There is apparently a difference in meaning between the three phrases, resurrection of the dead, resurrection from the dead, and resurrection from dead, without the article. Says Winer, (Gram. of N.T., vol. ii, p. 135,) “Νεκροι [dead, without the article] signifies dead persons, Luk_7:22; 1Co_15:15; 1Co_15:29; 1Co_15:32, etc.; but οι νεκροι, the dead as a definite multitude.” Resurrection of the dead would signify the resurrection of the totality of the race. The resurrection from the dead would signify the resurrection of only a part from the whole. The resurrection from dead may be a resurrection of persons from being dead. It is a becoming alive from dead. The same persons from their dead selves rise into living; as the phoenix has a resurrection from her own ashes, her ashes composing her risen self. There are thirty-four passages in the New Testament where the preposition εκ, from or out from, is used before dead without the article; and four in which it is used with the article, namely, Eph_5:14; Col_1:18; Col_2:12; Rev_1:5. With the preposition απο, there are four instances; in all which, with a single exception, (Luk_16:30,) the article is used. The result is, that the great mass of passages are resurrection εκ from dead persons. In a resurrection from dead, there may or may not be additional dead who do not rise. In Rom_11:15, life from dead is life from their own dead selves; for Israel is held as a one historical race, which as a unit dies and rises again. The casting away and recovering is of the same conceptual Israel existing through ages. So also in Rom_6:13, Christians are to yield themselves, as εκ νεκρων ζωντας, from dead living. In the whole passage the contrast is between themselves dead and themselves alive; not between themselves alive and others dead. The phrase εκ νεκρων does not therefore decide whether a general or a partial resurrection takes place; but whether it is a partial or a universal resurrection, it may be a resurrection from their own previous dead selves.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v34 34. neither can they die any more] Rather, for…
34. neither can they die any more] Rather, for neither, &c. There is no marriage and no more birth. “There shall be no more death,” Rev_21:4. “The dead shall be raised incorruptible,” 1Co_15:52.
equal unto the angels] Like the angels in being immortal, but superior to them in privileges (Heb_1:4; Heb_2:5-8). “When He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is,” 1Jn_3:2. In this one word our Lord refutes the Sadducean denial of the existence of angels, Act_23:8; and incidentally those material notions of future bliss (Luk_14:15) which all the Jews held.
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the children of God, being the children of the resurrection] “I am the resurrection, and the life,” Joh_11:25.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv34–36 (34) The children of this world marry.—The three reports…
(34) The children of this world marry.—The three reports of the question are all but absolutely identical. In the form of the answer there are slight variations. The contrast between “the children of this world “or “age,” those, i.e., who belong to it (see Note on Luk_16:8), and those of “that world” or “age,” is peculiar to St. Luke. In both cases the word rests primarily on the idea of time rather than place. It may be noted that no other writer in the New Testament uses the form of words, “that world,” the age or period that is there, not here, for the life of the eternal kingdom. The more common phrase is “the world to come” (Mat_12:32; Mat_19:30).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v34 Vers. 34-36. And Jesus answering said unto them, The…
Vers. 34-36. And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more. How different are the few rare pictures which our Master draws of the heaven-life to those painted by the great founders and teachers of other world-wide religions! In his world beyond the grave, while he tells us of a continuing existence, of varied and ever-increasing activity, in contradistinction to the Nirvana of Buddha, in these pictures of Jesus the sensual paradise of Mohammed, for instance, finds no place. Marriage is, according to our Lord"s teaching, but a temporary expedient to preserve the human race, to which death would soon put an end. But in the world to come there will be no death and no marriage. We may assume from his words here that the difference between the sexes will have ceased to exist. They are equal unto the angels. Equal with the angels in being immortal; no death; no marriage. Jesus in this place asserts that angels have a body, but are exempt from any difference of sex. The angels are here introduced because our Lord was speaking with Sadducees, who (Act_23:8) denied the existence of these glorious beings. He wished to set the seal of his teaching on the deeply interesting question of the existence of angels.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v36 (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v34 The answer of the Lord:
The answer of the Lord:
v. 34. And Jesus, answering, said unto them, The children of this world marry and are given in marriage;
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v. 35. but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage;
v. 36. neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels; are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
v. 37. Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
v. 38. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto Him.
First of all, Jesus corrects an entirely false idea which the question of the Sadducees showed them to be holding or to be inferring from the belief of others. So long as people are in this present physical world, they are subject to the laws of the propagation of the human race, they are under the blessing which God gave to our first parents, Gen 1:27-28. And the necessity of marriage is emphasized by the sinfulness of human nature, 1Co 7:2. For that reason they marry and are given in marriage. But those that in the judgment of God will be accounted worthy of the life to come, those that will be taken up into the bliss of heaven, those that will obtain the real resurrection, that unto life, they will no longer be subject to such conditions. For in that life they will be immortal, and will no longer be dependent upon propagation and increase. There will be no marriage in heaven, because all persons will there, like the angels, be sexless. Since they are children of the resurrection, since they have become partakers of the resurrection, they are children of God. All old things that pertained to the life of the flesh will then have passed away, and all things will be new. The believers will indeed have their true bodies, but transfused with the spiritual, heavenly existence. That is one argument. And the second concerns the actual Scriptural proof for the resurrection. Jesus here very wisely refers only to the Pentateuch, to the five books of Moses, choosing His proof-text from one of these books, in order to conform to the idea of the Sadducees. That the dead actually do rise again, Moses indicates very plainly in the story of the burning bush, Exo 3:6. For the text there calls God the Lord of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. In popular belief the patriarchs may have been adjudged dead, but they could not have been, since God is called their Lord. And He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to Him. Before Him they are living, and so He accounts them. The souls of the righteous men of all times are alive and in the presence of God in eternal happiness. This is true of all believers of all times. And this view and exposition of God is infallible. Therefore we have the confidence that God will raise all those that are His, also according to the body, out of the grave, to a new, blessed, eternal life.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v34 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus begins to answer the Sadducees.
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The sons of this world
"The people of this world" or "The people of this time." This is in contrast with those in heaven or the people who live after the resurrection.
marry and are given in marriage
In that culture they spoke of men marrying women and women being given in marriage to their husband. This can also be stated in active form. AT: "get married" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)
those who are regarded as worthy in that age
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the people in that age whom God will consider to be worthy" (See: Active or Passive)
to receive the resurrection from the dead
"to be raised from the dead" or "to rise from death"
from the dead
From among all those who have died. This expression describes all dead people together in the underworld. To receive resurrection from among them speaks of becoming alive again.
will neither marry nor be given in marriage
In that culture they spoke of men marrying women and women being given in marriage to their husband. This can also be stated in active form. AT: "will not marry" or "will not get married." This is after the resurrection. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)
Neither can they die anymore
This is after the resurrection. AT: "They will not be able to die anymore" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection
"are children of God because he has brought them back from the dead"
translationWords
son
world
worthy
resurrection
die
angel
sons of God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv35–36 20:35 will neither marry nor be given in marriage:…
20:35 will neither marry nor be given in marriage: Jesus emphasized that marriage is an institution for this life, not for the resurrection.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.