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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead,

Jesus is asked about the resurrection and a woman who was married to multiple brothers.

Spoken to
The Sadducees

Matthew 22:31 περὶ δὲ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῶν νεκρῶν οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑμῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ λέγοντος

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you,

What His Listeners Heard:

Concerning, however, the awakening of the dead, you don't recognize the thing being announced to you by the Divine, saying:

Lost In Translation:

Since the afterlife is a cornerstone of Christianity, this and the previous verse referring directly to the afterlife should be the focus of a lot of attention. However, like many of Jesus's statements, these verses don't lend themselves to a simple explanation, so they are often ignored or at least their complexities are.

Some ancient Jews (specifically Job) don't seem to have believed in an afterlife. It wasn't until Isaiah (Isa 26:19) that the resurrection of the dead is spoken of directly, instead of indirectly. The Hebrew word Olam Ha-Ba ("the world to come") is used to describe both the messianic age and the afterlife. Many Christians seem to look at "the kingdom of heaven" in the same way: the future world and the afterlife. However, Christ talks extensively about the kingdom of heaven and most of his statements are not consistent with the afterlife and his references to resurrection.

Among the Jews of Christ's time, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead into bodies, but the Sadducees, the sect of Temple priests, didn't believe in an afterlife of any form. In other words, the Sadducees followed the ancient Judaic tradition. They didn't believe in angels, the soul, or resurrection. Life was literally "dust to dust." While some Sadducees believed in a spiritual afterlife, they didn't agree with the Pharisees regarding "the rising." The view of the Pharisees was similar to that of the Egyptians, that people would rise from the dead with their bodies. This idea can be traced directly to Isaiah in the verse cited above. It is important to note that, especially for the Pharisees, this resurrection was connected to the coming of the Messiah, which, for them, was the end-time like Christians see the Last Judgment.

Jesus's first message here is, that, though Christ taught that there was a "rising" as taught by the Pharisees, it was not what the Pharisees taught, that is, something that happened at some end time when the Messiah comes.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have(WT) ye not read that which(IW) was spoken(CW) unto you by (MW) God, saying,

KJV List (See full page for word-by-word analysis):
For analysis of each word of original Greek and biblical verses, click here.

Constantly Updated

My analysis standards and methods are constantly improving. New information on each verse is provided as articles are updated. It requires approximately two years for me to work through updating each of Jesus's verses.

What Jesus's Listeners Heard

The everyday meanings of the Greek words Jesus used were different than the definitions they have been given over time in biblical translation. The word translations here are based upon documents of his time such as the Greek Septuagint, not ideas unknown in his time.

About this Site

See what Jesus said in Greek and see how his words are changed in English translation. My goal is to translate Jesus's words as they were heard when he taught, not the way they are interpreted today. The work here resurrects the humor and cleverness of Jesus's words lost in translation.

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