The Meaning of Mark 12:20 Explained

Mark 12:20

KJV: Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.

YLT: 'There were then seven brothers, and the first took a wife, and dying, he left no seed;

Darby: There were seven brethren; and the first took a wife, and dying did not leave seed;

ASV: There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now there were  seven  brethren:  and  the first  took  a wife,  and  dying  left  no  seed. 

What does Mark 12:20 Mean?

Context Summary

Mark 12:1-27 - Jesus Silences His Enemies
Our Lord reviews the history of the theocracy. He recounts the long roll of God's servants who had been persecuted and misused from the first to the last, including Himself. In doing so, He openly implied that He was the Son of God and made the Pharisees realize how clearly He foresaw the fate which they were preparing for Him. They were accustomed to apply Psalms 118:22 to the Messiah, and recognized at once what Jesus meant, when He claimed it as an emblem of His own rejection.
How admirably our Lord defined the relations of His Kingdom to the civil power! If we accept Caesar's protection and ordered government we are bound to maintain it by money payment and such other service as conscience permits. This indeed is part of our duty to God; and with equal care we must give Him the dues of the spiritual world.
Jesus silenced the Sadducees by a quotation from the Pentateuch, whose authority they admitted. God could not be the God of persons not in existence. Therefore since He used the present tense of His relationship with the patriarchs in speaking to Moses three hundred years after their death, they must have been still in existence. [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 12

1  Jesus tells the parable of the tenants
13  He avoids the snare of the Pharisees and Herodians about paying tribute to Caesar;
18  convicts the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection;
28  resolves the scribe, who questioned of the first commandment;
35  refutes the opinion that the scribes held of the Christ;
38  bidding the people to beware of their ambition and hypocrisy;
41  and commends the poor widow for her two mites, above all

Greek Commentary for Mark 12:20

Took a wife [ελαβεν γυναικα]
So Luke 20:29. Matthew has “married” (γημας — gēmas). [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 12:20 mean?

Seven brothers there were and the first took a wife dying not left seed
ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὶ ἦσαν καὶ πρῶτος ἔλαβεν γυναῖκα ἀποθνῄσκων οὐκ ἀφῆκεν σπέρμα

ἑπτὰ  Seven 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἑπτά  
Sense: seven.
ἀδελφοὶ  brothers 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀδελφός  
Sense: a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother.
ἦσαν  there  were 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
πρῶτος  first 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: πρῶτος  
Sense: first in time or place.
ἔλαβεν  took 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λαμβάνω  
Sense: to take.
γυναῖκα  a  wife 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: γυνή  
Sense: a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow.
ἀποθνῄσκων  dying 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀποθνῄσκω  
Sense: to die.
ἀφῆκεν  left 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀφίημι 
Sense: to send away.
σπέρμα  seed 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: σπέρμα  
Sense: from which a plant germinates.

What are the major concepts related to Mark 12:20?

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