Luke 20:27-40
Verse 29 There were therefore seven brethren - See on Mat 22:23-33 (note). 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. Verse 36 Equal unto the angels - Who neither marry nor die. See the Jewish testimonies to the resurrection of the human body quoted at length on 1Cor 15:42 (note). Verse 38 All live unto him - There is a remarkable passage in Josephus's account of the Maccabees, chap. xvi., which proves that the best informed Jews believed that the souls of righteous men were in the presence of God in a state of happiness. "They who lose their lives for the sake of God, Live unto God, as do Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the patriarchs." And one not less remarkable in Shemoth Rabba, fol. 159. "Rabbi Abbin saith, The Lord said unto Moses, Find me out ten righteous persons among the people, and I will not destroy thy people. Then said Moses, Behold, here am I, Aaron, Eleazar, Ithamar, Phineas, Caleb, and Joshua; but God said, Here are but seven, where are the other three? When Moses knew not what to do, he said, O Eternal God, do those live that are dead! Yes, saith God. Then said Moses, If those that are dead do live, remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So the resurrection of the dead, and the immortality and immateriality of the soul, were not strange or unknown doctrines among the Jews. Verse 40 They durst not ask - Or, did not venture to ask any other question, for fear of being again confounded, as they had already been.
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