NT Text: Matthew 22:24
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Redemptive-Historical Progression + Analogy
Significance: The Sadducees' challenge on the resurrection cites Moses's teaching on levirate marriage, which originates in Genesis 38 (the practice of Judah's family) and was later codified in Deuteronomy 25:5-6 (cited in Matthew 22:24's parallel in Mark 12:19). Genesis 38:8 records Judah's command to his son Onan: "Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother" (yabam et-ishto). The Sadducees construct a scenario designed to make resurrection appear absurd using the very institution that the Torah legislated to preserve the family line and name of the deceased within the covenant community. Jesus's response does not address the levirate law itself but corrects the Sadducees' fundamental theological errors: they do not know the Scriptures (which attest resurrection) or the power of God (whose eschatological order transcends the social institutions of this age).