Matthew 22:22-24

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Matthew 22:22 tn Grk “they were amazed.”
2. Matthew 22:23 sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
3. Matthew 22:23 sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.
4. Matthew 22:23 tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
5. Matthew 22:24 tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).
6. Matthew 22:24 sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.