Mark 12:26

And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) How in the bush God spake unto him.—Better, at the bush, how God spake to him. The reference to the bush, not given by St. Matthew, is common both to St. Mark and St. Luke, and the order of the words in the Greek of both shows that they point to “the bush,” not as the place in which God spoke, but as the title or heading by which the section Exodus 3 was commonly described.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:18-27 A right knowledge of the Scripture, as the fountain whence all revealed religion now flows, and the foundation on which it is built, is the best preservative against error. Christ put aside the objection of the Sadducees, who were the scoffing infidels of that day, by setting the doctrine of the future state in a true light. The relation between husband and wife, though appointed in the earthly paradise, will not be known in the heavenly one. It is no wonder if we confuse ourselves with foolish errors, when we form our ideas of the world of spirits by the affairs of this world of sense. It is absurd to think that the living God should be the portion and happiness of a man if he is for ever dead; and therefore it is certain that Abraham's soul exists and acts, though now for a time separate from the body. Those that deny the resurrection greatly err, and ought to be told so. Let us seek to pass through this dying world, with a joyful hope of eternal happiness, and of a glorious resurrection.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

How in the bush - At the burning bush. See Exodus 3:16. The meaning is, "in that part of the book of Exodus which contains the account of the burning bush. When there were no chapters and verses, it was the easiest way of quoting a book of the Old Testament "by the subject," and in this way it was often done by the Jews.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses—"even Moses" (Lu 20:37), whom they had just quoted for the purpose of entangling Him.

how in the bush God spake unto him—either "at the bush," as the same expression is rendered in Lu 20:37, that is, when he was there; or "in the [section of his history regarding the] bush." The structure of our verse suggests the latter sense, which is not unusual.

saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?—(Ex 3:6).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "12:19"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And as touching the dead, that they rise,.... For the proof of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead,

have ye not read in the book of Moses; that is, in the law of Moses; for though it was divided into five parts, it was but one book; just as the Psalms are called the Book of Psalms, Acts 1:20, and the Prophets, the Book of the Prophets, Acts 7:42. The book of Exodus is particularly intended; for the passage referred to is in Exodus 3:6,

how in the bush God spake unto him, or "out of the bush", as the Syriac and Persic versions read;

saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? See Gill on Matthew 22:31, Matthew 22:32.

Geneva Study Bible

And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 12:26. ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ Μ.: a general reference to the Pentateuch, the following phrase, ἐπὶ τοῦ βάτου, supplying a more definite reference to the exact place in the book, the section relating to the bush. “At the bush,” i.e., Exodus 3, similarly reference might be made to Exodus 15, by the title: “at the song of Moses”.—βάτος is masculine here according to the best reading; feminine in Luke 20:37. The feminine is Hellenistic, the masculine Attic. Vide Thayer’s Grimm. The word occurs in Aristophanes and in the N. T.; possibly colloquial (Kennedy, Sources of N.T.G., p. 78).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. in the book of Moses] They had brought forward the name of Moses to perplex Him, He now appeals to the same great name in order to confute them. He does not reprove them for attaching a higher importance to the Pentateuch than to the Prophets, but for not tracing the Divine Mind on the important subject of the Resurrection even there.

in the bush] i. e. in the section of the Book of Exodus (Mark 3:6) called “the Bush.” Similarly “the lament of David aver Saul and Jonathan” in 2 Samuel 1:17-27 was called “the Bow;” and Ezekiel 1:15-28 “the Chariot.” Compare also Romans 11:2; “in Elias” = the section concerning Elias. In the Koran the chapters are named after the matter they contain, and so also the Homeric poems. Wyclif alone of our English translators gives the right meaning, “Han ye not rad in the book of Moyses on the bousche, how God seide to him.”

God spake unto him, saying] On that momentous occasion, which marked an epoch in the national history, God had revealed Himself to Moses as a personal God, by the august and touching title of “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” and therefore as bearing a personal relation to these patriarchs, upon whom He had set His seal of Circumcision, and so admitted them into covenant union with Himself. How unworthy would such a title be, if He, the Eternal and Unchangeable, had revealed Himself only as the God of men who had long since crumbled to dust and passed away into annihilation! How meaningless such a Name, if the souls of men at death perished with the body, “as the cloud faileth and passeth away”! Was it possible to believe He would have deigned to call Himself the God “of dust and ashes”?

Bengel's Gnomen

Mark 12:26 Βίβλῳ, the book) The volume of Moses is mentioned in this passage; that of Isaiah in Luke 3:4; that of the Prophets, Acts 7:42; that of the Psalms, Acts 1:20.—Μωσέως, of Moses) concerning whom you have spoken, Mark 12:19.—ἐπὶ τοῦ βάτου, in the bush) A formula of quoting a section or division of Scripture, frequent with the Rabbins [Comp. Michaëlis in der Einleitung, etc., T. i. p. m. 87.—E. B.] So Pliny, “Molybdænam in plumbo dicendam,” i.e. in the chapter concerning lead [plumbus]. Furthermore, ὁ βάτος is the measure, bath; ὁ or ἡ βάτος (as ὁ or ἡ θάμνος) not an unproductive bramble, but a valuable shrubbery [place of bushes], at least in Exodus. A noble image is derived from this, Deuteronomy 33:16 [the good-will of Him, that dwelt in the bush].

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 26. - St. Mark is here careful to state that what St. Matthew describes as "the word spoken by God" was to be found in the book of Moses (Exodus 3:5), in the place concerning the Bush (ἐπὶ τῆς βάτου), as it is correctly rendered in the Revised Version. Our Lord might have brought yet clearer proofs out of Job, Daniel, Ezekiel, etc.; but in his wisdom he preferred to allege this out of Moses and the Pentateuch, because, whatever the views of the Sadducees may have been as to other parts of the Old Testament, these books of Moses they readily acknowledged. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The force of the argument is this, that "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Their souls are still alive; and if these patriarchs are still alive, there will be a resurrection. If men are to live for ever, they will, sooner or later, live again in the completeness of their being, namely, of body and soul and spirit. Our Lord would, therefore, say this: "In a few days you will put me to death; but in three days I shall rise again from the dead. And after that, in due time I shall raise them from the dead at the last day, and bring them in triumph with me into heaven." The Sadducees and the Epicureans denied the resurrection, because they denied the immortality of the soul; for these two doctrines hang together. For if the soul is immortal, then, since it naturally depends upon the body, it is necessary that the body should rise. Otherwise the soul would continue to exist in a dislocated state, and would only obtain a divided life and an imperfect existence. Hence our Lord here distinctly proves the resurrection of the body from the immortality of the soul. When he speaks of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he does not speak of their souls only, but of their whole being. Therefore, though they are for a time dead to us, yet they live to God, and sleep, as it were, because ere long God will raise them from death, as from a sleep, to a blessed and endless life. For all, though they have passed out of our sight, still live to him. Mark 12:26

Vincent's Word Studies

How in the bush God spake

An utterly wrong rendering. In the bush (ἐπὶ τοῦ βάτου), refers to a particular section in the Pentateuch, Exodus 3:2-6. The Jews were accustomed to designate portions of scripture by the most noteworthy thing contained in them. Therefore Rev., rightly, in the place concerning the bush. Wyc., in the book of Moses on the bush. The article refers to it as something familiar. Compare Romans 11:2, ἐν Ἠλίᾳ; i.e., in the section of scripture which tells of Elijah. There, however, the Rev. retains the A. V. of Elijah, and puts in in the margin.