Catena Aurea Commentary with Douay Rheims Bible

Mark 12:18-27
http://www.veritasbible.com/commentary/catena-aurea/Mark_12:18-27 18. Then come unto Him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked Him, saying, 19. Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a mans brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22. And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23. In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24. And Jesus answering, said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God? 25. For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 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? 27. He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

Gloss.: After that our Lord has prudently escaped the crafty temptation of the Pharisees, it is shewn how He also confounds the Sadducees, who tempt Him. Wherefore it is said: Then come unto Him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection. Theophylact: A certain heretical sect of the Jews called Sadducees denied the resurrection, and said that there was neither angel nor spirit. These then coming to Jesus, craftily proposed to Him a certain tale, in order to shew that no resurrection should take place, or had taken place; and therefore there is added, And they asked Him, saying, Master. And in this tale they lay down that seven men had married one woman, in order to make men draw back from belief in the resurrection.

Bede: And fitly do they frame such a fable in order to prove the madness of those who assert the resurrection of the body. Such a thing however might really have happened at some time or other among them.

Pseudo-Jerome: But in a mystical sense: what can this woman, leaving no seed to seven brothers, and last of all dying, mean except the Jewish synagogue, deserted by the seven-fold Spirit, which filled those seven patriarchs, who did not leave to her the seed of Abraham, that is, Jesus Christ? For although a Son was born to them, nevertheless He was given to us Gentiles. This woman was dead to Christ, nor shall she be joined in the resurrection to any patriarch of the seven; for by the number seven is meant the whole company of the faithful. Thus it is said contrariwise by Isaiah, Seven women shall take hold of one man; [Isa 4:1] that is, the seven Churches, which the Lord loves, reproves, and chastises, adore

Him with one faith. Wherefore it goes on: And Jesus answering, said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, not knowing the Scripture, neither the power of God?

Theophylact: As if He had said, Ye understand not what sort of a resurrection the Scriptures announce; for ye believe that there will be a restoration of our bodies, such as they are now, but it shall not be so. Thus then ye know not the Scriptures; neither again do ye know the power of God; for ye consider it as a difficult thing, saying, How can the limbs, which have been scattered, be united together and joined to the soul? But this in respect to the Divine power is as nothing. There follows: For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven; as if He had said, there will be a certain heavenly and angelic restoration to life, when there shall be no more decay, and we shall remain unchanged; and for this reason marriage shall cease. For marriage now exists on account of our decay, that we may be carried on by succession of our race, and not fail; but then we shall be as the Angels, who need no succession by marriage, and never come to an end.

Bede: We must here consider that the Latin custom does not answer to the Greek idiom. For properly different words are used for the marriage of men, and that of women; but here we may simply understand that, marry, is meant of men, and given in marriage of women.

Pseudo-Jerome: Thus then they do not understand the Scripture, in that in the resurrection, men shall be as the Angels of God, that is, no man there dies, no one is born, no infant is there, no old men.

Theophylact: In another way also they are deceived, not understanding the Scriptures; for if they had understood them, they should also have understood how by the Scriptures the resurrection of the dead may be proved:

3 Kings 17 24 Elias and the widow of Sarephtas son

17 And it came to pass after this that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was so that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? art thou come to me that my iniquities should and that thou shouldst kill my son? 19 And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber and laid him upon his own bed.

20 And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, hast thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort m so as to kill her son?

21 And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God let the soul of this child, I beseech thee, return into his body. 22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived.

23 And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to h and said to her: Behold thy son liveth.

24 And the woman said to Elias: Now, by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth

4 Kings 4: 8-37 Elisha and son of the Shunamite woman

8 And there was a day when Eliseus passed by Sunam: now there was a great woman there, who detained him to eat and as he passed often that way, he turned into her house to eat bread.

9 And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who often passeth by us.

10 Let us therefore make him a little chamber, and put a little bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candles that when he cometh to us, he may abide there. 11 Now there was a certain day when he came and turned in to the chamber, and rested there. 12 And he said to Giezi his servant Call this Sunamitess. And when he had called her, and she stood before him,

13 He said to his servant: Say to her Behold thou hast diligently served us in all things, what wilt thou have me to do f hast thou any business, and wilt thou that I speak to the king, or to the general of the army? And she answered: I dwell in the midst of my own people. 14 And he said: What will she then that I do for her? And Giezi said: Do not ask, for she hath no son, and her husband 15 Then he bid him call her: And when she was called, and stood before the door.

16 He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life accompany, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answ Do not, I beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid. 17 And the woman conceived, and brought forth a son in the time, and at the same hour, that Eliseus had said. 18 And the child grew. And on a certain day, when he went out to his father to the reapers,

19 He said to his father: My head acheth, my head acheth. But he said to his servant: Take him, and carry him to his m

20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, she set him on her knees until noon, and then he died 21 And she went up and laid him upon the bed of the man of God, and shut the door: and going out,

22 She called her husband, and said: Send with me, I beseech thee, one of thy servants, and an ass that I may run to t and come again. 23 And he said to her: Why dost thou go to him? today is neither new moon nor sabbath. She answered: I will go.

24 And she saddled an ass, and commanded her servant: Drive, and make haste, make no stay in going. And do that w

25 So she went forward, and came to the man of God to mount Carmel: and when the man of God saw her coming tow he said to Giezi his servant: Behold that Sunamitess.

26 Go therefore to meet her, and say to her: Is all well with thee, and with thy husband, and with thy son? and she ans

27 And when she came to the man of God to the mount, she caught hold on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of God said: Let her alone for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told m 28 And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to thee: Do not deceive me?

29 Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of th

30 But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, 31 But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen. 32 Eliseus therefore went into the house, and behold the child lay dead on his bed. 33 And going in he shut the door upon him, and upon the child, and prayed to the Lord.

34 And he went up, and lay upon the child: and he put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he bowed himself upon him, and the child's flesh grew 35 Then he returned and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he went up, and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened his eyes.

36 And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And she being called, went in to him: and he said: Take u 37 She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground: and took up her son, and went out.

Wherefore He adds, And as touching the dead, that they rise,[as above] 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?[present tense, as in they are still living, despite Moses lived at least two generations after Jacob, the father of Joseph, or 300-500 years]

Pseudo-Jerome: But I say, in the bush, which is an image of you; for in it the fire was kindled, but it did not consume its thorns; so my words set you on fire, but do not burn off your thorns, which have grown under the curse.

Theophylact: But I say, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As if He had said, The God of the living, wherefore He adds, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for He did not say, I have been, but I am, as if they had been present. But some one perhaps will say, that God spake this only of the soul of Abraham, not of his body; to which I answer, that Abraham implies both, that is, soul and body, so that He also is the God of the body, and the body lives with God, that is, in Gods ordinance.

Bede: Or else; because after proving that the soul remained after death, (for God could not be God of those who did not exist at all,) the resurrection of the body also might be inferred as a consequence, since it had done good and evil with the soul. Pseudo-Jerome: But when He says, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; by naming God thrice, He implied the Trinity. But when He says, He is not the God of the dead, by naming again the One God, He implies One Substance. But they live who make good the portion, which they had chosen; and they are dead, who have lost what they had made good. Ye therefore do greatly err. Gloss.: That is, because they contradicted the Scriptures, and derogated from the power of God. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derogate
1.

to detract, as from authority, estimation, etc. (usually followed by from ). 2. to stray in character or conduct; degenerate (usually followed by from ). verb (used with object) 3. to disparage or belittle. 4. Archaic. to take away (a part) so as to impair the whole.