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The words translated "the resurrection of the dead" in Heb. 6: 2 are in the original
anastaseos nekron. Let us trace the use of these words in other passages. We are
aware that one of the great differences between the Sadducees and the Pharisees was that
the former denied the resurrection, whereas the latter believed it (Matt. 22: 23). In
Acts 23: 6 we read, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the
hope and resurrection of the dead (anastasis nekron) I am called in question". Again in
Acts 24: 21 he says, "touching the resurrection of (the) dead (anastaseos nekron) I am
called in question". In reference to this he had said, "believing all things which are
written in the Law and in the Prophets, and have hope toward God, which they themselves
also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust".
These passages give us the belief of the orthodox Jew, founded upon the Law and the
Prophets.
John 11: 24 shows us that the sister of Lazarus entertained the same belief. "Martha
saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day". The
same Gospel gives Christ's own words on this subject in John 5: 28, 29, "The hour is
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth,
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of judgment". Hitherto, all the passages quoted are in keeping with
Heb. 6: 2. Turning now to Mark 9: 9, 10 we shall discover something which will
throw light upon Heb. 6::
"And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell
no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from among the dead
(ek nekron). And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another
what the rising from the dead should mean."
If the Pharisees, Martha and the Jews generally, believed the resurrection of the dead,
we may be certain that these disciples believed it too. What then was their difficulty?
Wherein was the need for questioning? "That saying" certainly contained a problem for
them, and it is found in the little word ek translated "from".
They, in common with the majority, believed in a resurrection of the dead at the last
day, but this statement as to a resurrection "out from among the dead" was something
new. In Luke 16: 31 it is said, "If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose out from among the dead" (ek nekron). The sign of
the prophet Jonah was the only sign which God would vouchsafe to that sinful
generation. After the Lord Jesus had been crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, the
words of Luke 16: 31 proved only too true.
The apostles, during their ministry in the Acts, emphasized the resurrection of the
Lord, but it was rejected. We have such words from Peter concerning Christ, "Whom
God raised up"; "this Jesus hath God raised up". In connection with the healing of the
lame man (Acts 3: 13-15) Peter says, "God . . . . . hath glorified His Son Jesus . . . . . God
hath raised Him out from among the dead" (ek nekron). The Sadducees were grieved that
"they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection out from among the
dead" (Acts 4: 1, 2, 10).