When people rise from the dead, there is no marrying or being married; but they are as angels in heaven.
to not be somethinged
or not be somethingized
is not to say what isto make an analogy
presumes an accuracy
about what is like whatwe are not to be married
to one another only
but marriage is a messageevery marriage made in heaven
is an announcement
a glad tiding of partnershippartnership resurrects
ritualized social constructs
deconstructing back to life
The rising spoken of here is not about the seven brothers and one woman, but is generally impersonal about some future event that would include all who rose.
Rather than keep the male power here as those who marry and diminish female power by having them be given in marriage by another male, it is simpler to translate this as “neither shall they marry nor shall they be married” (Bratcher379). This steps us outside the limits of the original question and can apply in any culture that includes “marriage”.
With reference to angels we are right back at the beginning with Isaiah’s formal messenger (1:2), a helpful presence in the wilderness (1:13), and additional reference points at 8:38, 12:25, 13:27, 32.
Just as we need to take care with questions, we need to not incorporate into an image of angels the characteristics of ceramic figurines, Christmas ornaments, or a general sense of light. If we are not to limit G*D by our imagination of what rising in resurrection might mean, we are likewise bound to not let our imaginations limit what a partnership with G*D might be like if that partnership is described as angelic in nature.
It will be alright to make a jump here that sees an angelic presence that parallels Jesus’ call to live a living word. This side of rising we find all manner of ways to dismiss larger questions in favor of speculation about smaller details. One way to describe the difference between pre- and post-rising returns us to the wilderness scene where beasts (pre-) and angels (post-) were present. Everyone carries a rising along with them, tamping it down or encouraging its emergence. The mutuality of partnership acknowledges us as both beasts and angels.