Matius 12:46-50

Jesus’ True Family

12:46 While Jesus ¹  was still speaking to the crowds, ²  his mother and brothers ³  came and ⁴  stood outside, asking ⁵  to speak to him. 12:47 ⁶  Someone ⁷  told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting ⁸  to speak to you.” 12:48 To the one who had said this, Jesus ⁹  replied, ¹⁰  “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 12:49 And pointing ¹¹  toward his disciples he said, “Here ¹²  are my mother and my brothers! 12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is ¹³  my brother and sister and mother.”

Markus 3:21

3:21 When his family ¹⁴  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Markus 3:31-35

Jesus’ True Family

3:31 Then ¹⁵  Jesus’ ¹⁶  mother and his brothers ¹⁷  came. Standing ¹⁸  outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 3:32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers ¹⁹  are outside looking for you.” 3:33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ²⁰  3:34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here ²¹  are my mother and my brothers! 3:35 For whoever does the will of God is ²²  my brother and sister and mother.”

[12:46]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:46]  ² tn Grk “crowds, behold, his mother.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[12:46]  ³ sn The issue of whether Jesus had brothers (siblings) has had a long history in the church. Epiphanius, in the 4th century, argued that Mary was a perpetual virgin and had no offspring other than Jesus. Others argued that these brothers were really cousins. Nothing in the text suggests any of this. See also John 7:3.

[12:46]  ⁴ tn “His mother and brothers came and” is a translation of “behold, his mother and brothers came.”

[12:46]  ⁵ tn Grk “seeking.”

[12:47]  ⁶ tc A few ancient mss and versions lack this verse (א* B L Γ pc ff¹ k sy^s,c sa). The witness of א and B is especially strong, but internal considerations override this external evidence. Both v. 46 and 47 end with the word λαλῆσαι (“to speak”), so early scribes probably omitted the verse through homoioteleuton. The following verses make little sense without v. 47; its omission is too hard a reading. Thus v. 47 was most likely part of the original text.

[12:47]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ⁸ tn Grk “seeking.”

[12:48]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:48]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And answering, he said to the one who had said this.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) at the beginning of the clause has not been translated.

[12:49]  ¹¹ tn Grk “extending his hand.”

[12:49]  ¹² tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.”

[12:50]  ¹³ tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[3:21]  ¹⁴ tc Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ aujtou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou Joi grammatei" kai Joi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary.

[3:21]  tn On the meaning “family” for οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ autou), see BDAG 756-57 s.v. παρά A.3.b.β.ב.

[3:21]  sn The incident involving the religious leaders accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil (3:22-30) is sandwiched between Mark’s mention of Jesus’ family coming to restrain him (the Greek word for restrain here is also used to mean arrest; see Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46, 49, 51) because they thought he was out of his mind (3:21). It is probably Mark’s intention in this structure to show that Jesus’ family is to be regarded as not altogether unlike the experts in the law [scribes] in their perception of the true identity of Jesus; they are incorrect in their understanding of him as well. The tone is obviously one of sadness and the emphasis on Jesus’ true family in vv. 31-35 serves to underscore the comparison between his relatives and the scribes on the one hand, and those who truly obey God on the other.

[3:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[3:31]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:31]  ¹⁷ sn The issue of whether Jesus had brothers (siblings) has had a long history in the church. Epiphanius, in the 4th century, argued that Mary was a perpetual virgin and had no offspring other than Jesus. Others argued that these brothers were really cousins. Nothing in the text suggests any of this. See also John 7:3.

[3:31]  ¹⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:32]  ¹⁹ tc ‡ Many mss read “and your sisters” here after “your brothers” (A D Γ 700 pm it). However, the pedigree of several of the mss which lack this phrase is considerable (א B C K L W Δ Θ Ë^1,13 28 33 565 892 1241 1424 2542 pm lat sy). It seems likely that this phrase was added by an early Western scribe to harmonize this statement with Jesus’ response in v. 35. NA²⁷ has the words in brackets, indicating some doubt as to their authenticity.

[3:33]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Who is my mother and my brothers?” The use of the singular verb ἐστιν (estin) here singles out Mary above Jesus’ brothers, giving her special prominence (see ExSyn 401-2). This is slightly unnatural in English since the predicate nominative is plural, though, so a plural verb was used in the translation.

[3:34]  ²¹ tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.”

[3:35]  ²² tn The pleonastic pronoun οὗτος (Jouto", “this one”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.