Markus 3:21

3:21 When his family ¹  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Markus 5:31

5:31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”

Matius 15:23

15:23 But he did not answer her a word. Then ²  his disciples came and begged him, ³  “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.”

Matius 16:22

16:22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: ⁴  “God forbid, ⁵  Lord! This must not happen to you!”

[3:21]  ¹ 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.

[15:23]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[15:23]  ³ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ⁴ tn Grk “began to rebuke him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “Merciful to you.” A highly elliptical expression: “May God be merciful to you in sparing you from having to undergo [some experience]” (L&N 88.78). A contemporary English equivalent is “God forbid!”