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 4:33

The Use of Parables

4:33 So ²  with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear.

Markus 5:36

5:36 But Jesus, paying no attention to what was said, told the synagogue ruler, “Do not be afraid; just believe.”

Markus 6:29

6:29 When John’s ³  disciples heard this, they came and took his body and placed it in a tomb.

Markus 12:37

12:37 If David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” ⁴  And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

Markus 16:11

16:11 And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

[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.

[4:33]  ² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[6:29]  ³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:37]  ⁴ tn Grk “David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how is he his son?” The conditional nuance, implicit in Greek, has been made explicit in the translation (cf. Matt 22:45).