Jesus Redefines True Family
Mark 3:31-35
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Mark.3.31 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Και: CONJ
- ερχονται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,pl
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- μητηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- εξω: ADV
- στηκοντες: VERB,pres,act,ptc,nom,pl,m
- απεστειλαν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,pl
- προς: PREP
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- καλουντες: VERB,pres,act,ptc,nom,pl,m
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
Parallels
- Matthew 12:46 (verbal): Parallel narrative: Matthew records Jesus' mother and brothers standing outside and calling him (same incident as Mark 3:31); Matthew continues with Jesus' teaching about true kinship (12:49‑50).
- Luke 8:19 (verbal): Lukan parallel: Luke also reports that Jesus' mother and brothers came and stood outside seeking him; Luke explicitly links this scene to Jesus' remark about those who hear God's word (8:21).
- Mark 3:20-21 (structural): Immediate Markan context: earlier verses describe the crowd and his family’s alarm—they come because people said he was 'out of his mind' and sought to seize him—showing domestic tension behind v.31.
- Luke 11:27-28 (thematic): Related theme: a bystander blesses Jesus' mother, but Jesus redefines blessing in terms of hearing and keeping God's word—echoes the Mark/Matthew/Luke motif that spiritual kinship supersedes biological family ties.
Alternative generated candidates
- And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
- And his mother and his brothers came; and they stood outside and sent to him, calling him.
Mark.3.32 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- εκαθητο: VERB,impf,mid,ind,3,sg
- περι: PREP
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- οχλος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- λεγουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
- αυτω·Ιδου: PRON,dat,sg,3+INTJ
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- μητηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- σου: PRON,gen,sg,2
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- σου: PRON,gen,sg,2
- εξω: ADV
- ζητουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
- σε: PRON,acc,sg,2
Parallels
- Matthew 12:46-50 (verbal): Nearly identical account: Jesus is told his mother and brothers are outside, and he uses the occasion to teach about true kinship in terms of doing God's will.
- Luke 8:19-21 (verbal): Parallel report in Luke of Jesus' mother and brothers seeking him and Jesus' response that his true family are those who hear God's word and obey it.
- Mark 3:31-35 (structural): Immediate literary context: verses before and after 3:32 form the narrative unit where Jesus redefines family, responding to the report that his biological relatives are outside.
- John 7:3-5 (thematic): Jesus' brothers are depicted elsewhere as urging him to go publicly to Judea (and not believing in him), echoing the theme of family members interacting with or seeking Jesus in ways that contrast with his mission.
- Matthew 10:34-37 (thematic): Teaching that allegiance to Jesus may set followers against family ties; thematically related to the Mark passage's emphasis on spiritual kinship superseding biological relationships.
Alternative generated candidates
- And a crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you."
- And a crowd was sitting around him listening, and they told him, 'Look—your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.'
Mark.3.33 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- αποκριθεις: VERB,aor,pass,ptc,nom,sg,m
- αυτοις: PRO,dat,pl,3
- λεγει·Τις: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- μητηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
Parallels
- Matthew 12:48-50 (verbal): Direct parallel saying in Matthew: Jesus asks who his mother and brothers are and identifies his disciples who do the will of the Father as his true family.
- Luke 8:20-21 (verbal): Luke's version of the saying: when told his mother and brothers are outside, Jesus redefines family as those who hear God's word and do it.
- Luke 11:27-28 (thematic): A bystander's praise of Jesus' mother is met by Jesus' reply that blessing belongs to those who hear and keep God's word, echoing the theme of redefined kinship.
- Mark 3:31-35 (structural): Immediate Markan context: the arrival of Jesus' mother and brothers and his pronouncement that whoever does God's will is his brother, sister, and mother; this passage is the pericope containing 3:33.
Alternative generated candidates
- But he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"
- And he answered, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?'
Mark.3.34 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- περιβλεψαμενος: PART,aor,mid,nom,sg,m
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- περι: PREP
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- κυκλω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- καθημενους: VERB,pres,mid,ptc,acc,m,pl
- λεγει·Ιδε: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- μητηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- μου·: PRON,gen,sg,1
Parallels
- Matthew 12:46-50 (quotation): Nearly identical episode and wording: Jesus is informed his mother and brothers are outside, then declares that his true family are those who do the will of his Father (verbal and narrative parallel).
- Luke 8:19-21 (verbal): Luke records the same incident with similar phrasing—Jesus redefines family in terms of hearing and doing God's word, closely paralleling Mark's formulation.
- Mark 3:35 (structural): The immediate follow-up verse in Mark explicitly gives the defining clause—'whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother'—completing the meaning of 3:34 within the same pericope.
- John 19:26-27 (thematic): At the cross Jesus addresses his mother and entrusts her to the beloved disciple; while different in occasion, it engages the theme of Jesus' relationship to his biological mother and the reordering of familial ties.
- Matthew 10:37 (thematic): Jesus' teaching that one must prefer loyalty to him over family similarly foregrounds discipleship and divine allegiance as redefining family bonds, echoing the priority expressed in Mark 3:34–35.
Alternative generated candidates
- And looking around at those who were seated about him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!"
- And stretching out his hand toward his disciples he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers!'
Mark.3.35 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ος: PRON,nom,sg,m
- γαρ: PART
- αν: PART
- ποιηση: VERB,aor,act,subj,3,sg
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- θελημα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- θεου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ουτος: PRON,nom,sg,m
- αδελφος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- και: CONJ
- αδελφη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- και: CONJ
- μητηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- Matthew 12:50 (verbal): Nearly identical saying; Jesus declares that those who do the will of God are his brother, sister, and mother — direct verbal parallel.
- Luke 8:21 (structural): Jesus redefines family as those who hear God's word and do it, echoing Mark's emphasis on obedience as constitutive of kinship.
- James 1:22 (thematic): Urges believers to be 'doers of the word, not hearers only,' aligning with Mark's focus on action (doing God's will) as decisive.
- John 15:14 (thematic): Links obedience to relational status with Jesus: those who keep his commandments are his friends, paralleling Mark's connection between doing God's will and belonging to Jesus' family.
- 1 John 2:3-6 (thematic): Maintains that keeping God's commandments is the evidence of knowing and abiding in Christ, resonating with Mark's claim that doing God's will identifies one as Jesus' kin.
Alternative generated candidates
- For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and my sister and my mother.
- 'For whoever does the will of God, that one is my brother and sister and mother.'
And his mother and his brothers came, and they stood outside. And the crowd had gathered about him, and they said to him, 'Behold, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.' And he answered, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' And looking about at those seated around him he said, 'Behold my mother and my brothers!'
For whoever does the will of God, that one is my brother and my sister and my mother.