Text -- Mark 3:32-35 (NET)

3:32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 3:33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 3:34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 3:35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mar 3:32

¹ 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.

NET Notes: Mar 3:33

¹ 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.

NET Notes: Mar 3:34

¹ tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.”

NET Notes: Mar 3:35

¹ tn The pleonastic pronoun οὗτος (Jouto", “this one”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.