3:31 Then 1 Jesus’ 2 mother and his brothers 3 came. Standing 4 outside, they sent word to him, to summon him.
1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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.
4 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
5 tn Although the Greek subjunctive mood, formally required in a subordinate clause introduced by ἵνα ({ina), is traditionally translated by an English subjunctive (e.g., “may,” so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), changes in the use of the subjunctive in English now result in most readers understanding such a statement as indicating permission (“may” = “has permission to”) or as indicating uncertainty (“may” = “might” or “may or may not”). Thus a number of more recent translations render such instances by an English future tense (“will,” so TEV, CEV, NLT, NASB 1995 update). That approach has been followed here.