Matthew 12:47-50

12:47 ¹  Someone ²  told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting ³  to speak to you.” 12:48 To the one who had said this, Jesus ⁴  replied, ⁵  “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 12:49 And pointing ⁶  toward his disciples he said, “Here ⁷  are my mother and my brothers! 12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is ⁸  my brother and sister and mother.”

[12:47]  ¹ tc A few ancient mss and versions lack this verse (א* B L Γ pc ff¹ k sy^s,c sa). The witness of א and B is especially strong, but internal considerations override this external evidence. Both v. 46 and 47 end with the word λαλῆσαι (“to speak”), so early scribes probably omitted the verse through homoioteleuton. The following verses make little sense without v. 47; its omission is too hard a reading. Thus v. 47 was most likely part of the original text.

[12:47]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ³ tn Grk “seeking.”

[12:48]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:48]  ⁵ tn Grk “And answering, he said to the one who had said this.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) at the beginning of the clause has not been translated.

[12:49]  ⁶ tn Grk “extending his hand.”

[12:49]  ⁷ tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.”

[12:50]  ⁸ tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.