Mark 2:21

2:21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse.

Mark 3:31-35

Jesus’ True Family

3:31 Then ¹  Jesus’ ²  mother and his brothers ³  came. Standing ⁴  outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 3:32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers ⁵  are outside looking for you.” 3:33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ⁶  3:34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here ⁷  are my mother and my brothers! 3:35 For whoever does the will of God is ⁸  my brother and sister and mother.”

Luke 8:10

8:10 He ⁹  said, “You have been given ¹⁰  the opportunity to know ¹¹  the secrets ¹²  of the kingdom of God, ¹³  but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. ¹⁴ 

Luke 8:19-21

Jesus’ True Family

8:19 Now Jesus’ ¹⁵  mother and his brothers ¹⁶  came to him, but ¹⁷  they could not get near him because of the crowd. 8:20 So ¹⁸  he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 8:21 But he replied ¹⁹  to them, “My mother and my brothers are those ²⁰  who hear the word of God and do it.” ²¹ 

[3:31]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[3:31]  ² tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:31]  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.

[3:31]  ⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:32]  ⁵ 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.

[3:33]  ⁶ 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.

[3:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.”

[3:35]  ⁸ tn The pleonastic pronoun οὗτος (Jouto", “this one”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[8:10]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:10]  ¹⁰ tn This is an example of a so-called “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[8:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “it has been given to you to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[8:10]  ¹² tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[8:10]  ¹³ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[8:10]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[8:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:19]  ¹⁶ 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.

[8:19]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:20]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the sequence of events.

[8:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he replied.”

[8:21]  ²⁰ tn There is some discussion about the grammar of this verse in Greek. If “these” is the subject, then it reads, “These are my mother and brothers, those who.” If “these” is a nominative absolute, which is slightly more likely, then the verse more literally reads, “So my mother and brothers, they are those who.” The sense in either case is the same.

[8:21]  ²¹ sn Hearing and doing the word of God is another important NT theme: Luke 6:47-49; Jas 1:22-25.