Mark 3:21

Footnotes

1. 43 Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ (hoi par’ aujtou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou hoi grammateis kai hoi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary. On the meaning “family” for οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ (hoi par’ autou), see παρά A.3.b.β.ב. The incident involving the religious leaders accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil (3:22–30) is sandwiched between Mark’s mention of Jesus’ family coming to restrain him (the Greek word for restrain here is also used to mean arrest; see Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46, 49, 51) because they thought he was out of his mind (3:21). It is probably Mark’s intention in this structure to show that Jesus’ family is to be regarded as not altogether unlike the experts in the law [scribes] in their perception of the true identity of Jesus; they are incorrect in their understanding of him as well. The tone is obviously one of sadness and the emphasis on Jesus’ true family in vv. 31–35 serves to underscore the comparison between his relatives and the scribes on the one hand, and those who truly obey God on the other.