The Meaning of Mark 3:31 Explained

Mark 3:31

KJV: There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

YLT: Then come do his brethren and mother, and standing without, they sent unto him, calling him,

Darby: And his brethren and his mother come, and standing without sent to him calling him.

ASV: And there come his mother and his brethren; and, standing without, they sent unto him, calling him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

There came  then  his  brethren  and  his mother,  and,  standing  without,  sent  unto  him,  calling  him. 

What does Mark 3:31 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Mary, along with Jesus" half-brothers, finally arrived from Nazareth (cf. Mark 3:20-21). By inserting Jesus" conflict with the scribes in this story Mark heightened the readers" suspense about the results of Jesus" conflict with His family. Perhaps the house where Jesus was was so full of people that His family could not get in but had to send word to Him that they had arrived. This approach reflects normal family relationships. Jesus" mother and brothers were not being rude but were expecting that Jesus would acknowledge their presence by respectfully coming out to meet them. They wanted to talk to Him privately and to restrain His activity.

Context Summary

Mark 3:20-35 - Brother To All Who Will
The Pharisees circulated this infamous charge-not because they believed it, but to satisfy the questions that were being asked on all sides. What they affirmed they knew to be untrue; but for selfish reasons they would not confess what they really thought. Such denial of truth is a deadly and unpardonable sin, because it injures the sensitiveness of conscience and produces moral death.
Family ties, Mark 3:31-35. The family of Jesus needed to be taught, though with the utmost delicacy, that they must not attempt to control His public ministry. All who love God and do His will are welcomed into the divine family circle and become blood relations of the Son of God.
The sower, Mark 4:1-9. Note the perils of the hearer, that you may guard against the waste of precious seed. There is a grave peril in the effect of light, fanciful, wandering thoughts. There is great peril also in a mere emotional response-the "straightway springing up" which has no root, because the heart is hard. There is danger lest the cares of the poor, the riches of the wealthy, and the too eager pursuit of things by other classes may drain away the strength of the soul, so that the Word of God shall be a slender stalk, without an ear or fruit. It is not enough to hear the Word, we must accept it and bear fruit; otherwise the plowing, sowing, and all the operations of nature are in vain. Live up to what you know. Obedience is the key to understanding. [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 3

1  Jesus heals the withered hand,
10  and many other infirmities;
11  rebukes the unclean spirit;
13  chooses his twelve apostles;
22  convinces the blasphemy of casting out demons by Beelzebub;
31  and shows who are his brother, sister, and mother

Greek Commentary for Mark 3:31

Standing without [εχω στηκοντες]
A late present from the perfect εστηκα — hestēka Pathetic picture of the mother and brothers standing on the outside of the house thinking that Jesus inside is beside himself and wanting to take him home. They were crowded out. [source]
They sent unto him, calling him [απεστειλαν προς αυτον καλουντες αυτον]
They were unwilling to disclose their errand to take him home (Swete) and so get the crowd to pass word unto Jesus on the inside, “calling him” through others. Some of the MSS. add “sisters” to mother and brothers as seeking Jesus. [source]
They sent unto him calling him, and a multitude was sitting about himDetail by Mark only; as also the words in Mark 3:34 , Looking round on them which sat round about him . []
[source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 3:31

Mark 3:21 His friends [οἱ παῤ αὐτοῦ]
Lit., they who were from beside him: i.e., by origin or birth. His mother and brethren. Compare Mark 3:31, Mark 3:32. Wyc., kinsmen. Tynd., they that belonged unto him. Not his disciples, since they were in the house with him. [source]
Mark 3:21 His friends [οι παρ αυτου]
The phrase means literally “those from the side of him (Jesus).” It could mean another circle of disciples who had just arrived and who knew of the crowds and strain of the Galilean ministry who now come at this special juncture. But the idiom most likely means the kinspeople or family of Jesus as is common in the lxx. The fact that in Mark 3:31 “his mother and his brothers” are expressly mentioned would indicate that they are “the friends” alluded to in Mark 3:21. It is a mournful spectacle to think of the mother and brothers saying, He is beside himself Second aorist active indicative intransitive. The same charge was brought against Paul (Acts 26:24; 2 Corinthians 5:13). We say that one is out of his head. Certainly Mary did not believe that Jesus was in the power of Beelzebub as the rabbis said already. The scribes from Jerusalem are trying to discount the power and prestige of Jesus (Mark 3:22). See notes on Matthew 9:32-34; and note on Matthew 10:25; and note on Matthew 12:24 for Beelzebub and Beelzebul. Mary probably felt that Jesus was overwrought and wished to take him home out of the excitement and strain that he might get rest and proper food. See my The Mother of Jesus: Her Problems and Her Glory. The brothers did not as yet believe the pretensions and claims of Jesus (John 7:5). Herod Antipas will later consider Jesus as John the Baptist redivivus, the scribes treat him as under demonic possession, even the family and friends fear a disordered mind as a result of overstrain. It was a crucial moment for Jesus. His family or friends came to take him home, to lay hold of him (kratēsai), forcibly if need be. [source]
Mark 8:27 Who do men say that I am? [Τινα με λεγουσιν οι αντρωποι ειναι]
Matthew 16:13 has “the Son of Man” in place of “I” here in Mark and in Luke 9:18. He often described himself as “the Son of Man.” Certainly here the phrase could not mean merely “a man.” They knew the various popular opinions about Jesus of which Herod Antipas had heard (Mark 3:21, Mark 3:31). It was time that the disciples reveal how much they had been influenced by their environment as well as by the direct instruction of Jesus. [source]
Mark 6:6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief [και εταυμασεν δια την απιστιαν αυτων]
Aorist tense, but Westcott and Hort put the imperfect in the margin. Jesus had divine knowledge and accurate insight into the human heart, but he had human limitations in certain things that are not clear to us. He marvelled at the faith of the Roman centurion where one would not expect faith (Matthew 8:10; Luke 7:9). Here he marvels at the lack of faith where he had a right to expect it, not merely among the Jews, but in his own home town, among his kinspeople, even in his own home. One may excuse Mary, the mother of Jesus, from this unbelief, puzzled, as she probably was, by his recent conduct (Mark 3:21, Mark 3:31). There is no proof that she ever lost faith in her wonderful Son. [source]
Luke 8:11 The seed is the word of God [ο σπορος εστιν ο λογος του τεου]
The article with both subject and predicate as here means that they are interchangeable and can be turned round: The word of God is the seed. The phrase “the word of God” does not appear in Matthew and only once in Mark (Mark 7:13) and John (John 10:35), but four times in Luke (Luke 5:1; Luke 8:11, Luke 8:21; Luke 11:28) and twelve times in Acts. In Mark 4:14 we have only “the word.” In Mark 3:31 we have “the will of God,” and in Matthew 12:46 “the will of my Father” where Luke 8:21 has “the word of God.” This seems to show that Luke has the subjective genitive here and means the word that comes from God. [source]
Luke 8:19 His mother and brethren [η μητηρ και οι αδελποι αυτου]
Mark 3:31-35; Matthew 12:46-50 place the visit of the mother and brothers of Jesus before the parable of the sower. Usually Luke follows Mark‘s order, but he does not do so here. At first the brothers of Jesus (younger sons of Joseph and Mary, I take the words to mean, there being sisters also) were not unfriendly to the work of Jesus as seen in John 2:12 when they with the mother of Jesus are with him and the small group (half dozen) disciples in Capernaum after the wedding in Cana. But as Jesus went on with his work and was rejected at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-31), there developed an evident disbelief in his claims on the part of the brothers who ridiculed him six months before the end (John 7:5). At this stage they have apparently come with Mary to take Jesus home out of the excitement of the crowds, perhaps thinking that he is beside himself (Mark 3:21). They hardly believed the charge of the rabbis that Jesus was in league with Beelzebub. Certainly the mother of Jesus could give no credence to that slander. But she herself was deeply concerned and wanted to help him if possible. See discussion of the problem in my little book The Mother of Jesus and also on Mark 3:31 and Matthew 12:46. [source]
John 7:5 For even his brethren did not believe on him [ουδε γαρ οι αδελποι αυτου επιστευον εις αυτον]
Literally, “For not even were his brothers believing on him.” Imperfect tense of πιστευω — pisteuō with sad picture of the persistent refusal of the brothers of Jesus to believe in his Messianic assumptions, after the two rejections in Capernaum (Luke 4:16-31; Mark 6:1-6; Matthew 13:54-58), and also after the blasphemous accusation of being in league with Beelzebub when the mother and brothers came to take Jesus home (Mark 3:31-35; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21). The brothers here are sarcastic. [source]
Galatians 5:1 Did Christ set us free [ημας Χριστος ηλευτερωσεν]
Effective aorist active indicative of ελευτεροω — eleutheroō (from ερχομαι — erchomai to go, go free). Stand fast therefore (στηκετε ουν — stēkete oun). See Mark 3:31; 1 Corinthians 16:13 for this late word from perfect stem of ιστημι — histēmi “keep on standing therefore,” “stay free since Christ set you free.” Be not entangled again “Stop being held in by a yoke of bondage.” Common word for ensnare by trap. The Judaizers were trying to lasso the Galatians for the old yoke of Judaism. [source]
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore [στηκετε ουν]
See Mark 3:31; 1 Corinthians 16:13 for this late word from perfect stem of ιστημι — histēmi “keep on standing therefore,” “stay free since Christ set you free.” [source]
1 Thessalonians 3:8 Stand fast [στήκετε]
The sense of firm standing is derived from the context, and does not inhere in the word. In Mark 3:31; Mark 11:25, it means simply to stand. Comp. Philemon 4:1. It does not occur earlier than N.T. [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 3:31 mean?

And arrive the mother of Him the brothers outside standing sent to Him calling Him
Καὶ ἔρχονται μήτηρ αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἔξω στήκοντες ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς αὐτὸν καλοῦντες αὐτόν

ἔρχονται  arrive 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
μήτηρ  mother 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: μήτηρ  
Sense: a mother.
αὐτοῦ  of  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ἀδελφοὶ  brothers 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀδελφός  
Sense: a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother.
ἔξω  outside 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ἔξω  
Sense: without, out of doors.
στήκοντες  standing 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: στήκω  
Sense: to stand firm.
ἀπέστειλαν  sent 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἀποστέλλω 
Sense: to order (one) to go to a place appointed.
καλοῦντες  calling 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: καλέω  
Sense: to call.

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