She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.
Parallel translations
- WEB She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
- KJV And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
- NKJV And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
- NASB And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word.
- NLT Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Mary sits at Jesus' feet to hear his teaching. She takes the posture of a devoted disciple attending to the Lord's word.
Overview
Sitting at a teacher's feet was the place of a learner, a striking role for a woman of that day. Mary's focus on hearing Jesus' word marks her as a true disciple. The detail commends prioritizing attentiveness to Christ above all else.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 8:34Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.
- Luke 8:35So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
- John 12:3Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
- Acts 22:3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today.
- Deut 33:3Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—
- Luke 2:46Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
- 1 Cor 7:32–40I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.
- John 11:1At this time a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 10:39 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.