And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Parallel translations
- WEB He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
- BSB But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”
- NKJV But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”
- NASB Answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”
- NLT Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
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
Jesus asks, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' It matters because it redirects family loyalty toward a deeper, spiritual kinship.
Overview
Far from dishonoring his family, Jesus uses the question to teach that the closest ties are spiritual. He prepares to define his true relatives not by blood but by obedience to God. This reframing invites all people into the family of God through faith, a bond that transcends natural relationships.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Mark 3:21And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
- Mark 6:3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
- Deut 33:9Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
- 2 Cor 5:16Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
- Luke 2:49And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
- John 2:4Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
- John 7:3–5His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 3:33 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.