Answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”
Parallel translations
- WEB He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
- KJV And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
- BSB But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”
- NKJV But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or 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 3:21When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him: for they said, “He is insane.”
- Mark 6:3Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judah, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” They were offended at him.
- Deut 33:9He said of his father, and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him.’ He didn’t acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for they have observed your word, and keep your covenant.
- 2 Cor 5:16Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.
- Luke 2:49He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
- John 2:4Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.”
- John 7:3–5His brothers therefore said to him, “Depart from here, and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.