Matthew 12:48

But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
he	ὁ ho	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular masculine
answered	ἀποκριθεὶς apokritheis	G611	to conclude for oneself · verb — aorist passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
said	εἶπεν eipen	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
told	ἔπω épō	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing)
him	αὐτῷ· autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
Who	τίς tis	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
my	μοῦ moû	G3450	of me
mother	μήτηρ mētēr	G3384	a "mother" (literally or figuratively · noun — nominative singular feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
who	τίνες tines	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative plural masculine
are	εἰσί eisí	G1526	they are
my	μοῦ moû	G3450	of me
brethren	ἀδελφοί adelphoi	G80	a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — nominative plural masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Mark 3:32-33 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Deuteronomy 33:9 Who 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 the…
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Luke 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
John 2:3-4 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no mor…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 12:46–end

Many excellent, useful sayings came from the mouth of our Lord Jesus upon particular occasions; even his digressions were instructive, as well as his set discourses: as here, Observe, I. How Christ was interrupted in his preaching by his mother and his brethren, that stood without, desiring to speak with him (Mat 12:40, Mat 12:47); which desire of theirs was conveyed to him through the crowd. It is needless to enquire which of his brethren they were that came along with his mother (perhaps they were those who did not believe in him, Joh 7:5); or what their business was; perhaps it was only designed to oblige him to break off, for fear he should fatigue himself, or to caution him to take heed…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 12:47

Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee, &c.--Absorbed in the awful warnings He was pouring forth. He felt this to be an unseasonable interruption, fitted to dissipate the impression made upon the large audience--such an interruption as duty to the nearest relatives did not require Him to give way to. But instead of a direct rebuke, He seizes on the incident to convey a sublime lesson, expressed in a style of inimitable condescension.

John Gill on Matthew 12:48

But he answered and said unto him that told him,.... Of his mother and brethren being without doors, desiring, and waiting to speak to him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? These questions are put, not as if he himself was ignorant who were his mother or his brethren; or as suggesting as if he had none; or as denying that these were in such a relation to him; or as casting any slight upon them; or as intending to teach men disrespect to parents and kindred, according to the flesh; but as displeased with the man, or men, for interrupting him in his work; and to let them know, that the business of his heavenly Father was preferred by him to any his natural relations could have with…

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The Church Fathers

And He cannot be held to have thought meanly of His mother, seeing that in His passion He evinced the most extreme carefulness for her.
— Hilary of Poitiers ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

They say that He testifies Himself to His not having been born, when He asks, "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? " In this manner heretics either wrest plain and simple words to any sense they choose by their conjectures, or else they violently resolve by a literal interpretation words which imply a conditional sense and are incapable of a simple solution, as in this passage.
— Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV

For He said not, Go and say unto her, She is not My mother, but continues His discourse to him that had brought Him word; as it follows; But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? But had He desired to disown His mother, He would have done it at the time when the Jews cast His birth in His teeth.
— John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Mary — Hebrew Miriam. (1.) The wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus, called the “Virgin Mary,” though never so designated in Scripture (Matt. 2:11; Acts 1:14). Little is known of her personal history. Her…
Fellowship · WITH CHRIST — WITH CHRIST

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Matthew 12:48

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 12:46–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 12:47

John Gill on Matthew 12:48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Matthew 12:48

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 12:46–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 12:47

John Gill on Matthew 12:48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Matthew 12:46–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 12:48-50