Matthew 12:47

Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:46-50 Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that to-morrow is not ours. We often meet with hinderances in our work from friends about us, and are taken off by care for the things of this life, from the concerns of our souls. Christ was so intent on his work, that no natural or other duty took him from it. Not that, under pretence of religion, we may be disrespectful to parents, or unkind to relations; but the lesser duty must stand by, while the greater is done. Let us cease from men, and cleave to Christ; let us look upon every Christian, in whatever condition of life, as the brother, sister, or mother of the Lord of glory; let us love, respect, and be kind to them, for his sake, and after his example.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See also Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21.

His brethren - There has been some difference of opinion about the persons who are referred to here, some supposing that they were children of Mary his mother, others that they were the children of Mary, the wife of Cleophas or Alpheus, his "cousins," and called "brethren" according to the customs of the Jews. The natural and obvious meaning is, however, that they were the children of Mary his mother. See also Mark 6:3. To this opinion, moreover, there can be no valid objection.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Matthew 12:50".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then one said unto him,.... Either one of his auditors, or, as the Ethiopic version has it, one "of his disciples": the other evangelists intimate, that more than one acquainted him with it; which is easily reconciled: for, upon his mother and brethren calling to him, as Mark says they did; first one and then another, and more, might apprise him of it, and especially as he did not immediately go out unto them.

Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee: whether this message was carried at the request of the mother and brethren of Christ, and delivered in a simple manner, and with an honest intention; or whether it was officiously done, and with a design to interrupt him, and to try him, whether he would prefer his natural relations, and their society and conversation, to the spiritual work in which he was engaged, in doing good to the souls of men, is not certain; the latter seems probable, from the following words, and conduct of Christ. Some copies read, "desiring to see thee".

Geneva Study Bible

Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Matthew 12:47 (wanting in [77][78][79]) states what is implied in Matthew 12:48 (τῷ λέγοντι), hat some one reported to Jesus the presence of His relatives.

[77] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[78] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[79] Codex Regius--eighth century, represents an ancient text, and is often in agreement with א and B.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

47. thy brethren] It is a point of controversy whether these were (1) the own brothers of Jesus, sons of Joseph and Mary, or (2) sons of Joseph by a former marriage, or (3) cousins, sons of a sister of Mary. Their names are given ch. Matthew 13:55, where see note.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 47. - Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. The verse is omitted by the Sinaitic manuscript (original hand), the Vatican, and a few others; also by the Old Syriac and some manuscripts of the Old Latin Version. It is clearly an insertion to bridge over the "seeking" of ver. 46 and "him that told him" of ver. 48. Matthew 12:47