Matthew 12:46
New International Version
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.

New Living Translation
As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.

English Standard Version
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.

Berean Standard Bible
While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him.

Berean Literal Bible
Now while He was speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

King James Bible
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

New King James Version
While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.

New American Standard Bible
While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

NASB 1995
While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

NASB 1977
While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

Legacy Standard Bible
While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

Amplified Bible
While He was still talking to the crowds, it happened that His mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him.

Christian Standard Bible
While he was still speaking with the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to Him.

American Standard Version
While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.

Contemporary English Version
While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside because they wanted to talk with him.

English Revised Version
While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
While Jesus was still talking to the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside. They wanted to talk to him.

Good News Translation
Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him.

International Standard Version
While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.

Majority Standard Bible
While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him.

NET Bible
While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside, asking to speak to him.

New Heart English Bible
While he was yet speaking to the crowds, look, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him.

Webster's Bible Translation
While he was yet speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

Weymouth New Testament
While He was still addressing the people His mother and His brothers were standing on the edge of the crowd desiring to speak to Him.

World English Bible
While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And while He was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers had stood outside, seeking to speak to Him,

Berean Literal Bible
Now while He was speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

Young's Literal Translation
And while he was yet speaking to the multitudes, lo, his mother and brethren had stood without, seeking to speak to him,

Smith's Literal Translation
And he yet speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
As he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.

Catholic Public Domain Version
While he was still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak with him.

New American Bible
While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him.

New Revised Standard Version
While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
While he was speaking to the people, his mother and his brothers came and stood outside, and wanted to speak with him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But while he was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers came standing outside and desired to speak with him.
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood without, desiring to speak to him.

Godbey New Testament
And He yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and His brothers stood without, seeking to speak to Him.

Haweis New Testament
And while he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak to him.

Mace New Testament
Now while he was talking to the people, his mother and his brothers stood without, desiring to speak with him.

Weymouth New Testament
While He was still addressing the people His mother and His brothers were standing on the edge of the crowd desiring to speak to Him.

Worrell New Testament
While He was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and His brothers were standing without, seeking to speak to Him.

Worsley New Testament
Now as He was yet discoursing to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, and desired to speak to Him:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.” 46While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him. 47Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”…

Cross References
Mark 3:31-35
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to summon Him, / and a crowd was sitting around Him. “Look,” He was told, “Your mother and brothers are outside, asking for You.” / But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” ...

Luke 8:19-21
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see Him, but they were unable to reach Him because of the crowd. / He was told, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see You.” / But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”

John 7:3-5
So Jesus’ brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples there may see the works You are doing. / For no one who wants to be known publicly acts in secret. Since You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” / For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.

Matthew 13:55-56
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? / Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?”

Acts 1:14
With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

John 2:12
After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

John 19:25-27
Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. / When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.” / Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” So from that hour, this disciple took her into his home.

Galatians 1:19
But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

1 Corinthians 9:5
Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.

Genesis 37:9-11
Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” / He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” / And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.

Exodus 18:5-7
Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. / He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.” / So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.

Deuteronomy 33:9
He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.

1 Samuel 2:20-21
And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home. / So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

1 Samuel 22:1-4
So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. / And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him. / From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I learn what God will do for me.” ...


Treasury of Scripture

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood without, desiring to speak with him.

yet.

Mark 2:21
No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

Mark 3:31
There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

Luke 8:10,19-21
And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand…

his.

Matthew 13:55
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Mark 6:3
Is 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.

John 2:12
After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

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Addressing Crowd Crowds Desiring Edge Jesus Mother Multitudes Outside Seeking Speak Speaking Standing Stood Talk Talked Talking Wanting
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Addressing Crowd Crowds Desiring Edge Jesus Mother Multitudes Outside Seeking Speak Speaking Standing Stood Talk Talked Talking Wanting
Matthew 12
1. Jesus reproves the blindness of the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath,
3. by scripture,
9. by reason,
13. and by a miracle.
22. He heals a man possessed that was blind and mute;
24. and confronting the absurd charge of casting out demons by Beelzebub,
32. he shows that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
36. Account shall be made of idle words.
38. He rebukes the unfaithful, who seek after a sign,
46. and shows who is his brother, sister, and mother.














While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds
This phrase sets the scene for the events that follow. Jesus is actively engaged in His ministry, teaching and addressing the people gathered around Him. The Greek word for "speaking" (λαλέω, laleó) implies a continuous action, indicating that Jesus was in the midst of delivering His message. This context highlights the importance of His teachings and the attention they commanded. The crowds were often large and diverse, reflecting the widespread interest in Jesus' message and the authority with which He spoke.

His mother and brothers stood outside
The mention of "His mother and brothers" introduces a familial element to the narrative. In the Jewish culture of the time, family ties were of utmost importance, and the presence of Jesus' family members signifies a personal dimension to His public ministry. The Greek word for "stood" (ἵστημι, histémi) suggests a deliberate action, indicating that they were waiting with purpose. This scene underscores the tension between Jesus' earthly family and His spiritual mission, a theme that recurs throughout the Gospels.

wanting to speak to Him
The desire of Jesus' family to speak with Him suggests an urgency or concern. The Greek word for "wanting" (ζητέω, zéteó) conveys a sense of seeking or striving, indicating that they had a specific purpose or message to convey. This moment reflects the human aspect of Jesus' life, where familial obligations and relationships intersect with His divine mission. It also sets the stage for the teaching that follows, where Jesus redefines the concept of family in the context of the Kingdom of God.

(46) His mother and his brethren.--Who were these "brethren of the Lord?" The question is one which we cannot answer with any approximation to certainty. The facts in the Gospel records are scanty. In what we gather from the Fathers we find not so much traditions as conjectures based upon assumptions. The facts, such as they are, are these: (1.) The Greek word translated "brother" is a word which has just the same latitude as the term in English. Like that, it might be applied (as in the case of Joseph and his brethren) to half-brothers, or brothers by adoption, or used in the wider sense of national or religious brotherhood. There is no adequate evidence that the term was applied to cousins as such. (2.) The names of four brethren are given in Mark 6:3, as James (i.e., Jacob) and Joses and Juda and Simon. Three of these names (James, Juda, Simon) are found in the third group of four in the lists of the twelve Apostles. This has suggested to some the thought that they had been chosen by our Lord to that office, and the fact that a disciple bearing the name of Joses was nearly chosen to fill the place of Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:23, in many MSS.) presents another curious coincidence. This inference is, however, set aside by the fact distinctly stated by St. John (John 7:3), and implied in this narrative and in our Lord's reference to a prophet being without honour in his father's house (Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4), that up to the time of the Feast of Tabernacles that preceded the Crucifixion, within six months of the close of our Lord's ministry, His brethren did not believe in His claims to be the Christ. The names, it must be remembered, were so common that they might be found in any family. (3.) Sisters are mentioned in Mark 6:3, but we know nothing of their number, or names, or after-history, or belief or unbelief. It is clear that these facts do not enable us to decide whether the brothers and sisters were children of Mary and Joseph, or children of Joseph by a former marriage--either an actual marriage on his own account, or what was known as a Levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5), for the sake of raising up seed to a deceased brother--or the children of Mary's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas (John 19:25). The fact of the same name being borne by two sisters, as the last theory implies, though strange, is not incredible, as by names might come into play to distinguish between them. Each of these views has been maintained with much elaborate ingenuity, and by some writers these brethren, assumed to be sons of Clopas, have been identified (in spite of the above objection, which is absolutely fatal to the theory) with the sons of Alphaeus in the list of Apostles. When the course of Christian thought led to an ever-increasing reverence for the mother of the Lord, and for virginity as the condition of all higher forms of holiness, the belief in her perpetual maidenhood passed into a dogma, and drove men to fall back upon one of the other hypotheses as to the brethren. It is a slight argument in their favour, (1) that it would have been natural had there been other children borne by the mother of the Lord, that the fact should have been recorded by the Evangelists, as in the family narratives of the Old Testament (e.g., Genesis 5, 11; 1 Chronicles 1, 2), and that there is no record of any such birth in either of the two Gospels that give "the book of the generations" of Jesus; (2) that the tone of the brethren, their unbelief, their attempts to restrain Him, suggest the thought of their being elder brothers in some sense, rather than such as had been trained in reverential love for the first-born of the house; (3) that it is scarcely probable that our Lord should have committed His mother to the care of the disciple whom He loved (John 19:26) had she had children of her own, whose duty it was to protect and cherish her; (4) the absence of any later mention of the sisters at or after the time of the Crucifixion suggests the same conclusion, as falling in with the idea of the sisters and brethren being in some sense a distinct family, with divided interests; (5) lastly, though we enter here on the uncertain region of feeling, if we accept the narratives of the birth and infancy given by St. Matthew and St. Luke, it is at least conceivable that the mysterious awfulness of the work so committed to him may have led Joseph to rest in the task of loving guardianship which thus became at once the duty and the blessedness of the remainder of his life. On the whole, then, I incline to rest in the belief that the so-called "brethren" were cousins who, through some unrecorded circumstances, had been so far adopted into the household at Nazareth as to be known by the term of nearer relationship. . . . Verses 46-50 -

(2) The opposition that our Lord met with from his relations. He shows that not natural but spiritual relationship is all-important. Parallel passages: Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21. The section belonged originally to the Framework. Verse 46. - While he yet talked; while he was yet speaking (Revised Version); i.e. on the occasion which formed the basis of the preceding discourse (vers. 22-45). To the people; to the multitudes (Revised Version). Behold, his mother and his brethren (Matthew 13:55) stood without (so that he was in a house), desiring (seeking, Revised Version, ζητοῦντες, they evidently made attempts) to speak with him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
While
Ἔτι (Eti)
Adverb
Strong's 2089: (a) of time: still, yet, even now, (b) of degree: even, further, more, in addition. Perhaps akin to etos; 'yet, ' still.

[Jesus]
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

was still speaking
λαλοῦντος (lalountos)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2980: A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. Utter words.

to the
τοῖς (tois)
Article - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

crowds,
ὄχλοις (ochlois)
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3793: From a derivative of echo; a throng; by implication, the rabble; by extension, a class of people; figuratively, a riot.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

mother
μήτηρ (mētēr)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3384: A mother. Apparently a primary word; a 'mother'.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

brothers
ἀδελφοὶ (adelphoi)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 80: A brother, member of the same religious community, especially a fellow-Christian. A brother near or remote.

stood
εἱστήκεισαν (heistēkeisan)
Verb - Pluperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2476: A prolonged form of a primary stao stah'-o; to stand, used in various applications.

outside,
ἔξω (exō)
Adverb
Strong's 1854: Without, outside. Adverb from ek; out(-side, of doors), literally or figuratively.

wanting
ζητοῦντες (zētountes)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 2212: To seek, search for, desire, require, demand. Of uncertain affinity; to seek; specially, to worship, or to plot.

to speak
λαλῆσαι (lalēsai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 2980: A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. Utter words.

to Him.
αὐτῷ (autō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 12:46 While he was yet speaking to (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 12:45
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