Markus 3:21

3:21 When his family ¹  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Markus 7:31

Healing a Deaf Mute

7:31 Then ²  Jesus ³  went out again from the region of Tyre ⁴  and came through Sidon ⁵  to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. ⁶ 

Markus 9:29

9:29 He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” ⁷ 

[3:21]  ¹ tc Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ aujtou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou Joi grammatei" kai Joi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary.

[3:21]  tn On the meaning “family” for οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ autou), see BDAG 756-57 s.v. παρά A.3.b.β.ב.

[3:21]  sn The incident involving the religious leaders accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil (3:22-30) is sandwiched between Mark’s mention of Jesus’ family coming to restrain him (the Greek word for restrain here is also used to mean arrest; see Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46, 49, 51) because they thought he was out of his mind (3:21). It is probably Mark’s intention in this structure to show that Jesus’ family is to be regarded as not altogether unlike the experts in the law [scribes] in their perception of the true identity of Jesus; they are incorrect in their understanding of him as well. The tone is obviously one of sadness and the emphasis on Jesus’ true family in vv. 31-35 serves to underscore the comparison between his relatives and the scribes on the one hand, and those who truly obey God on the other.

[7:31]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:31]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:31]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[7:31]  ⁵ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[7:31]  ⁶ sn The Decapolis refers to a league of towns (originally consisting of ten; the Greek name literally means “ten towns”) whose region (except for Scythopolis) lay across the Jordan River.

[9:29]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses, even early and excellent ones (Ì^45vid א² A C D L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat co), have “and fasting” (καὶ νηστείᾳ, kai nhsteia) after “prayer” here. But this seems to be a motivated reading, due to the early church’s emphasis on fasting (TCGNT 85; cf., e.g., 2 Clem. 16:4; Pol. Phil 7:2; Did. 1:3; 7:4). That the most important witnesses (א* B), as well as a few others (0274 2427 k), lack καὶ νηστείᾳ, when a good reason for the omission is difficult to find, argues strongly for the shorter reading.