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Matthew 12:47
ESV
NIV Someone told him, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.'
NASB [ Someone said to Him, 'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.']
CSB Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."
NLT Someone told Jesus, 'Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you.'
KJV Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

What does Matthew 12:47 mean?

This verse is not included in some early manuscripts of Matthew's gospel. Scholars think it might have been mistakenly added by some copyists, or included to harmonize the account with Mark. The translators of the English Standard Version (ESV) have chosen not to include it, though it does appear in the New International Version (NIV) and others.

This verse repeats the end of the previous verse in the form of someone giving Jesus the message that His mother and brothers were outside wanting to speak to Him. What Matthew does not include that Mark's version of this story does is that the family had come to "take charge" of Jesus. They said, "He is out of his mind" (Mark 3:21).

This additional information tells us two things. First, Jesus' family did not yet believe that He was the Messiah (or they would not have said He was out of His mind). Second, they were still concerned about Him and either wanted to help Him or to remove Him from the public eye and further embarrassment. There's no way to know.

Once Jesus is told they are outside waiting for Him, he says a surprising thing about family (Matthew 12:48).
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