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Mark

About this book
Chapter 3

1 Then Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him. 3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent. 5 After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him. 7 Then Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him. And from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan River, and around Tyre and Sidon a great multitude came to him when they heard about the things he had done. 9 Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so the crowd would not press toward him. 10 For he had healed many, so that all who were afflicted with diseases pressed toward him in order to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. 13 Now Jesus went up the mountain and called for those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed 12 so that they would be with him and he could send them to preach 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 To Simon he gave the name Peter;⁠ 17 to James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, he gave the name Boanerges (that is, “sons of thunder”); 18 and Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 20 Now Jesus went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat. 21 When his family heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons!” 23 So he called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come.⁠ 27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man.⁠ Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.⁠ 28 I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven,⁠ but is guilty of an eternal sin” 30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”). 31 Then Jesus’ mother and his brothers came. Standing outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”⁠ 34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!⁠ 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Mark 3:34 and Mishnah Bava Metzia 2:11

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

In Mark, Jesus uses the language of fictive kinship, calling those who do God’s will his mother and brothers. Rabbinic tradition in the Mishnah uses similar language, teaching that loyalty to a master or teacher can outweigh duty to parents.

Passages

Mark 3:34

New Testament
31 Then Jesus’ mother and his brothers came. Standing outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
60–75 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mark

Mishnah Bava Metzia 2:11

Rabbinic · Mishnah
If one finds his lost item and his father’s lost item, tending to his own lost item takes precedence. Similarly, if one finds his lost item and his teacher’s lost item, tending to his own lost item takes precedence. If one finds his father’s lost item and his teacher’s lost item, tending to his teacher’s lost item takes precedence, as his father brought him into this world, and his teacher, who taught him the wisdom of Torah, brings him to life in the World-to-Come. And if his father is a Torah scholar, then his father’s lost item takes precedence. If his father and his teacher were each carrying a burden and he wants to assist them in putting down their burdens, he first places his teacher’s burden down and thereafter places his father’s burden down. If his father and his teacher were in captivity, he first redeems his teacher and thereafter redeems his father. And if his father is a Torah scholar, he first redeems his father and thereafter redeems his teacher.
190–230 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mishnah Bava Metzia

References

"... As with the case of the Christian materials, here too we focus on two points: the norm, on the one hand, and its ideological infrastructure, on the other. In the three given instances-and note the ascending order, from property loss to personal discomfort to a life-threatening situation-the master, to whom the son is to (first?) devote his attentions, is given priority over the parent. It would seem that master completely supersedes parent in the Mishnah. He is preferred over the parent in situations ranging from matters of slight significance to life-threatening ones, which is what captivity could imply in the ancient world. The Mishnah also spells out the ideological basis for this preference: the parent bestowed physical existence alone on his offspring, while the master bestowed (and continues to bestow, in some texts) spiritual being. This gives the master clear advantage as to the son's loyalty and obligation. The basic issue raised by parallel Tannaitic materials and the Talmuds relates to the identity of the teacher to whom one assigns priority. Judah restricts favored status to a teacher from whom one "has derived the greater part of his knowledge;" but Yose says it is true even for a teacher who has "enlightened his eyes in a single Mishnah only." For Judah, then, a father cedes his priority only to the one central master of his son's life. But for Yose, virtually every teacher is granted that status-extreme doctrine indeed! ..."
Gerald J. Blidstein, “Master and Parent: Comparative Aspects of a Dual Loyalty,” in The Mishnah in Contemporary Perspective (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 253–266.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Mark 3:34 and Mishnah Bava Metzia 2:11

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