“... Her comment about how wonderful a mother so eloquent a preacher-son must have had serves as a foil for Jesus' remark about who is truly blessed. As in 8:19-21, he again shifts all the attention to those who listen to God's word and observe it. Indeed, at first his words sound more negative toward his mother than those in 8:21. This impression is created in part by the contrast of the two beatitudes and in part by the force of the particle menoun, "rather." [...] Similarly here; the second beatitude is phrased generically, praising "those who hear and observe," and states a reason for their happiness. The second does not negate the first, but formulates rather what Jesus considers of prime importance and merely corrects the inadequacy of the first. [...] A form of this saying, combining it with Luke 23:29 and changing "God" to "the Father," is found in Gos. of Thom. § 79: "A woman from the crowd said to him, 'Blessed are the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you.' He said to her, 'Blessed are those who have heard the word of the Father (and) have truly kept it. ...”