Mark 3:32

and a crowd was sitting around Him. “Look,” He was told, “Your mother and brothers are outside, asking for You.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — A messenger reports to Jesus while a crowd sits around Him, stating that His mother and brothers are outside asking for Him. This interruption occurs after Jesus’ family arrives to summon Him and immediately precedes His reply.

The words — The Greek ἐκάθητο περὶ αὐτὸν ὄχλος (ekathēto peri auton ochlos) literally means “was sitting around Him a crowd.” The verb λέγουσιν (legousin) translates “they speak,” indicating the report originates from others present.

The thread — The image of a crowd surrounding Jesus appears in Mark 2:4 and Mark 4:1, while the family’s external presence and summons are recorded in Mark 3:31 and Mark 3:33. Jesus’ subsequent question in Mark 3:33 directly responds to the reported summons.

Why it lands — The text records a familial summons that interrupts Jesus’ teaching while He is surrounded by a crowd. It requires the reader to observe how physical proximity and blood ties are immediately contrasted with the surrounding group and the coming redefinition of kinship.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.