Axion Esti
Byzantine icon
Note that Jesus is handing the Scripture down to His Mother.
| Lk 8:19-21 | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Douay-Rheims | Vulgate |
| 19 | And his mother and brethren came unto him: and they could not come at him for the crowd. | venerunt autem ad illum mater et fratres eius et non poterant adire ad eum prae turba |
| 20 | And it was told him: Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. | et nuntiatum est illi mater tua et fratres tui stant foris volentes te videre |
| 21 | Who answering, said to them: My mother and my brethren are they who hear the word of God and do it. | qui respondens dixit ad eos mater mea et fratres mei hii sunt qui verbum Dei audiunt et faciunt |
Axion Esti
Byzantine icon
Note that Jesus is handing the Scripture down to His Mother.
qui respondens dixit ad eos mater mea et fratres mei hii sunt qui verbum Dei audiunt et faciunt
Who answering said to them mother [of] Mine and brothers [of] Mine are those who the word of God listen and practice it [order of words matches Greek and Latin]
As we see, the original Verse 21 is very plain syntactically and theologically. Christ is the Word and His kinsmen are these who live the Word. There is no juxtaposition between human mother and kinsmen and the spiritual mother and kinsmen. However, watch how the juxtaposition creeps in in English Protestant translations:
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. (KJV)ESV, ASV, Darby, NASB all have that mysterious "but". The verse then is used to "prove" that Jesus took the kinship away from his mother and family just at the moment when they were coming to see Him and join in the discipleship.But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”