SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:21
Cuando lo oyeron los suyos, vinieron para prenderle; porque decían: Est fuera de sí.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Mark 3:21
Verse 21. His friends] Or, relations. On this verse several MSS. differ considerably. I have followed the reading of the Syriac, because I think it the best: oi par autou signify merely his relatives, his brethren, &c., see ver. 31; and the phrase is used by the best writers to signify relatives, companions, and domestics. See Kypke in loc. They said, He is beside himself.] It was the enemies of Christ that raised this report; and his relatives, probably thinking that it was true, went to confine him. Let a Christian but neglect the care of his body for a time, in striving to enter in at the strait gate; let a minister of Christ but impair his health by his pastoral labours; presently "he is distracted;" he has "not the least conduct nor discretion." But let a man forget his soul, let him destroy his health by debaucheries, let him expose his life through ambition, and he may, notwithstanding, pass for a very prudent and sensible man! Schoettgen contends that the multitude, and not Christ, is here intended.
Christ was in the house: the multitude, oclov, ver. 20, pressed upon him so that he could not eat bread. His disciples, or friends, went out, krathsai auton (scil. oclon,) to restrain it, viz. the multitude, to prevent them from rushing into the house and disturbing their Master, who was now taking some refreshment. This conjecture should not be lightly regarded.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 21. When his friends heard of it , etc..] Not his spiritual friends, his disciples and followers, that believed in him; but his kinsmen, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions render the words, who were so according to the flesh; when they heard where he was, and what a crowd was about him, so that he could not so much as take the necessaries of life for his refreshment and support, they went out to lay hold on him : either out of their houses at Capernaum, or they went forth from Nazareth, where they dwelt, to Capernaum, to take him from this house, where he was thronged and pressed, along with them; where he might have some refreshment without being incommoded, and take some rest, which seemed very necessary: so that this was done in kindness to him, and does not design any violent action upon him, in order to take him home with them, and to confine him as a madman; though the following words seem to incline to such a sense; for they said, he is beside himself : some render it, he is gone out: that is, out of doors, to preach again to the people, which they might fear would be greatly detrimental to his health, since, he had had no sleep the night before; had been much fatigued all that morning, and for the throng of the people could take no food; so that for this reason they came to take him with them, to their own habitations, to prevent the ill consequences of such constant exercise without refreshment. Moreover, though this may not be the sense of the word, yet it is not to be understood of downright madness and distraction, but of some perturbation of mind, which they imagined, or heard, he was under; and answers to a phrase frequently used by the Jews, that such an one, wt [ d h p rjn , his knowledge is snatched away, or his mind is disturbed; which was sometimes occasioned by disorder of body: so it is said f48 , a deaf woman, or one that is foolish, or blind, ht [ d h p rjn w , or whose mind is disturbed; and if there are any wise women, they prepare themselves, and eat of the oblation.
On that phrase, whose mind is disturbed, the note of Maimonides is, it means a sick person, whose understanding is disturbed through the force of the disease: and was sometimes the case of a person when near death f49 : and it was usual to give a person that was condemned to die, and going to be executed, a grain of frankincense in a cup of wine, wt [ d Prjt ydk , that so his knowledge may be snatched away, or his mind disturbed f50 , and: be intoxicated; that so he might not be sensible of his pain, or feel his misery; in all which cases, there was nothing of proper madness: and so the kinsmen and friends of Christ, having heard of the situation that he was in, said one to another, he is in a transport and excess of mind; his zeal carries him beyond due bounds; he has certainly forgotten himself; his understanding is disturbed; he is unmindful of himself; takes no care of his health; he will certainly greatly impair it, if he goes on at this rate, praying all night, and preaching all day, without taking any rest or food: wherefore they came out, in order to dissuade him from such excessive labours, and engage him to go with them, where he might have rest and refreshment, and be composed, and retire.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 13-21 - Christ calls whom he will; for his grace is his own. He had called the apostles to separate themselves from the crowd, and they came unto him He now gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils. Ma the Lord send forth more and more of those who have been with him, an have learned of him to preach his gospel, to be instruments in his blessed work. Those whose hearts are enlarged in the work of God, can easily bear with what is inconvenient to themselves, and will rathe lose a meal than an opportunity of doing good. Those who go on with zeal in the work of God, must expect hinderances, both from the hatre of enemies, and mistaken affections of friends, and need to guar against both.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ ακουσαντες 191 5660 V-AAP-NPM οι 3588 T-NPM παρ 3844 PREP αυτου 846 P-GSM εξηλθον 1831 5627 V-2AAI-3P κρατησαι 2902 5658 V-AAN αυτον 846 P-ASM ελεγον 3004 5707 V-IAI-3P γαρ 1063 CONJ οτι 3754 CONJ εξεστη 1839 5627 V-2AAI-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
21. His friends (oi par autou). Lit., they who were from beside him: i.e., by origin or birth. His mother and brethren. Compare verses 31, 32. Wyc., kinsmen. Tynd., they that belonged unto him. Not his disciples, since they were in the house with him.They said (elegon). Imperfect tense. Very graphic, they kept saying.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
3:21 {His friends} (hoi par' autou). The phrase means literally "those from the side of him (Jesus)." It could mean another circle of disciples who had just arrived and who knew of the crowds and strain of the Galilean ministry who now come at this special juncture. But the idiom most likely means the kinspeople or family of Jesus as is common in the LXX. The fact that in verse #31 "his mother and his brothers" are expressly mentioned would indicate that they are "the friends" alluded to in verse #21. It is a mournful spectacle to think of the mother and brothers saying, {He is beside himself} (exeste). Second aorist active indicative intransitive. The same charge was brought against Paul (#Ac 26:24; 2Co 5:13). We say that one is out of his head. Certainly Mary did not believe that Jesus was in the power of Beelzebub as the rabbis said already. The scribes from Jerusalem are trying to discount the power and prestige of Jesus (#3:22). See on Mt 9:32-34; 10:25; 12:24 for Beelzebub and Beelzebul. Mary probably felt that Jesus was overwrought and wished to take him home out of the excitement and strain that he might get rest and proper food. See my _The Mother of Jesus: Her Problems and Her Glory_. The brothers did not as yet believe the pretensions and claims of Jesus (#Joh 7:5). Herod Antipas will later consider Jesus as John the Baptist _redivivus_, the scribes treat him as under demonic possession, even the family and friends fear a disordered mind as a result of overstrain. It was a crucial moment for Jesus. His family or friends came to take him home, to lay hold of him (kratesai), forcibly if need be.
