Luke 8:21

But he replied ¹  to them, “My mother and my brothers are those ²  who hear the word of God and do it.” ³ 

Mt 7:21-26; Mt 17:5; Mt 25:40,45; Mt 28:10; Lu 8:15; Lu 11:27,28; Joh 6:28,29; Joh 13:17; Joh 15:14,15; Joh 20:17; 2Co 5:16; 2Co 6:18; Heb 2:11-13; Jas 1:22; 1Jo 2:29; 1Jo 3:22; 1Jo 3:23; 3Jo 1:11

¹ tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he replied.”

² tn There is some discussion about the grammar of this verse in Greek. If “these” is the subject, then it reads, “These are my mother and brothers, those who.” If “these” is a nominative absolute, which is slightly more likely, then the verse more literally reads, “So my mother and brothers, they are those who.” The sense in either case is the same.

³ sn Hearing and doing the word of God is another important NT theme: Luke 6:47-49; Jas 1:22-25.