Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Mat 12:48 Who is my mother? and who are my brothers?
Mat 12:49 Behold my mother and my brothers!
Mat 12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

These verses end a chapter that began with questions of healing on the Sabbath and then moved to the nature of demons and how they are defeated. The over-arching theme has been how worthwhile people produce worthwhile things and that there are not moral limits on doing what is good and valuable to others. The valuable produce more value and only what is worthless comes from those who are worthless.

With this in mind, we offer an alternative version: Who do I come from? and who is with me? You see who I come from and who is with me! Because those who produce what my Father in heaven wishes are my brother, sister, and mother.

The key terms in the first verses are mêtêr ("mother") and adelphos, (aldelphe, in the feminine) which means "sons of the same mother."

In the last verse, the word translated as "do" is poieô, which means "to make" and "to produce." It has the specific sense of "to bring about" and "to cause" through one's efforts.

"Will" is thelêma, which means "will," "desire," and "choice." It has a sense of voluntary and optional as opposed to required.