his brethren
Mark 3:31
3:31 his brethren. Mary had other children besides Jesus, so she could not have remained a perpetual virgin, but they did not yet believe in Him (John 7:5). Joseph was evidently dead by this time, so they were probably going to persuade Him, if they could, to come home with them. Probably they also had been influenced by their friends in Nazareth to think He was “beside Himself” (Mark 3:21). On His mild rebuke, even to His mother, see note on Matthew 12:50.