Mark Chapter 6, Verse 3

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Book of Mark Chapter 6

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• "brother of James" Jn 6:42
• "were offended" Mt 11:6

οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τέκτων, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας καὶ ἀδελφὸς Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωσῆτος καὶ Ἰούδα καὶ Σίμωνος; καὶ οὐκ εἰσὶν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ ὧδε πρὸς ἡμᾶς;καὶ ἐσκανδαλίζοντο ἐν αὐτῷ. (WNHU)

Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Jude and Simon? And are not his sisters here with [lit. towards] us? And they were offended by [lit. in] him.

• Origen in Contra Celsus VI.36, denies that Jesus was ever described as a carpenter, suggesting either possible alternative readings of τέκτων (ὁ του τέκτονος υἱὸς και τῆς Μαρίας) or alternative translations. (stonemason, general craftsman) As the variant reading is only found in a few manuscripts (some copies of p45, f13) the majority reading has been retained.
• ἀδελφὸς is anarthous as it refers to the same subject as υἱὸς and ‘borrows’ its article.
• McArthur examines several theories about why Jesus is referred to as ὁ υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας instead of as the son of Joseph, the more normal way of describing a Jewish male by relationship to his father; but he finds none of them conclusive.

Guelich notes that ἐσκανδαλίζοντο carries a more technical force that simply “to be offended.”

The verb σκανδαλίζω is only present in Biblical and Christian Greek; it occurs in the Septuagint of Dan 11:41 as a translation of the Hebrew לַשָׁכ in the Niphal (passive) form, meaning to stumble or stagger. A σκάνδαλον is the stick on which bait is placed in a trap, and therefore σκανδαλίζω could well mean “to set traps for”. The metaphorical meaning (from Cranfield) is of being led into sin, and particularly, the sin of idolatry. For this use, see Jdg 2:3

σκάνδαλον and its cognates are so Jewish in origin that, in Contra Celsus 5:114, Origen has to explain the use of the term which had obviously become popular in Christian literature of the time:

The expression “stumbling-block” is, indeed, of frequent occurrence in these writings—an appellation which we are accustomed to apply to those who turn away simple persons, and those who are easily deceived, from sound doctrine.

Hence from the meaning of a trap we have the meaning of idolatry, and thence to the current implication: that of falling into such depths of religious error that it could be regarded as idolatry. Jesus’ listeners are leading themselves into such confusion that they are pronouncing a religious judgement upon themselves. (See Ezek 3:20.)

For the construction with έν, see Mt 11:6 (= Lk 8:23), Mt 26:31 and Mt 26:33, Rom 9:32, 1 Pet 2:6-8, Jn 9:39.

In Kittel, the verb implies “to take deep religious offence at”, so is a complete rejection of Jesus’ words and ministry. Jesus’ own ministry becomes a ‘cause for unbelief’ for these people.

— edit commentary