As he is dying on the cross, Jesus still seems light-hearted. He speaks to John.
John 19:27...Behold thy mother!
John 19:27 Here is your mother.”
This is the punchline for one last bit of Jesus's word play. "Behold" is a verbal command meaning "See!" and "Look!" It is from the most common word meaning "to see" in Greek. In a humorous vein, it is also an adverbial exclamation like we use the phrase "ta-da" in a magic show, or "voila" in French which means "see there". "Look here!" or "See there!" comes closest in English. Jesus uses it both ways. It is a word that Jesus uses to lighten situations.
The word "mother" is a subject without a verb. An "is" in implied. This clarifies that Jesus was referring to his mother now as John's mother. This is, of course confusing because John has a mother and Jesus's mother has a number of other sons. Of course, the Gospel writer might have misunderstood that this was directed as him, but he would know all this
See those you must care for.
Look! This mother is yours.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "mother" is not shown in the English translation.
- WF -- Wrong Form - The "mother" is not the object of the verb but the subject.
- WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "here" should be something more like "Look."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "mother" is not shown in the English translation.
Behold -- "Behold" is a verbal command meaning "See!" and "Look!" It is from the most common word meaning "to see" in Greek. In a humorous vein, it is also an adverbial exclamation like we use the phrase "ta-da" in a magic show, or "voila" in French which means "see there". "Look here!" or "See there!" comes closest in English. Jesus uses it both ways.
thy -- The word translated as "thy" is the genitive form of the singular, second-person pronoun, which is most commonly the possessive form. This pronoun follows the noun so "of yours."
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.
mother -- "Mother" is the common Greek word for "mother" and "grandmothers," but it also means "the source" of something.
Here -- (WW) "Here" is a verbal command meaning "See!" and "Look!" It is from the most common word meaning "to see" in Greek. In a humorous vein, it is also an adverbial exclamation like we use the phrase "ta-da" in a magic show, or "voila" in French which means "see there". "Look here!" or "See there!" comes closest in English. Jesus uses it both ways.
is -- There is no verb "is" here in the Greek source but it is implied by the noun in the form of a subject having no verb associated with it.
your -- The word translated as "thy" is the genitive form of the singular, second-person pronoun, which is most commonly the possessive form. This pronoun follows the noun so "of yours."
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.
mother -- "Mother" is the common Greek word for "mother" and "grandmothers," but it also means "the source" of something.
Ἴδε [52 verses](verb 2nd sg aor imperat act ) "Behold" is idou, which means "to behold," "to see," and "to perceive." It acts as an adverbial phrase in this form meaning "Lo! Behold!" and "See there!' It is a form of the verb eido, which means "to see."
ἡ [821 verses](article sg fem nom) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). -
μήτηρ [27 verses](noun sg fem nom) "Mother" is meter, which means "mother," "grandmother," "mother hen," "source," and "origin."
σου: [144 verses](pron 2nd sg gen) "Thy" is sou is the genitive form of the second-person, singular pronoun that means "of you" and "your.