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.”
See those you must care for.
Look! This mother is yours.
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
- 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.