Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 13:12
Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against [their] parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
The brother shall betray … – The brother shall give up in a treacherous manner his brother to be put to death, on account of his attachment to Jesus. Through fear, or from the hope of reward and from the hatred of the gospel, he will overcome all the natural ties of brotherhood. and give up his own kindred to be burnt or crucified. Perhaps nothing could more clearly show the dreadful evil of those times, as well as the natural opposition of the heart to the religion of Christ.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mar 13:12
Now the brother shall betray the brother to death.
Christianity causing division
As Christianity gives birth to and cherishes the most perfect love, so it calls forth the most bitter hatred. It calls forth a love which is above nature, because it makes men love their enemies. Contrariwise it calls forth a hatred which is unnatural, for it made, and yet makes, men hate and betray, and, if they can, destroy their own flesh and blood. Thus we read that the Emperor Domitian, in his hatred of the Christian name, slew Flavius Clemens and his niece, or near relation Flavia Domitilla; the Emperor Maximin martyred Artemis, his own sister; and Diocletian slew his own wife, and other relatives. St. Barbara also was killed by her own father; and if we had a full martyrology of obscure Christians, we should find multitudes of others similarly betrayed by their own flesh and blood. We are told by Indian missionaries, that as soon as converts are baptized, they become objects of hatred to their nearest relatives; even their wives often desert them. Now, if this be so in a country where Christianity is the religion of the rulers, what would it be if heathenism were unchecked in its power of persecution? (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
This is but an amplification of the fifth sign, given us Mar 13:9, viz. a furious persecution, eminently made good in the Jewish persecution before the destruction of Jerusalem; in the pagan persecution, for three hundred years after Christ; and in the popish persecutions at this day.
See Poole on “Mat 24:9-10“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Now the brother shall betray the brother to death,…. Signifying, that such should be the rage of men, particularly the Jews, against Christ and his Gospel, that those that were in the nearest relation, were of the same flesh and blood, children of the same parents, should betray and deliver up each other into the hands of the civil magistrate, in order to be put to death:
and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death; things unnatural and shocking; [See comments on Mt 10:21].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “Now the brother shall betray the brother to death,” (kai paradosei adelphos adelphon eis thanton) “And a brother will deliver (betray) a brother unto death;” This appears to describe what was to happen to the believers, members of the Lord’s true disciples, to His church before AD 70, under the Roman persecutions.
2) “And the father the son;- (kai pater teknon) “And a father (will deliver, give over or betray) a child, a son to death,” as also recounted, Mat 10:21.
3) “And children shall rise up against their parents,” (kai epanastesontai telkna epi goneis) ”And children will stand up against (witness against) parents,” Luk 10:16.
4) ”And shall cause them to be put to death.” (kai thanatosousin autous) “And will put them to death, ‘ by their own testimony against them, demonstrating how fickle natural affections are under pressure of civil and religious persecutions, Act 7:59; Act 12:2; Mat 24:10; Mat 24:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(12) Now the brother.Literally, and the brother.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. And children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all men, for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.”
These words surely bring a chill to the heart. Jesus did not hide from His disciples the intensity of feeling that being a believer might cause. It had already been spoken of in Mic 7:6. ‘For the son dishonours the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are they of his own house.’ Such would be the intensity of feeling aroused by the Gospel that blood relatives would feel bitterly towards their kin who had believed, to such an extent that they would be prepared to betray them and bring about their death either through anger or fear. That this was sadly true in 1st Century AD and has been sadly true throughout history is unquestionable. It is often literally true in Islamic countries today when a Muslim becomes a Christian and is baptised, and among many other religions as well. The pastor of a local church where I live is a former Hindu who has been cut off by his family.
See Mat 10:21-22 where we find similar words. Jesus may well have been aware of disciples who had already received threats and family persecution, and have recognised from it the severity of the opposition that His disciples would have to face in the future, seeing it in terms of Mic 7:6. He did not want them to be in any doubt about the possible severity of such opposition. It is usually assumed that Matthew very much had in mind the future after Jesus’ death when He included these words in Jesus’ message there, and that they were hardly applicable to the mission of the Twelve at that time. But the truth is that we know almost nothing about the lives and background of most of His Apostles, some of whom might already have been threatened by their families, just as Jesus knew that they would be in the future. He had after all Himself experienced something of it in Nazareth (see Luk 4:28-29). So dogmatism is ruled out. The only history that we have of the Apostles and disciples of Jesus is in Acts, and in that there was persecution a-plenty.
The hatred that the Gospel aroused in men would be incredible (see Mat 5:11; Joh 15:18-20; Joh 17:14; 1Jn 3:13; Mat 10:22). The message of Christ would make men uneasy, for it undermined their cherished and deeply held beliefs, and it pulled down much of what they had built their lives on, and this would especially be so in such a hotbed of fanaticism as Galilee. And later non-believers would not like the way that Christians kept themselves separate from the normal ‘joys of life’ such as the games and idolatrous feasts. And so they hated the message bearers. When Tacitus accused Christians of hatred of the human race he was really depicting the state of his own heart. He would call Christianity ‘an accursed superstition’. He never dreamed that one day it would irrevocably alter the Roman Empire.
‘But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.’ Compare Mat 10:22. This was further encouragement to endurance in faith and obedience that was going to be greatly needed. They could face all that came with the certainty that in the end they would triumph. Those who stood against them would face the judgment, but they themselves could anticipate deliverance and salvation (compare Mar 10:26), and would through it find eternal life (see Mar 8:35).
‘Enduring’ is necessary and is required (compare 2Ti 2:12), but it need not cause fear and despair. Elsewhere we are assured that they would endure because it would be God Himself Who would enable them to endure (1Co 1:8-9; Php 1:6; Php 2:12-13; Jud 1:24), and we may have the same confidence. The guarantee of endurance is an essential part of what it means to be ‘saved’. We rely on the faithfulness of the Saviour.
‘To the end.’ Not the end of time but the end of their need to endure, whenever that came.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Dissension within families:
v. 12. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
v. 13. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. There is no hatred so unrelenting and implacable as that caused by enmity against Christ. It destroys the firmest friendships, it severs the ties of the closest blood-relationship. Brothers, fathers, children will not only stand by unmoved and see their nearest of kin suffer for the sake of their religious, Christian conviction, but they will become inhuman enough to cause these sufferings, to deliver them into the hands of the authorities and cause them to be put to death. History has scores of examples, from the time of the apostles down through the time of the Inquisition, to the present day. It is an ineradicable characteristic of the world and its children that they hate the truth of the Gospel, even at such times when they speak of toleration and of the value of the Christian spirit for the community. But mark two factors that make such persecutions not only endurable, but under circumstances welcome: They come upon the believers for the sake of the Lord’s name, and it is an honor to suffer for Him, on His account; they have a glorious promise: He that endures, patiently suffers, to the end, the same shall be saved. A reward of mercy will come upon him from the boundless treasure of his Lord, salvation will be given him with endless rejoicing in heaven.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
Ver. 12. See Mat 10:21 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12. ] = Matt.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
son = child. Greek. teknon. App-108.
children. Plural of teknom, above. Quoted from Mic 7:6.
cause them, &c. = put them, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] = Matt.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Eze 38:21, Mic 7:4-6, Mat 10:21, Mat 24:10, Luk 12:52, Luk 12:53, Luk 21:16
Reciprocal: Jer 13:14 – even Mat 10:17 – beware Mat 10:35 – General Mat 13:21 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
These family troubles would be caused by the fact that some of the members would be true followers of Christ and others would not. (Mat 10:34-37.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 13:12-13. Comp. Mat 24:9-10; Mat 24:13; Mat 10:21-22.
Endureth. In the confession of Christ (for my names sake). Confessor once meant martyr! When Mark wrote, martyrdom was common. Suffering for Christs sake has not ceased.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mar 13:12-13. The brother shall betray the brother to death The unbelieving Jews and heathen shall discover, betray, and deliver to be imprisoned, tortured, and put to death, their believing relatives, even their brethren, fathers, or children. With respect to the Jews in particular, their known zeal and cruelty render it abundantly credible that, in the persecution of the Christians, the bigots to the law of Moses, overlooking the ties of nature, would be instrumental in putting their own relations to death, who followed the standard of Christ. And ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake That the disciples of Christ were hated of all men in the first ages of Christianity, is well known. Their opposition to idolatry was the cause of the ill-will which the heathen bore toward them; their preaching that the law of Moses was abrogated, enraged the Jews: and in this temper both Jews and heathen continued during the first three centuries, till Constantine, declaring himself a Christian, put an end to the cruelties that had been so long exercised upon the disciples of Christ. That not only the apostles, says Dr. Doddridge, but all the primitive Christians, were in general more hated and persecuted than any other religious sect of men, is most notorious to all who are at all acquainted with ecclesiastical history: a fact which might seem unaccountable, when we consider how inoffensive and benevolent their temper and conduct was, and how friendly an aspect their tenets had on the security of any government under which they lived. The true reason of this opposition was, that while the different pagan religions, like the confederated demons honoured by them, sociably agreed with each other, the gospel taught Christians, not only, like Jews, to bear their testimony to the falsehood of them all; but also with the most fervent zeal to urge the renunciation of them, as a point of absolute necessity, requiring all men, on the most tremendous penalties, to believe on Christ, and in all things to submit themselves to his authority: a demand which bore so hard, especially on the pride and licentiousness of their princes, and the secular interests of their priests, that it is no wonder they raised so violent a storm against it; which, considering the character and prejudices of the populace, it must be very easy to do. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved He who is neither made to apostatize by the persecutions I have described, nor led astray by the seduction of unbelieving Jews or false Christians, shall escape out of the destruction that is about to fall on this land; and, persevering in faith and piety to the end of his life, shall be saved eternally.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE GREAT CONFLICT:
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Now when I read this I see Hitler’s day and time stamped all over it, however I do not know if that was a partial fulfillment or not. Most of the giving up of relatives was amongst the Germans themselves and not the Jewish people that were being persecuted thus a partial fulfillment does not seem to be in view.
Verse thirteen mentions “and ye” speaking to Jewish men that were apostles. This sentence certainly related to the apostles and their end, though the previous verse does not seem to fit theirsituation. I am unaware of any time in history when verse twelve would have been fulfilled amongst the Jewish people though I am not a historian of any stature whatsoever.
It seems best if you see this passage as a combining of different prophecies into one block of information. Whether the apostles understood this or if they knew what went where in prophecy we are not told. I rather suspect that they did not know the details any more than we do from our vantage point.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
Betrayal even by family members will be another trial disciples may have to bear (cf. Mic 7:2-6; Luk 12:51-53). Persecution would come through official channels but also from blood relatives. All kinds of people would hate them for their testimony.
"As there is nothing that excites such love as the gospel, when intelligently received, so there is nothing that occasions such hate as this same gospel, when passionately rejected." [Note: Morison, p. 359.]
The last part of Mar 13:13 states a general principle. Faithful endurance of persecution to its end results in deliverance. Disciples who endure their persecution faithfully to the end of that persecution will experience deliverance from it while they are alive. Disciples who endure their persecution faithfully to the end of their lives will experience deliverance from it by death. Disciples living just before Jesus returns who endure their persecution faithfully to the end of the present age will experience deliverance at Jesus’ second coming.
Faithful endurance of persecution also results in the privilege of reigning with Jesus in His kingdom (cf. 2Ti 2:12). Note that Jesus did not teach that all will endure to the end faithfully. Unfortunately some disciples do not (2 Timothy 2). Notwithstanding, our ultimate salvation does not depend on enduring persecution faithfully but on God’s faithfulness to His promises to keep us secure (2Ti 2:13; cf. Joh 10:27-28; Rom 8:31-39; et al.).
This pericope should be a special encouragement for disciples undergoing persecution for their faith, including Mark’s original readers. It is easier to endure suffering for our faith when we view it in the context of God’s plan for the future. This perspective gives us hope.