Exegesis:

exō stēkontes ‘standing outside (the house)’: Jesus is inside (see vv. 32, 34).

stēkō (11.25) ‘stand’: in the Septuagint and N.T. this verb is equal in meaning to the intransitive use of histēmi ‘stand.’

apesteilan pros auton ‘they sent (a message) to him’ (or, ‘they sent for him’).

kalountes auton ‘calling him’: this is the message they sent.

Translation:

Brothers should be understood as ‘younger brothers’ by the same mother, where as in so many languages special words are employed for brothers, whether younger or older (Copainalá Zoque, Tzeltal), or of the same mother or father (Navajo, Farefare).

Because of the distance of this verse from any previous reference to Jesus it would probably be necessary in some languages to introduce ‘Jesus’ (San Mateo del Mar Huave).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .