8:20a

He was told: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He was told is literally “it was reported to him” (as in the New American Standard Bible). The text does not tell who said this to Jesus. Other ways to say this are:

Someone brought him the message that
-or-
the message/report came to him
-or-
Jesus was told

8:20b

standing outside: The context implies that Jesus had been teaching outside, not in a house. If this is true, the phrase standing outside indicates that his mother and brothers were on the outskirts of the crowd around Jesus. You could make this explicit in your language if you need to. For example:

standing on the edge ⌊of the crowd⌋

8:20c

wanting to see You: This phrase explains the reason why Jesus’ mother and brothers had come to where he was. Express this reason in a natural way in your language. One way to translate it in English is:

because they want to see you

General Comment on 8:20a–c

If your language prefers indirect speech, you could say:

Jesus heard that his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to see him.

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of some information in this verse. For example:

20aSomeone told Jesus, 20b“Your mother and brothers 20care here to see you, 20band they are standing on the edge ⌊of the crowd⌋.”

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