12:53a

This verse implies that the son and his wife and the daughter would be against the father and mother.

father against son and son against father: This phrase means that a man and his son would oppose one another because they thought differently about Jesus.

12:53b

mother against daughter and daughter against mother: This phrase refers to the same kind of situation as in 12:53a. The women within a family, like the men, were divided about whether they would follow Jesus.

12:53c

mother-in-law: A woman’s mother-in-law is her husband’s mother. So this is the same mother mentioned in 12:53b. According to Jewish custom, a woman would normally greatly respect her mother-in-law.

daughter-in-law: A woman’s daughter-in-law is her son’s wife.

General Comment on 12:53a–c

Languages have different ways of referring to pairs of family members. For example, some languages have specific terms for father-son pairs, and other terms for mother-daughter pairs. Use natural kinship terms in your language as you express the mutual opposition that Jesus was talking about.

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