1. Mark 10:13 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Who were the people who were bringing their children to Jesus?

Mark 10:13 (ESV)

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

We are not told specifically who these people were. We know that Jesus and his disciples were in the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan (Mark 10:1), an area under the control of King Herod and a place where the Pharisees were to be found (Mark 1:5; Mark 6:17; Mark 10:2). This suggests that it was a Jewish territory. From Mark 10:10 we also know that Jesus was in someone’s house, though we don’t know exactly where this house was.

All this information encourages us to think that it was Jewish (not Gentile) men and women bringing their children to Jesus. Most likely parents came together.