Mark 1:9-13

The Baptism of Jesus

9 1In those days Jesus 2came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he 3saw 4the heavens being torn open 5and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
11 And 6a voice came from heaven, 7"You are my beloved Son;[a] with you I am well pleased."

The Temptation of Jesus

12 8The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
13 9And he was in the wilderness forty days, being 10tempted by 11Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and 12the angels were ministering to him.

Mark 1:9-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO MARK

This is the title of the book, the subject of which is the Gospel; a joyful account of the ministry, miracles, actions, and sufferings of Christ: the writer of it was not one of the twelve apostles, but an evangelist; the same with John Mark, or John, whose surname was Mark: John was his Hebrew name, and Mark his Gentile name, Ac 12:12,25, and was Barnabas's sister's son, Col 4:10, his mother's name was Mary, Ac 12:12. The Apostle Peter calls him his son, 1Pe 5:13, if he is the same; and he is thought to have wrote his Gospel from him {a}, and by his order, and which was afterwards examined and approved by him {b} it is said to have been wrote originally in Latin, or in the Roman tongue: so say the Arabic and Persic versions at the beginning of it, and the Syriac version says the same at the end: but of this there is no evidence, any more, nor so much, as of Matthew's writing his Gospel in Hebrew. The old Latin copy of this, is a version from the Greek; it is most likely that it was originally written in Greek, as the rest of the New Testament.

{a} Papias apud Euseb. Hist. l. 3. c. 39. Tertull. adv. Marcion. l. 4. c. 5. {b} Hieron. Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 91. sect. 18.

Cross References 12

  • 1. For ver. 9-11, see Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21, 22; [John 1:32-34]
  • 2. Matthew 2:23
  • 3. Acts 7:56
  • 4. Isaiah 64:1
  • 5. John 1:32, 33; [Luke 4:18, 21; Acts 10:38]
  • 6. John 12:28
  • 7. [Mark 9:7; Psalms 2:7; Isaiah 42:1; Ephesians 1:6; Colossians 1:13; 2 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:9]
  • 8. See Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13
  • 9. [See ver. 12 above]
  • 10. [Hebrews 2:18; Hebrews 4:15]
  • 11. See 1 Chronicles 21:1
  • 12. Matthew 26:53; Luke 22:43

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.