Mark 1:1-8

The Mission of John the Baptist

1 This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ^{[a] 1}

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ^[b] “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.” ^[c]

3 “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” ^[d]

4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5 People went out to him from all of Jerusalem and the countryside of Judea. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

6 John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

7 And he proclaimed: “After me will come One more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

8 I baptize you with water, ^[e] but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. ^[f]”

Mark 1:1-8 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

• 1. (Isaiah 40:1–5; Matthew 3:1–17; Luke 3:1–22; John 1:19–34)

Footnotes

• [a]. ECM, NE, BYZ, and TR; SBL and WH the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• [b]. BYZ and TR in the prophets:
• [c]. Malachi 3:1
• [d]. Isaiah 40:3 (see also LXX)
• [e]. Or in water
• [f]. Or in the Holy Spirit