Mark 1:14-20

14 After the arrest of John, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. ^[a]

15 “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

The First Disciples

16 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹

17 “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

18 And at once they left their nets and followed Him.

19 Going on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat, mending their nets.

20 Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.

Mark 1:14-20 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. (Matthew 4:18–22; Luke 5:1–11; John 1:35–42)

Footnotes

• [a] BYZ and TR the gospel of the kingdom of God