Mark 1:1-13

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,^[a] the Son of God,^[b]

2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “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 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

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

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,

13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted^[g] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Mark 1:1-13 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

• 1. S Matthew 4:3
• 2. Malachi 3:1; Matthew 11:10; Luke 7:27
• 3. Isaiah 40:3; John 1:23
• 4. S Matthew 3:1
• 5. ver 8; John 1:26,33; Acts 1:5,22; 11:36; Acts 13:24; Acts 18:25; Acts 19:3,4
• 6. Luke 1:77
• 7. 2 Kings 1:8
• 8. Leviticus 11:22
• 9. Acts 13:25
• 10. Isaiah 44:3; Joel 2:28; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; Acts 2:4; Acts 11:16; Acts 19:4-6
• 11. S Matthew 2:23
• 12. S Matthew 3:1
• 13. John 1:32
• 14. S Matthew 3:17
• 15. S Matthew 3:17
• 16. Exodus 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8
• 17. S Matthew 4:10; Hebrews 4:15

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "Jesus Christ." "Messiah" (Hebrew) and "Christ" (Greek) both mean "Anointed One."
• [b]. Some manuscripts do not have "the Son of God."
• [c]. Mal. 3:1
• [d]. Isaiah 40:3
• [e]. Or "in"
• [f]. Or "in"
• [g]. The Greek for "tempted" can also mean "tested" .