Mark 1:14-20

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

14 ¹Now after John had been ^[a]taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[b]2preaching the gospel of God,

15 and saying, "³The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[c]is at hand; ⁴repent and ^[d]believe in the gospel."

16 ⁵As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow * Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

19 Going on a little farther, He saw ^[e]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.

20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away ^[f]to follow 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 4:12
• 2. Matthew 4:23
• 3. Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:10; 1 Timothy 2:6; Titus 1:3
• 4. Matthew 3:2; Acts 20:21
• 5. Mark 1:16-20: {Matthew 4:18-22;} Luke 5:2-11; John 1:40-42

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "delivered up"
• [b] Or "proclaiming"
• [c] Lit "has come near"
• [d] Or "put your trust in"
• [e] Or "Jacob"
• [f] Lit "after Him"