Mark 1:1-11

1 A beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, Son of God.

2 As it hath been written in the prophets, `Lo, I send My messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee,' --

3 `A voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye his paths,' --

4 John came baptizing in the wilderness, and proclaiming a baptism of reformation -- to remission of sins,

5 and there were going forth to him all the region of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and they were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and a girdle of skin around his loins, and eating locusts and honey of the field,

7 and he proclaimed, saying, `He doth come -- who is mightier than I -- after me, of whom I am not worthy -- having stooped down -- to loose the latchet of his sandals;

8 I indeed did baptize you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'

9 And it came to pass in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John at the Jordan;

10 and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens dividing, and the Spirit as a dove coming down upon him;

11 and a voice came out of the heavens, `Thou art My Son -- the Beloved, in whom I did delight.'

Mark 1:1-11 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.