Mark 1:4-14

4 John baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.

5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea and those of Jerusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he ate locusts and wild honey

7 and preached, saying, There comes one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

8 I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

9 And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth a city of Galilee and was baptized of John in the Jordan.

10 And as soon as he was come out of the water, John saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending and resting upon him;

11 and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my dear Son, in whom I delight.

12 And immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.

13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days and forty nights and was tempted of Satan and was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered unto him.

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God

Mark 1:4-14 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.