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Mark 1

Mark 1


Verse 1

This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ [υἱοῦ θεοῦ].

This is the beginning / Ἀρχὴ - Mark opens his writing with a single Greek word - ἀρχὴ - meaning "beginning", "origin" or "commencement". 

Cranfield records 10 possible explanations of how verse 1 relates to the following verses: 

  1. The whole verse is a gloss [an explanatory note added by a later scribe]. However, it would be likely that such a gloss would have included the words τοῦ κατὰ Μᾶρκον ("according to Mark"); a common inscription in later manuscripts. Additionally, it is more likely that a gloss such as the words we have here would have been inserted at the beginning of Matthew. 


Verses 2-3

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 
“Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, 
who will prepare Your way.” 
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 
‘Prepare the way for the Lord, 
make straight paths for Him.’ ” 


Verses 4-5

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People went out to him from all of Jerusalem and the countryside of Judea. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 


Verses 6-8

John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. And he proclaimed: “After me will come One more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 


Verse 9

References

Cranfield, C.E.B. (1959). The Gospel according to St Mark. The Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary. Cambridge.

Lane, W.L. (1974). The Gospel of Mark. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. William B. Eerdmans.

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