Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in Esaias, the prophet, Lo! I send mine angel before thy face, that shall make thy way ready before thee.

3 The voice of a crier in desert, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make ye his paths right. [The voice of one crying in desert, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make ye his paths rightful.]

4 John was in desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance, into remission of sins.

5 And all the country of Judaea went out to him, and all men of Jerusalem; and they were baptized of him in the flume Jordan [and were baptized of him in the flood of Jordan], acknowledging their sins.

6 And John was clothed with hairs of camels, and a girdle of skin was about his loins; and he ate honeysuckles, and wild honey, [+And John was clothed with hairs of camel, and a girdle of skin about his loins; and he ate locusts, and wild honey,]

7 and preached, and said [saying], A stronger than I shall come after me, and I am not worthy to kneel down, and unloose [the thong of] his shoes.

8 I have baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost.

Mark 1:1-8 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.