Text -- Mark 1:4 (NET)

1:4 In the wilderness John the baptizer began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mar 1:4

¹ tn Or “desert.”

² tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “[the] Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).

³ sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it.