3:1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness 1 of Judea proclaiming,
11:7 While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness 2 to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 3
1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make 4 his paths straight.’” 5
1:4 In the wilderness 6 John the baptizer 7 began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 8
1 tn Or “desert.”
2 tn Or “desert.”
3 tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?… No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.
4 sn This call to “make his paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.
5 sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.
6 tn Or “desert.”
7 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]).
8 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.