Acts 1:22

1:22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he ¹  was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.”

Acts 13:24-25

13:24 Before ²  Jesus ³  arrived, John ⁴  had proclaimed a baptism for repentance ⁵  to all the people of Israel. 13:25 But while John was completing his mission, ⁶  he said repeatedly, ⁷  ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’ ⁸ 

Matthew 3:1-3

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness ⁹  of Judea proclaiming, 3:2 “Repent, ¹⁰  for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3:3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: ¹¹ 

“The voice ¹²  of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ¹³  his paths straight.’” ¹⁴ 

Matthew 4:12-17

Preaching in Galilee

4:12 Now when Jesus ¹⁵  heard that John had been imprisoned, ¹⁶  he went into Galilee. 4:13 While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth ¹⁷  to make his home in Capernaum ¹⁸  by the sea, ¹⁹  in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 4:14 so that what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: ²⁰ 

4:15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles –

4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” ²¹ 

4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: ²²  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Mark 1:1-5

The Ministry of John the Baptist

1:1 The beginning of the gospel ²³  of Jesus Christ, ²⁴  the Son of God. ²⁵  1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ²⁶ 

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way, ²⁷ 

1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ²⁸  his paths straight.’” ²⁹ 

1:4 In the wilderness ³⁰  John the baptizer ³¹  began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ³²  1:5 People ³³  from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem ³⁴  were going out to him, and he was baptizing them ³⁵  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Mark 1:14-15

Preaching in Galilee and the Call of the Disciples

1:14 Now after John was imprisoned, ³⁶  Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel ³⁷  of God. ³⁸  1:15 He ³⁹  said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God ⁴⁰  is near. Repent and believe the gospel!”

John 4:1-3

Departure From Judea

4:1 Now when Jesus ⁴¹  knew that the Pharisees ⁴²  had heard that he ⁴³  was winning ⁴⁴  and baptizing more disciples than John 4:2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), ⁴⁵  4:3 he left Judea and set out once more for Galilee. ⁴⁶ 

[1:22]  ¹ tn Here the pronoun “he” refers to Jesus.

[13:24]  ² tn Grk “John having already proclaimed before his coming a baptism…,” a genitive absolute construction which is awkward in English. A new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.

[13:24]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the context for clarity, since God is mentioned in the preceding context and John the Baptist in the following clause.

[13:24]  ⁴ sn John refers here to John the Baptist.

[13:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “a baptism of repentance”; the genitive has been translated as a genitive of purpose.

[13:25]  ³ tn Or “task.”

[13:25]  ⁴ tn The verb ἔλεγεν (elegen) has been translated as an iterative imperfect, since John undoubtedly said this or something similar on numerous occasions.

[13:25]  ⁵ tn Literally a relative clause, “of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of his feet.” Because of the awkwardness of this construction in English, a new sentence was begun here.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Or “desert.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “and saying, ‘Repent.’” The participle λέγων (legwn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[3:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[3:3]  ⁷ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:3]  ⁸ sn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[3:3]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[4:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “he.”

[4:12]  ⁸ tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).

[4:13]  ⁸ map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

[4:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “and leaving Nazareth, he came and took up residence in Capernaum.”

[4:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “by the lake.”

[4:14]  ⁹ tn The redundant participle λέγοντος (legontos) has not been translated here.

[4:16]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

[4:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and to say.”

[1:1]  ¹² sn By the time Mark wrote, the word gospel had become a technical term referring to the preaching about Jesus Christ and God’s saving power accomplished through him for all who believe (cf. Rom 1:16).

[1:1]  ¹³ tn The genitive in the phrase τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou euangeliou Ihsou Cristou, “the gospel of Jesus Christ”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which Jesus brings [or proclaims]”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about Jesus Christ”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which Jesus proclaims is in fact the gospel about himself.

[1:1]  ¹⁴ tc א* Θ 28 l2211 pc sa^ms Or lack υἱοῦ θεοῦ (Juiou qeou, “son of God”), while virtually all the rest of the witnesses have the words (A Ë^1,13 33 Ï also have τοῦ [tou] before θεοῦ), so the evidence seems to argue for the authenticity of the words. Most likely, the words were omitted by accident in some witnesses, since the last four words of v. 1, in uncial script, would have looked like this: iu_c_r_u_u_u_q_u_. With all the successive upsilons an accidental deletion is likely. Further, the inclusion of υἱοῦ θεοῦ here finds its complement in 15:39, where the centurion claims that Jesus was υἱὸς θεοῦ (Juios qeou, “son of God”). Even though א is in general one of the best NT mss, its testimony is not quite as preeminent in this situation. There are several other instances in which it breaks up chains of genitives ending in ου (cf., e.g., Acts 28:31; Col 2:2; Heb 12:2; Rev 12:14; 15:7; 22:1), showing that there is a significantly higher possibility of accidental scribal omission in a case like this. This christological inclusio parallels both Matthew (“Immanuel…God with us” in 1:23/“I am with you” in 28:20) and John (“the Word was God” in 1:1/“My Lord and my God” in 20:28), probably reflecting nascent christological development and articulation.

[1:2]  ¹³ tc Instead of “in Isaiah the prophet” the majority of mss read “in the prophets” (A W ˹³ Ï Ir^lat). Except for Irenaeus (2nd century), the earliest evidence for this is thus from the 5th (or possibly late 4th) century (W A). The difficulty of Irenaeus is that he wrote in Greek but has been preserved largely in Latin. His Greek remains have “in Isaiah the prophet.” Only the later Latin translation has “in the prophets.” The KJV reading is thus in harmony with the majority of late mss. On the other hand, the witnesses for “in Isaiah the prophet” (either with the article before Isaiah or not) are early and geographically widespread: א B D L Δ Θ Ë¹ 33 565 700 892 1241 2427 al sy^p co Ir. This evidence runs deep into the 2nd century, is widespread, and is found in the most important Alexandrian, Western, and Caesarean witnesses. The “Isaiah” reading has a better external pedigree in every way. It has the support of the earliest and best witnesses from all the texttypes that matter. Moreover it is the harder reading, since the quotation in the first part of the verse appears to be from Exod 23:20 and Mal 3:1, with the quotation from Isa 40:3 coming in the next verse. The reading of the later mss seems motivated by a desire to resolve this difficulty.

[1:2]  ¹⁴ sn The opening lines of the quotation are from Exod 23:20; Mal 3:1. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ sn This call to “make his paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[1:3]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[1:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “desert.”

[1:4]  ¹⁶ 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]).

[1:4]  ¹⁷ 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.

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And the whole Judean countryside.” Mark uses the Greek conjunction καί (kai) at numerous places in his Gospel to begin sentences and paragraphs. This practice is due to Semitic influence and reflects in many cases the use of the Hebrew ו (vav) which is used in OT narrative, much as it is here, to carry the narrative along. Because in contemporary English style it is not acceptable to begin every sentence with “and,” καί was often left untranslated or rendered as “now,” “so,” “then,” or “but” depending on the context. When left untranslated it has not been noted. When given an alternative translation, this is usually indicated by a note.

[1:5]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tc Most witnesses, especially later ones (A D W Ï lat), have τῆς βασιλείας (ths basileias) between τὸ εὐαγγέλιον (to euangelion) and τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou): “the gospel of the kingdom of God.” On the one hand, it is perhaps possible that τῆς βασιλείας was omitted to conform the expression to that which is found in the epistles (cf. Rom 1:1; 15:16; 2 Cor 11:7; 1 Thess 2:2, 8, 9; 1 Pet 4:17). On the other hand, this expression, “the gospel of God,” occurs nowhere else in the Gospels, while “the gospel of the kingdom” is a Matthean expression (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14), and “kingdom of God” is pervasive in the synoptic Gospels (occurring over 50 times). Scribes would thus be more prone to add τῆς βασιλείας than to omit it. Further, the external support for the shorter reading (א B L Θ Ë^1,13 28* 33 565 579 892 2427 sa) is significantly stronger than that for the longer reading. There is little doubt, therefore, that the shorter reading is authentic.

[1:14]  ¹⁹ tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself.

[1:15]  ¹⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:15]  ¹⁹ sn The kingdom of God is a reference to the sovereign activity of God as he rules over his creation and brings his plans to realization.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tc Several early and important witnesses, along with the majority of later ones (Ì^66c,75 A B C L W^s Ψ 083 ˹³ 33 Ï sa), have κύριος (kurio", “Lord”) here instead of ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsou", “Jesus”). As significant as this external support is, the internal evidence seems to be on the side of ᾿Ιησοῦς. “Jesus” is mentioned two more times in the first two verses of chapter four in a way that is stylistically awkward (so much so that the translation has substituted the pronoun for the first one; see tn note below). This seems to be sufficient reason to motivate scribes to change the wording to κύριος. Further, the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is not without decent support, though admittedly not as strong as that for κύριος (Ì^66* א D Θ 086 ˹ 565 1241 al lat bo). On the other hand, this Gospel speaks of Jesus as Lord in the evangelist’s narrative descriptions elsewhere only in 11:2; 20:18, 20; 21:12; and probably 6:23, preferring ᾿Ιησοῦς most of the time. This fact could be used to argue that scribes, acquainted with John’s style, changed κύριος to ᾿Ιησοῦς. But the immediate context generally is weighed more heavily than an author’s style. It is possible that neither word was in the original text and scribes supplied what they thought most appropriate (see TCGNT 176). But without ms evidence to this effect coupled with the harder reading ᾿Ιησοῦς, this conjecture must remain doubtful. All in all, it is best to regard ᾿Ιησοῦς as the original reading here.

[4:1]  ²⁰ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “Jesus”; the repetition of the proper name is somewhat redundant in English (see the beginning of the verse) and so the pronoun (“he”) has been substituted here.

[4:1]  ²² tn Grk “was making.”

[4:2]  ²⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[4:3]  ²¹ sn The author doesn’t tell why Jesus chose to set out once more for Galilee. Some have suggested that the Pharisees turned their attention to Jesus because John the Baptist had now been thrown into prison. But the text gives no hint of this. In any case, perhaps Jesus simply did not want to provoke a confrontation at this time (knowing that his “hour” had not yet come).