Mark 1:3-5

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

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ¹  his paths straight.’” ² 

1:4 In the wilderness ³  John the baptizer ⁴  began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵  1:5 People ⁶  from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem ⁷  were going out to him, and he was baptizing them ⁸  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

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

[1:3]  ² sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[1:4]  ³ tn Or “desert.”

[1:4]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:5]  ⁸ 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.