Mark 1:5

1:5 People ¹  from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem ²  were going out to him, and he was baptizing them ³  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Mark 6:14

The Death of John the Baptist

6:14 Now ⁴  King Herod ⁵  heard this, for Jesus’ ⁶  name had become known. Some ⁷  were saying, “John the baptizer ⁸  has been raised from the dead, and because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.”

[1:5]  ¹ 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]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:5]  ³ 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.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[6:14]  ⁵ sn Herod was technically not a king, but a tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king. A tetrarch ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. In the NT, Herod, who ruled over Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.

[6:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:14]  ⁸ 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]).