Matthew 3:5-6

3:5 Then people from Jerusalem, ¹  as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 3:6 and he was baptizing them ²  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Mark 1:4-5

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.

Luke 3:7

3:7 So John ⁹  said to the crowds ¹⁰  that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! ¹¹  Who warned you to flee ¹²  from the coming wrath?

[3:5]  ¹ tn Grk “Then Jerusalem.”

[3:6]  ² 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.

[1:4]  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.

[3:7]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:7]  ¹⁰ sn The crowds. It is interesting to trace references to “the crowd” in Luke. It is sometimes noted favorably, other times less so. The singular appears 25 times in Luke while the plural occurs 16 times. Matt 3:7 singles out the Sadducees and Pharisees here.

[3:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “snakes.”

[3:7]  ¹² sn The rebuke “Who warned you to flee…?” compares the crowd to snakes who flee their desert holes when the heat of a fire drives them out.