Mark 1
Vincent's Word Studies
The Gospel According to Mark

Introduction

Mark the Evangelist is, by the best authorities, identified with John Mark, the son of Mary. The surname Mark was adopted for use among the Gentiles; Mark (Marcus) being one of the commonest Latin names (compare Marcus Tullius Cicero, Marcus Aurelius), as John was one of the commonest Hebrew names. Mark was a cousin of Barnabas, and was, from a very early period, the intimate friend and associate of Peter (Acts 12:11-17), who affectionately refers to him as "my son" at the close of his first epistle. The general opinion of the fathers, as well as that of modern authorities, is that Mark drew the great mass of his materials from the oral discourses of Peter. This opinion was perpetuated in Christian art, in representations of Peter seated on a throne with Mark kneeling before him and writing from his dictation; Mark sitting and writing, and Peter standing before him, with his hand raised, dictating; and Peter in a pulpit, preaching to the Romans, and Mark taking down his words in a book (see Mrs. Jameson, "Sacred and Legendary Art," 1:149).

This opinion finds support in the evidences of Peter's influence upon the style of this Gospel. The restlessness and impetuosity of Mark's disposition, of which we have hints in his forsaking Paul and Barnabas at Perga (Acts 13:13; Acts 15:38), in his subsequent readiness to join them on the second missionary journey (Acts 15:39), and, if the tradition be accepted, in his rushing into the street on the night of Christ's arrest, clad only in a linen sheet (Mark 14:51, Mark 14:52), would naturally be in sympathy with the well-known character of Peter. Peter was a man of observation and action rather than of reflection; impulsive and impetuous. "When we assume," says Dr. Morison, "that Mark drew directly from the discoursings of St. Peter, then we understand how it comes to pass that it is in his pages that we have the most particular account of that lamentable denial of his Lord of which the apostle was guilty. On no other person's memory would the minute particulars of the prediction, and of its unanticipated fulfilment, be so indelibly engraven. It is also noteworthy that, while the very severe rebuke which our Lord administered to St. Peter in the neighborhood of Caesarea Philippi is faithfully and circumstantially recorded in Mark's pages, the splendid eulogium and distinguishing blessing, which had been previously pronounced, are, as it were, modestly passed by. Doubtless the great apostle would not be guilty of making frequent or egotistic references to such marks of distinction" ("Commentary on Mark").

Unlike the other gospels, Mark's narrative is not subordinated to the working out of any one idea. Matthew's memoirs turn on the relation of Christ to the law and the prophets. He throws a bridge from the old economy to the new. His is the Gospel as related to the past, the Gospel of Christianity regarded as the fulfilment of Judaism. Luke exhibits Jesus as a Saviour, and expounds the freeness and universality of the Gospel, and the sacredness of humanity. John wrote that then might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and might have life in him. While Matthew and Luke deal with his offices, John deals with his person. John carries forward the piers of Matthew's bridge toward that perfected heavenly economy of which his Apocalypse reveals glimpses. In Matthew Jesus is the Messiah; in John, the Eternal Word. In Matthew he is the fulfiller of the law; in John he foreshadows the grander and richer economy of the Spirit.

Mark, on the other hand, is a chronicler rather than a historian. His narrative is the record of an observer, dealing with the facts of Christ's life without reference to any dominant conception of his person or office. Christ's portrait is drawn "in the clearness of his present energy;" not as the fulfilment of the past, as by Matthew, nor as the foundation of the future, as by John. His object is to portray Jesus in his daily life, "in the awe-inspiring grandeur of his human personality, as a man who was also the Incarnate, the wonder-working Son of God." Hence his first words are the appropriate keynote of his Gospel: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

Such a narrative might have been expected from Peter, with his keen-sightedness, his habit of observation, and his power of graphically describing what he was so quick to perceive. There is, of course, less room for the exhibition of these traits in his epistles, though they emerge even there in certain peculiar and picturesque words, and in expressions which reflect incidents of his personal association with Christ. Those brief epistles contain over a hundred words which occur nowhere else in the New Testament. Certain narratives in the Book of Acts record incidents in which Peter was the principal or the only apostolic actor, and the account of which must have come from his own lips; and these narratives bear the marks of his keen observation, and are characterized by his picturesque power. Such are the accounts of the healing of the cripple at the temple-gate (3); of Ananias and Sapphira (5); of Peter's deliverance from prison (12); of the raising of Dorcas (9); and of the vision of the great sheet (10). In these, especially if we compare them with narratives which Luke has evidently received from other sources, we are impressed with the picturesque vividness of the story; the accurate notes of time and place and number; the pictorial expressions, the quick transitions; the frequent use of such words as straightway, immediately; the substitution of dialogue for narrative, and the general fulness of detail.

All these characteristics appear in Mark's Gospel, and are justly regarded as indicating the influence of Peter, though comparatively few of the same words are employed by both; a fact which may be, in great part, accounted for by the difference between a hortatory epistle and a narrative. The traces of Peter's quick perception and dramatic and picturesque power are everywhere visible in Mark. While Matthew fully records the discourses of our Lord, Mark pictures his deeds. Hence, while Matthew gives us fifteen of his parables, Mark reproduces only four, and that in a condensed form. "Mark does not wear the flowing robes of Matthew. His dress is 'for speed succinct.' Swift-paced, incisive, his narrative proceeds straight to the goal, like a Roman soldier on his march to battle." His Gospel is the Gospel of the present, not of the past. His references to the Old Testament, with the exception of Mark 1:2, Mark 1:3, are quotations occurring in the discourses of Christ, or cited by others. They belong, as Canon Farrar observes, "to the narrative, not to the recorder" (Mark 15:28 is an interpolation). The word νόμος, law, never occurs in Mark nor in Peter.

Mark's is, therefore, pre-eminently the pictorial Gospel: the Gospel of detail. "There is," says Canon Westcott, "perhaps not one narrative which he gives in common with Matthew and Luke, to which he does not contribute some special feature." Thus he adds to John the Baptist's picture of loosing the shoe-latchet another touch, in the words to stoop down (Mark 1:7). He uses a more graphic term to describe the opening of the heavens at Christ's baptism. According to Matthew and Luke the heavens were opened (ἀνεώχθησαν); Mark depicts them as rent asunder (σχιζομένους; Mark 1:10). Matthew and Luke represent Jesus as led (ἀνήχθη) into the wilderness to be tempted; Mark as driven (ἐκβα.λλει); adding, He was with the wild beasts; to which some detect a reference in Peter's comparison of the devil to a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). He gives a realistic touch to the story of James and John forsaking their employment at the call of Jesus, by adding that they left their father with the hired servants (Mark 1:20). After the discourse from the boat to the multitude upon the shore, Mark alone tells us that the disciples sent away the multitude, and throws in the little details, they took him as he was; and there were with them other little ships (Mark 4:36). His account of the storm which followed is more vivid than Matthew's or Luke's. He pictures the waves beating into the boat, and the boat beginning to fill; notes the steersman's cushion at the stern on which the sleeping Lord's head reposed (Mark 4:37, Mark 4:38); and throws the awaking by the disciples and the stilling of the tempest into a dramatic form by the distressful question, Master, carest thou not that we perish? and the command to the sea as to a raging monster, Peace! Be still! (Mark 4:38, Mark 4:39).

In the narrative of the feeding of the five thousand, only Mark relates the Saviour's question, How many loaves have ye ? Go and see (Mark 6:38). An oriental crowd abounds in color, and to Mark we are indebted for the gay picture of the crowds arranged on the green grass, in companies, like flower-beds with their varied hues. He alone specifies the division of the two fishes among them all (Mark 6:39, Mark 6:41). He tells how Jesus, walking on the sea, would have passed by the disciples' boat; he expresses their cry of terror at Christ's appearance by a stronger word than Matthew, using the compound verb ἀνέκραξαν where Matthew uses the simple verb ἔχραξαν. He adds, they all saw him (Mark 6:48-50). When Jesus descends from the mount of transfiguration, it is Mark that fills out the incident of the disciples' controversy with the bystanders by relating that the scribes were questioning with them. He notes the amazement which, for whatever reason, fell upon the people at Jesus' appearance, their running to salute him, and his inquiry, What question ye with them? (Mark 9:14, Mark 9:16). Mark gives us the bystanders' encouragement of Bartimeus when summoned by Jesus, and tells how he cast off his outer garment and leaped up (Mark 10:49, Mark 10:50). He alone relates the breaking of the alabaster by the woman (Mark 14:3), and Christ's taking the little child in his arms after he had set him in the midst (Mark 9:36).

In the account of the two demoniacs of Gadara, Matthew (8) relates that they were met coming out of the tombs, and that they were exceeding fierce, so that no one could pass that way. Mark mentions only one demoniac, but adds that he had his dwelling in the tombs (κατοίκησιν εἶχεν, stronger than Luke's abode, ἔμενεν); that the attempt had been made to fetter him, but that he had broken the fetters; and that he was day and night in the tombs and in the mountains, crying and cutting himself with stones (Mark 5:3-6). In the interview with the lawyer who desired to know what kind of a commandment was great in the law, Matthew (Matthew 22:34-40) ends the dialogue with Jesus' answer to this question. Mark gives the lawyer's reply and his enlargement upon Jesus' answer, the fact that Jesus observed that he answered discreetly, and his significant words, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

It is interesting to compare the account of Herod's feast and John the Baptist's murder as given by Matthew and Mark respectively. Mark alone mentions the great banquet and the rank of the guests. He adds the little touches of Salome's entering in and delighting the guests. He throws Herod's promise and Salome's request into dialogue. Where Matthew says simply, He promised with an oath, to give her whatsoever she should ask, Mark gives it, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of ray kingdom. The whole narrative is more dramatic than Matthew's. Matthew says that Salome was put forward by her mother. Mark pictures her going out, and details her conversation with Herodias, and her entering in again with haste, and demanding the horrible boon forthwith. Mark also enlarges upon Herod's regret: he was exceeding sorry; and where Matthew notes merely his compliance with the damsel's request, Mark lets us into his feeling of unwillingness to refuse her. Mark, too, emphasizes the promptness of the transaction. Salome demands the Baptist's head forthwith; Herod sends the executioner straightway. Mark alone mentions the executioner. While the dialogue is not peculiar to Mark, it is to be noted that it is characteristic of Peter's style, so far, at least, as can be inferred from the stories in the book of Acts, of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:3-9), Cornelius Acts 10:1), and Peter's deliverance from prison (Acts 12:1).

Mark is peculiarly minute and specific as to details of persons, times, numbers, and places; a feature in which, also, he resembles Peter (compare Acts 2:15; Acts 6:3; Acts 4:22; Acts 5:7, Acts 5:23; Acts 12:4). Thus, of persons, "They entered into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John" (Mark 1:29): "Simon and they that were with him followed after him" (Mark 1:36): "In the days of Abiathar the high-priest" (Mark 2:26): "The Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians" (Mark 3:6): "The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phenician by nation" (Mark 7:26). Compare, also, Mark 11:11; Mark 13:3; Mark 15:21. Of places: "A multitude from Galilee and Judaea," etc. (Mark 3:7, Mark 3:8): The demoniac proclaimed his recovery in Decapolis (Mark 5:20): Jesus departed "from the border of Tyre and came through Sidon unto the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis" (Mark 7:31). Compare Mark 8:10; Mark 11:1; Mark 12:41; Mark 14:68. Of number: The paralytic was "borne of four" (Mark 2:3): The swine were about two thousand (Mark 5:13): The twelve were sent out two and two (Mark 6:7): The people sat down by hundreds and fifties (Mark 6:40): "Before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice" (Mark 14:30). Of time: Jesus rose up in the morning, a great while before day (Mark 1:35): "The same day, when the even was come" (Mark 4:35). Compare Mark 11:11; Mark 14:68; Mark 15:25.

But Mark does not confine himself to mere outward details. He abounds in strokes which bring out the feeling of his characters. He uses six different words expressive of fear, wonder, trouble, amazement, extreme astonishment. The compound ἐκθαμβεῖσθαι, greatly amazed, affrighted (Mark 9:15; Mark 16:5, Mark 16:6) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Thus the look and emotion of our Lord are portrayed: "He looked round about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their heart" (Mark 3:5): "He looked round about on them which sat round about him, and said, Behold my mother," etc. (Mark 3:34): "He looked round about" to see who had touched him in the crowd (Mark 5:32): "He marvelled because of their unbelief" (Mark 6:6): He looked on the young ruler and loved him (Mark 10:21): He was moved with compassion toward the leper (Mark 1:41): He sighed deeply in his spirit (Mark 8:12).

Similarly Mark depicts the tender compassion of the Lord. A beautiful hint of his delicate and loving appreciation of an ordinary need closes the story of the healing of the ruler's daughter. In their joy and wonder at her miraculous restoration, the friends would naturally forget the immediate practical demand for food, of which the Lord promptly reminds them by his command that something should be given her to eat (Mark 5:43). Luke notes the same circumstance. In like manner his appreciation of his disciples' weariness appears in the words, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile" (Mark 6:31). He is moved with compassion toward the multitude because they are as sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34): he is touched with the need and fatigue of the many who had come from far (Mark 8:3): he shows his interest in the condition of the epileptic lad by inquiring into the history of his case (Mark 9:21): he is much displeased at the disciples' rebuke of those who are bringing the young children to him (Mark 10:14).

In like manner Mark describes the mental and emotional states of those who were brought into contact with Christ. Those who witnessed the miracle of the loaves understood not, and their heart was hardened (Mark 6:52): the disciples were perplexed, questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean (Mark 9:10): they were amazed at his words about a rich man entering into the kingdom of heaven (Mark 10:24): a sudden and mysterious awe fell upon them in their journey to Jerusalem (Mark 10:32): Pilate marvelled at Jesus being already dead, and sent for the centurion in order to ask whether he had been any while dead (Mark 15:44). Compare Mark 1:29, Mark 1:27; Mark 5:20, Mark 5:42; Mark 6:20; Mark 7:37; Mark 11:18. He depicts the interest excited by the words and works of Christ; describing the crowds which flocked to him, and their spreading abroad the fame of his power (Mark 1:28, Mark 1:45; Mark 2:13; Mark 3:20, Mark 3:21; Mark 4:1; Mark 5:20, Mark 5:21, Mark 5:24; Mark 6:31; Mark 7:36).

We find in Mark certain peculiarly forcible expressions in our Lord's language, such as, "To them that are without" (Mark 4:11); "Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men" (Mark 7:8); "This adulterous and sinful generation" (Mark 8:38); "Be set at nought" (Mark 9:12); "Quickly to speak evil of me" (Mark 9:39); "Shall receive brethren and sisters and mothers," etc., "with persecutions" (Mark 10:30).

His narrative runs. His style abounds in quick transitions. The word εὐθέως, straightway, occurs in his Gospel something like forty times. He imparts vividness to his narration by the use of the present tense instead of the historic (Mark 1:40, Mark 1:44; Mark 2:3, sq.; Mark 11:1, Mark 11:2, Mark 11:7; Mark 14:43, Mark 14:66). He often defines his meaning by coupling similar words or phrases. Beelzebub is called by two names (Mark 3:22), and by a third (Mark 3:30): The sick are brought at even, when the sun did set (Mark 1:32): The blasphemer hath no more forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin (Mark 3:29): He spake with many parables, and without a parable he spake not (Mark 4:33, Mark 4:34). Compare Mark 3:5, Mark 3:27; Mark 5:26; Mark 6:25; Mark 7:21. He employs over seventy words which are found nowhere else in the New Testament. We find him preserving the identical Aramaic words uttered by the Lord. In his Gospel alone occur Boanerges (Mark 3:17); Talitha cumi (Mark 5:41); Korban (Mark 7:11); Ephphatha (Mark 7:34): and Abba (Mark 14:36). Writing for Romans we find him transferring certain Latin words into Greek, such as legio, legion (Mark 5:9); centurio, κεντυρίων, centurion, which elsewhere is ἑκατόνταρχος - χης (Mark 15:39); quadrans, farthing (Mark 12:42); flagellare, to scourge (Mark 15:15); speculator, executioner (Mark 2:27); census, tribute (Mark 12:14); sextarius, pot (Mark 7:4); praetorium (Mark 15:16). Three of these, centurio, speculator, and sextarius are found in his Gospel only. He always adds a note of explanation to Jewish words and usages.

His style is abrupt, concise, and forcible; his diction less pure than that of Luke and John. Besides irregularities of construction which cannot be explained to the English reader, he employs many words which are expressly forbidden by the grammarians, and some of which are even condemned as slang. Such are ἐσχάτως ἔχει, is at the point of death (Mark 5:23); κράββατος, bed (Mark 2:4, Mark 2:9, Mark 2:11, Mark 2:12); μονόφθαλμος, with one eye (Mark 9:47); κολλυβισταί, money-changers (Mark 11:15); κοράσιον, maid (Mark 5:41); ὁ ρκίζω, I adjure (Mark 5:7); ῥάπισμα, a blow of the hand (Mark 14:65); ῥαφίδος, needle (Mark 10:25).

I have described the characteristics of Mark at some length, because they lie peculiarly in the line of the special purpose of this book, which deals with individual words and phrases, and with peculiarities of diction, rather than with the exegesis of passages. Of this Gospel it is especially true that its peculiar flavor and quality cannot be caught without careful verbal study. It is a gallery of word-pictures. Reading it, even in the familiar versions, we may discover that it is, as Canon Westcott remarks, "essentially a transcript from life;" but nothing short of an insight into the original and individual words will reveal to us that the transcript itself is alive.

List of Greek Words Used by Mark Only

ἀγρεύω catch Mark 12:13 ἅλς salt Mark 9:49 ἄλαλος dumb Mark 7:37; Mark 9:17, Mark 9:25 ἀλεκτροφωνία cockcrowing Mark 13:35 ἄμφοδον a place where two ways meet Mark 11:4 ἀμφιβάλλω cast Mark 1:16 ἄναλος saltless Mark 9:50 ἀναπηδάω leap up Mark 10:50 ἀναστενάζω sigh deeply Mark 8:12 ἀπἔχει it is enough Mark 14:41 ἀπόδημος abroad Mark 13:34 ἀποστεγάζω uncover Mark 2:4 ἀφρίζω foam Mark 9:18, Mark 9:20 Βοανεργές sons of thunder Mark 3:17 γαμίσκομαι to be given in marriage Mark 12:25 γναφεύς fuller Mark 9:3 δισχίλιοι two thousand Mark 5:13 δύσκολος hard Mark 10:24 εἰ if (in swearing) Mark 8:12 ἐκθαμβέω to be amazed Mark 9:15; Mark 14:33; Mark 16:5, Mark 16:6 ἐκθαυμάζω to marvel Mark 12:17 ἐκπερισσῶς exceeding vehemently Mark 14:31 ἐναγκαλίζομαι take in the-arms Mark 9:36; Mark 10:16 ἐνειλέω wrap Mark 15:46 ἔννυχον in the night Mark 1:35 ἐξάπινα suddenly Mark 9:8 ἐξουδενόω set at naught Mark 9:12 ἐπιβάλλω (neuter) beat Mark 4:37 ἐπιῤῥάπτω sew upon Mark 2:21 ἐπισυντρέχω come running together Mark 9:25 ἐσχάτως at the point of death Mark 4:23 ἤφιεν suffered (permitted) Mark 1:34; Mark 11:16 θανάσιμος deadly Mark 16:18 θαυμάζειν διὰ to wonder because of Mark 6:6 θυγάτριον little daughter Mark 5:23; Mark 7:25 τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιεῖν to content Mark 15:15 κατάβα come down Mark 15:30 καταβαρύνω weigh down Mark 14:40 καταδιώκω follow after Mark 1:36 κατακόπτω cut Mark 5:5 κατευλογέω bless Mark 10:16 κατοίκησις dwelling Mark 5:3 κεντυρίων centurion Mark 15:39, Mark 15:44, Mark 15:45 κεφαλαιόω to wound in the head Mark 12:4 κυλίομαι wallow Mark 9:20 κωμόπολις village-town Mark 1:38 μεθόρια borders Mark 7:24 μηκύνομαι grow Mark 4:27 μογιλάλος having an impediment in speech Mark 7:32 μυρίζω anoint Mark 14:8 νουνεχῶς discreetly Mark 12:34 ξέστης pot Mark 7:4 ὄμμα eye Mark 8:28 οὐά ah! ha! Mark 15:29 παιδιόθεν from a child Mark 9:21 παρόμοιος like Mark 7:8, Mark 7:13 περιτρέχω run round about Mark 6:55 πρασιά a garden-plat Mark 6:40 προαύλιον porch or forecourt Mark 14:68 προμεριμνάω take thought before-hand Mark 13:11 προσάββατον day before the Sabbath Mark 15:42 προσεγγίζω come nigh unto Mark 2:4 προσκεφάλαιον cushion Mark 4:38 προσορμίζομαι moor to the shore Mark 6:53 προσπορεύομαι come unto Mark 10:35 πυγμῇ with the fist Mark 7:3 σκώληξ worm Mark 9:44, Mark 9:46, Mark 9:48 σπεκουλάτωρ executioner Mark 6:27 σμυρνίζω mingle with myrrh Mark 15:23 στασιαστής insurrectionist Mark 15:7 στίλβω to be glistering Mark 9:3 στίβας branch, or layer of leaves Mark 11:8 συμπόσιον a table-party Mark 6:39 συνλίβω to throng or crowd Mark 5:24, Mark 5:31 συλλυπέομαι to be grieved Mark 3:5 Συραφοινίκισσα a Syro-phoenician woman Mark 7:26 σύσσημον countersign, token Mark 14:44 τηλαυγῶς clearly Mark 8:25 τρίζω gnash Mark 9:18 ὑπερηφανία pride Mark 7:22 ὑπερπερισσῶς beyond measure Mark 7:37 ὑπολήνιον wine-fat or wine-press Mark 12:1 χαλκίον brazen vessel Mark 7:4

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Beginning (ἀρχὴ)

without the article, showing that the expression is a kind of title. It is 'the beginning, not of his book, but of the facts of the Gospel. He shows from the prophets that the Gospel was to begin by the sending forth of a forerunner.

As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
A voice (φωνὴ)

No article as A. V. and Rev., "the voice." It has a sort of exclamatory force. Listening, the prophet exclaims, Lo! a voice.

John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
John did baptize (ἐγένετο Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων)

Lit., John came to pass or arose who baptized. Rev., John came who baptized.

Baptism of repentance (βάπτισμα μετανοίας)

A baptism the characteristic of which was repentance; which involved an obligation to repent. We should rather expect Mark to put this in the more dramatic form used by Matthew: Saying, Repent ye!

And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
There went out (ἐξεπορεύετο)

The imperfect tense signifies, there kept going out.

The river

Peculiar to Mark.

Confessing

See on Matthew 3:6.

And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
With camels' hair (τρίχας καμήλου)

Lit., hairs. Not with a camel's skin, but with a vesture woven of camels' hair. Compare 2 Kings 1, 8.

Wild honey

"The innumerable fissures and clefts of the limestone rocks, which everywhere flank the valleys, afford in their recesses secure shelter for any number of swarms of wild bees; and many of the Bedouin, particularly about the wilderness of Judaea, obtain their subsistence by bee-hunting, bringing into Jerusalem jars of that wild honey on which John the Baptist fed in the wilderness" (Tristram, "Land of Israel"). Wyc., honey of the wood.

And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
To stoop down

A detail peculiar to Mark.

And unloose

Compare to bear; Matthew 3:11.

I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
Straightway

A favorite word with Mark. See Introduction.

Opened (σχιζομένους)

Lit., as Rev., rent asunder: much stronger than Matthew's and Luke's ἀνεῴχθησαν, were opened.

And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Thou art my beloved son

The three synoptists give the saying in the same form: Thou art my son, the beloved.

And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Driveth him (ἐκβάλλει)

Stronger than Matthew's ἀνήχθη, was led up, and Luke's ἤγετο, was led. See on Matthew 9:38. It is the word used of our Lord's expulsion of demons, Mark 1:34, Mark 1:39.

The Wilderness

The place is unknown. Tradition fixes it near Jericho, in the neighborhood of the Quarantania, the precipitous face of which is pierced with ancient cells and chapels, and a ruined church is on its topmost peak. Dr. Tristram says that every spring a few devout Abyssinian Christians are in the habit of coming and remaining here for forty days, to keep their Lent on the spot where they suppose that our Lord fasted and was tempted.

And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
With the wild beasts

Peculiar to Mark. The region just alluded to abounds in boars, jackals, wolves, foxes, leopards, hyenas, etc.

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
The time (ὁ καιρὸς)

That is, the period completed by the setting up of Messiah's kingdom. Compare the fulness of the time, Galatians 4:4.

Repent

See on Matthew 3:2; and Matthew 21:29. Mark adds, and believe in the Gospel.

Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Casting a net (ἀμφιβάλλοντας)

See on Matthew 4:18. Mark here uses, more graphically, only the verb, without adding net. Lit., throwing about in the sea. Probably a fisher man's phrase, like a east, a haul.

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
To become (γενέσθαι)

An addition of Mark.

And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
A little farther

Added by Mark.

Mending

See on Matthew 4:21.

And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.
With the hired servants

Peculiar to Mark. It may imply that Zebedee carried on his business on a larger scale than ordinary fishermen.

And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.
He taught (ἦν διδάσκων)

The finite verb with the participle denoting something continuous: was teaching.

And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
Straightway

At the conclusion of his teaching.

With an unclean spirit (ἐν πνεύματι ἀκαθάρτῳ)

Lit., "in an unclean spirit." Ἐν (in) has the force of in the power of. Dr. Morison compares the phrases in drink, in love.

Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
Us

Me and those like me. "The demons," says Bengel, "make common cause."

The Holy One of God

The demon names him as giving to the destruction the impress of hopeless certainty.

And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
Hold thy peace (φιμώθητι)

Lit., be muzzled or gagged See on Matthew 22:12.

And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
Had torn (σπαράξαν)

Rev., tearing, convulsions in margin. Luke has had thrown him down in the midst. Mark adds the crying out with a loud voice.

And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
They questioned among themselves (συνζητεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς)

Stronger than Luke, who has they spake together. Tynd., They demanded one of another among themselves.

And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.
And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.
Lay sick of a fever (κατέκειτο πυρέσσουσα)

Κατά, prostrate. Mark adds, they tell him of her. Luke, they besought him for her. Mark, he came to her. Luke, he stood over her. Mark only, he took her by the hand and raised her up.

And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.
And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
At even, when the sun did set

An instance of Mark's habit of coupling similar words or phrases.

That were sick

See on Matthew 4:23, Matthew 4:24.

And all the city was gathered together at the door.
All the city was gathered together at the door

Peculiar to Mark.

And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
Devils (δαιμόνια)

The Rev., unfortunately, and against the protest of the American committee, retains devils instead of rendering demons. See on Matthew 4:1. The New Testament uses two kindred words to denote the evil spirits which possessed men, and which were so often east out by Christ: διάμων, of which demon is a transcript, and which occurs, according to the best texts, only at Matthew 8:31; and δαιμόνιον, which is not a diminutive, but the neuter of the adjective δαιμόνιος, of, or belonging to a demon. The cognate verb is δαιμονίζομαι to be possessed with a demon, as in Mark 1:32.

The derivation of the word is uncertain. Perhaps δαίω, to distribute, since the deities allot the fates of men. Plato derives it from δαήμων, knowing or wise. In Hesiod, as in Pythagoras, Thales, and Plutarch, the word δαίμων is used of men of the golden age, acting as tutelary deities, and forming the link between gods and men. Socrates, in Plato's "Cratylus," quotes Hesiod as follows: "Socrates: You know how Hesiod uses the word? Hermogenes: Indeed I do not. Soc.: Do you not remember that he speaks of a golden race of men who came first? Her.: Yes, I know that. Soc.: He says of them,

But now that fate has closed over this race,

They are holy demons upon earth,

Beneficent, averters of ills, guardians of mortal men.'"

After some further conversation, Socrates goes on: "And therefore I have the most entire conviction that he called them demons, because they were δαήμονες (knowing or wise). Now, he and other poets say truly that, when a good man dies, he has honor and a mighty portion among the dead, and becomes a demon, which is a name given to him signifying wisdom. And I say, too, that every wise man who happens to be a good man is more than human (δαιμόνιον) both in life and death, and is rightly called a demon." Mr. Grote ("History of Greece") observes that in Hesiod demons are "invisible tenants of the earth, remnants of the once happy golden race whom the Olympic gods first made - the unseen police of the gods, for the purpose of repressing wicked behavior in the world." In later Greek the word came to be used of any departed soul.

In Homer δαίμων is used synonymously with θεός and θεά, god and goddess, and the moral quality of the divinity is determined by the context: but most commonly of the divine power or agency, like the Latin numen, the deity considered as a power rather than as a person. Homer does not use δαιμόνιον substantively, but as an adjective, always in the vocative case, and with a sorrowful or reproachful sense, indicating that the person addressed is in some astonishing or strange condition. Therefore, as a term of reproach - wretch! sirrah! madman! ("Iliad," 2:190, 200; 4:31; ix., 40). Occasionally in an admiring or respectful sense ("Odyssey," xiv., 443; xxiii., 174); Excellent stranger! noble sir! Homer also uses δαίμων of one's genius or attendant spirit, and thence of one's lot or fortune. So in the beautiful simile of the sick father ("Odyssey," 5:396), "Some malignant genius has assailed him." Compare "Odyssey," x., 64; xi., 61. Hence, later, the phrase κατὰ δαίμονα is nearly equivalent to by chance.

We have seen that, in Homer, the bad sense of δαιμόνοις is the prevailing one. In the tragedians, also, δαίμων, though used both of good and bad fortune, occurs more frequently in the latter sense, and toward this sense the word gravitates more and more. The undertone of Greek thought, which tended to regard no man happy until he had escaped from life (see on Matthew 5:3, blessed), naturally imparted a gloomy and forbidding character to those who were supposed to allot the destinies of life.

In classical Greek it is noticeable that the abstract τὸ δαιμόνιον fell into the background behind δαίμων, with the development in the latter of the notion of a fate or genius connected with each individual, as the demon of Socrates; while in biblical Greek the process is the reverse, this doctrine being rejected for that of an overruling personal providence, and the strange gods, "obscure to human knowledge and alien to human life," taking the abstract term uniformly in an evil sense.

Empedocles, a Greek philosopher, of Sicily, developed Hesiod's distinction; making the demons of a mixed nature between gods and men, not only the link between the two, but having an agency and disposition of their own; not immortal, but long-lived, and subject to the passions and propensities of men. While in Hesiod the demons are all good, according to Empedocles they are both bad and good. This conception relieved the gods of the responsibility for proceedings unbecoming the divine nature. The enormities which the older myths ascribed directly to the gods - thefts, rapes, abductions - were the doings of bad demons. It also saved the credit of the old legends, obviating the necessity of pronouncing either that the gods were unworthy or the legends untrue. "Yet, though devised for the purpose of satisfying a more scrupulous religious sensibility, it was found inconvenient afterward when assailants arose against paganism generally. For while it abandoned as indefensible a large portion of what had once been genuine faith, it still retained the same word demons with an entirely altered signification. The Christian writers in their controversies found ample warrant among the earlier pagan authors for treating all the gods as demons; and not less ample warrant among the later pagans for denouncing the demons generally as evil beings" (Grote, "History of Greece").

This evil sense the words always bear in the New Testament as well as in the Septuagint. Demons are synonymous with unclean spirits (Mark 5:12, Mark 5:15; Mark 3:22, Mark 3:30; Luke 4:33). They appear in connection with Satan (Luke 10:17, Luke 10:18; Luke 11:18, Luke 11:19); they are put in opposition to the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:20, 1 Corinthians 10:21); to the faith (1 Timothy 4:1). They are connected with idolatry (Revelation 9:20; Revelation 16:13, Revelation 16:14). They are special powers of evil, influencing and disturbing the physical, mental, and moral being (Luke 13:11, Luke 13:16; Mark 5:2-5; Mark 7:25; Matthew 12:45).

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
A great while before day (ἔννυχα)

Lit., while it was in the night. The word is peculiar to Mark.

And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.
Followed after (κατεδίωξαν)

The word found only in Mark. Simon and his companions, as well as the people of the city, seem to have been afraid lest he should have permanently left them. Hence the compound verb indicates that they followed him eagerly; pursued him as if he were fleeing from them. Simon, true to his nature, was foremost in the pursuit: Simon, and they that were with him.

And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.
All

All the people of Capernaum, all are seeking thee. The continuous present tense. So Rev., better than A. V. The all is peculiar to Mark.

And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.
Towns (κωμοπόλεις)

Lit., village-towns, suburban towns.

And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
Moved with compassion

Only Mark.

And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
Strictly charged (ἐμβριμησάμενος)

Rev., sternly, in margin. The word is originally to snort, as of mettlesome horses. Hence, to fret, or chafe, or be otherwise strongly moved; and then, as a result of this feeling, to admonish or rebuke urgently. The Lord evidently spoke to him peremptorily. Compare sent him out (ἐξέβαλεν); lit., drove or cast him out. The reason for this charge and dismissal lay in the desire of Jesus not to thwart his ministry by awaking the premature violence of his enemies; who, if they should see the leper and hear his story before he had been officially pronounced clean by the priest, might deny either that he had been a leper or had been truly cleansed.

And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.
The city

Properly, as Rev., a city; any city.

Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886].
Text Courtesy of Internet Sacred Texts Archive.

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