ACCORDING TO MARK 1The beginning of the glad tidings(1) (1)εὐαγγελίου has a political connotation and perhaps there is an echo with Isaiah 40’s message of comfort in view of the return of YHWH to Zion. of Jesus the Anointed.(2) (2)Earliest manuscripts omit “son of [a] god” (υἱοῦ θεοῦ). This is a significant honorific title for Jesus in Mark and is synonymous with “Christ (Messiah)” meaning Anointed One (cf. 3.11). It thus has the Davidic connotation of being God’s authoritative agent (cf. 2 Sam 7.13–14; Ps 2.7) but does not by itself attribute a divine status. I.e., it signals messianic kingship—not necessarily abstract divinity in a metaphysical sense—functioning at least as a political (counter-imperial?) claim. E.g. contrast this with the divi filius (“son of a god”/“son of the deified [one]”) claimed by Augustus following the deification of Julius Caesar in 42 BCE which was not a metaphysical claim to be a god himself (i.e. deus) but rather a claim to be the son of a deified mortal. cf. also Livy, History of Rome, 1.16. 2aAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet:(3) (3)The reference conflates material from Isa 40.3 with Ex 23.20, Mal 3.1. Some manuscripts have only “in the prophets” while others have “in Isaiah the prophet”. The latter therefore slightly misattribute the verses. The passages take on a new meaning not in their original contexts; here the author reads them as allusions to John the Baptist.

2bBehold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare the way, 3the voice of one crying from the wild: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD, make his paths straight,’

4John the Immerser came to the wild proclaiming a baptism of heart reorientation(4) (4)Literally, change of mind (metanoia). The meaning is akin to a transformative change of heart or a fundamental transformation of outlook and life. for the absolution of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were being immersed by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.⊕ John’s attire is evocative of that of Elijah (2 Kings 1.8; cf. Zech 13.4), whose return was sometimes regarded as a sign of the end of the age (Mal 4.5–6; see also Mk 9.11–13; Lk 1.17). 7aAnd he preached, saying,

7bAfter me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to squat down and untie. 8I have immersed you in water, but he will immerse you in holy spirit.(5) (5)(Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ) earliest Greek manuscripts do not distinguish case and there is no definite article (i.e. anarthrous usage)—cf. also Jn 3.5 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be baptized with spirit and water.

9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.(6) (6)Presumably, Jesus came to the surrounds of Jerusalem where John was baptizing. ⊕ Coloured postcard of the Jordan River. c. 1925 (Public Domain)
Karimeh Abbud 10Just when he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the spirit descending like a dove on him. 11aAnd a voice came from heaven,

11bYou are my beloved son, with you I am delighted.

12Promptly, the spirit expelled him into the wild. 13And he was in the wild forty days, being tempted by the adversary. Wild beasts(7) (7)Perhaps echoing Psalm 22.12-21 if taking this reading as the beasts being a threat. Could also be read positively in an Isaiah 11.6 sense where the animals are a comforting force. Perhaps also picking up on the “wild man / man among beasts” motifs from Near Eastern traditions (e.g. Enkidu in Epic of Gilgamesh or Nebudchadnezzar in Daniel 4). were with him and the messengers(8) (8)I.e. the angels. attended to him.

14Now after John was put in custody, Jesus came to Galilee, pronouncing the glad tidings of God, and saying,

15The appointed time has come; the kingdom of God is upon us. Reform your hearts and be confident in this joyous news."

16Passing alongside Lake Galilee,(9) (9)The Greek is “θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας” whose best literal translation is “Sea of Galilee”. However, this is a bit of a misnomer which is more to do with linguistic and historical reasons translating from Hebrew/Aramaic into Greek. Geographically speaking, the “Sea of Galilee” is more accurately a small freshwater lake. In modern Hebrew, it is referred to as Lake Kinneret because of its harp-like shape. he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon. They were fisherman, and were casting a net into the lake.(10) (10)cf. Jn 1.16 which seems at odds with this account. In that version, Andrew is originally a disciple of John the Baptist and goes to Peter afterwards. ⊕ Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Israel. Panorama of the southern end, 5 Feb 2014
Zachi Evenor 17“Come after me!” Jesus said to them, “and I’ll have you fishing for people! 18Straightaway they left their nets and followed him. 19And going on a little further, he saw James, Zebedee’s son, and John his brother who were in their boat making good the nets. 20And he called them straightaway. They left their father Zebedee behind in the boat with the hired hands,(11) (11)Suggests that Zebedee’s family had enough means to hire μισθωτῶν (“wage workers”/“contractors”). These were people who neither owned the equipment nor the produce; their primary loyalty was to the wage. and went after him.

21Then they went to Capernaum and, on the sabbath, Jesus went straight to the synagogue and was there teaching. 22And they were astounded by his teaching, because he taught them on the basis of his personal authority, disregarding the traditional precedent of the Torah scholars.(12) (12)Slightly looser translation here to get across the sense of what’s going on. Jesus’ behaviour was a significant break from tradition where Torah interpretation was based off a “Chain of Tradition” (Shalshelet Ha-Kabbalah). The validity of interpretation was dependent on the authority of a chain being cited, similar to the modern practice of legal precedent or academic citation. E.g. “Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: How do we know that the Holy One, Blessed be He, prays? As it is stated: ‘I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer’ (Isaiah 56:7)” (Berakhot 7a). The astoundment at Jesus’ behaviour is not necessarily favourable. Indeed, the synagogue may be perceiving Jesus as lacking of credentials or pedigree. 23And all of a sudden, in their synagogue, there was a man with an impure spirit. 24“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” he yelled. “Have you come to utterly destroy us? I know who you are, the Consecrated One of God.” 25Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Shut up and come out of him!” 26Convulsing him and crying out in an almighty shriek, the unclean spirit came out of him. 27Everyone was shocked, debating amongst themselves saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority!” He even gives orders to the impure spirits, and they answer to him. 28At once, word spread of him everywhere throughout the whole country round about Galilee.

29And promptly, having left the synagogue, they arrived at the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever and, right away, they tell him about her. 31Drawing near, he roused her, taking hold of her hand; the fever left her, and she went on to host him.(13) (13)Here διηκόνει means serving in a practical sense—i.e. providing hospitality to Jesus. Her immediate return to service proves the completeness of the healing being fully restored to strength.

32Now, when evening had come, as the sun was setting,(14) (14)Possibly, being still the Sabbath, they waited for the sun to set so as not to violate the prohibition against carrying loads. they would bring to him all who were sick and possessed⊕ Some of what Mark describes here as τοὺς δαιμονιζομένους may therefore better fit under our modern category of “mental illness”. However, it may be simplistic and misleading to reduce these phenomena as merely a pre-modern explanation for mental illness. by godlings(15) (15)Ancient Near Eastern notions of δαιμόνιον from near the time of Mark can differ substantially from the modern one. E.g. for contemporaries like Plutarch or Philo a daimōnion was an intermediate being—higher than humans but lower than the gods—being neither necessarily good or evil: viz. Acts 17.18 xenōn daimoniōn (foreign gods / new spiritual beings), Plutarch (The Obsolescence of Oracles 415A; On the Sign of Socrates 593D), Philo (On the Giants 6, 16; On Dreams 1.141). The LXX translators, being both steeped in Hebrew theology and a Hellenistic world, used δαιμόνιον to render Hebrew terms for foreign gods and spirits condemned by Israel’s prophets. E.g. Deut 32.17: ἔθυσαν δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ θεῷ” (“they sacrificed to daimónia and not to God,”) for Hebrew šēdîm (שֵׁדִים), malevolent powers associated with idolatry; Psalm 95(96).5 “all the gods of the nations are daimónia,”. It seems likely that Mark takes on LXX’s polemical sense of δαιμόνιον. However, in their Hellenistic milieu, δαιμόνιον still carried a broad semantic field, as noted above. I have translated δαιμόνιον as “godlings” to capture the polyphonic possibilities that Mark may have intended. Mark takes their ontological status for granted. 33The whole town was gathering around the door.(16) (16)Probably hyperbolic as a figure of speech. Archaeological estimates suggest a population in the order of 1000 people in Capernaum at the time of Jesus. 34And he healed many people suffering from all kinds of illnesses, and he drove out many godlings, and he permitted the godlings not to speak, because they were acquainted with him.

35Very early, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out, off into to the wild, and prayed there. 36Simon, and those with him, followed closely. 37Finding him they say,(17) (17)A case of the historical present and throughout. “Everyone’s inquiring for you!” 38And Jesus says to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the neighbouring villages, so I can preach there too; I came out for this reason.” 39So he went into their synagogues, throughout the whole of Galilee, preaching and expelling godlings.

40A man with an impure skin disease(18) (18)See e.g. Gryzbowski and Nita (2016) “Leprosy in the Bible”, Cl. in Derm. (34), 1. The notion being referenced here probably harks back to tzaraat in Leviticus 13-14 where tzaraat. The term referred not only to a skin disease, but also to the state of ritual impurity and punishment for sins. The exact nature of tzaraat remains unknown, possibly being related to any number of the following modern conditions: Psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, favus, dermatophyte infections, nummular dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, pityriasis rosea, crusted scabies, syphilis, impetigo, sycosis barbae, alopecia areata, furuncles, scabies, neurodermatitis, scarlet fever, lupus erythematosus, lichen sclerosus et atrophicus, folliculitis decalvans, morphea, sarcoidosis, and lichen planopilaris. The modern condition of leprosy (or Hansen’s disease) became interchangeable with the biblical leprosy due to two inaccurate translations: The Hebrew tzaraat was first translated into Greek as λεπρός in the sixth century, and later, translated into Arabic as lepra in the ninth century. comes up to him, begging him on his knees, saying, “Please, would you make me pure?” 41Moved to the heart,(19) (19)Literally, “organ-ed”/“gutted”; σπλάγχνον means “internal organs” esp. the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, which in sacrifices were reserved to be eaten by the sacrificers at the beginning of the feast. By metonymy, can mean “sacrificial feast”. Metaphorically, the expression functions similarly to the English “heart” / “gall” being the seat of intense feelings and affections. See LSJ for usages. The verb form used throughout the New Testament is virtually non-existent in classical literature. he reached out his hand and touched him, and says to him, “I am pleased to do it; be pure!” 42The disease left him at once, and he was pure. 43He sent him away right away, with a stern warning. 44And he says to him: “Mind that you say nothing to anyone! But go and present yourself to the priest, and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as proof for them."(20) (20)The priest was probably associated with the synagogue at Capernaum (not Jerusalem). Josephus describes priestly leadership in Jerusalem but also mentions priests living outside the city, including in Galilee and notes their influence in towns like Sepphoris and Jotapata. Josephus also records that some priests in Galilee were wealthy landowners, which aligns with evidence that some priestly families had estates outside Jerusalem. The Mishnah (compiled c. 200 CE) contains laws about priests and Temple-related practices that may reflect earlier traditions. Tractates like Ma’aserot (on tithes) and Pesachim (on Passover laws) suggest priests collected tithes and provided religious instruction in the countryside. Taanit 4.5 also mentions that after the Temple’s destruction, priests continued some of their functions outside Jerusalem albeit, this post-dates events being described in Mark. 45But the man went out and began to announce it everywhere and spread the word, to the extent that Jesus could no longer go openly into a city. He stayed out in the open country, and people came to him from all around.