Mark 1:4

Mar_1:4

John did baptize in the wilderness.

The age in which the Baptist ministered

The age of Tiberius, spiritually speaking, was not unlike the Victorian age. Some people were still satisfied with the old religious forms. Their piety still flowed through the time-worn channels of creeds and catechisms. There will always be these survivals, what we call old-fashioned people; they belong to the past, let them alone, they will get to heaven in their own way. Others-in the days of Tiberius and Victoria-respectable but heartless formalists, really without religion, but apparently full of it, cling to the orthodox forms. You will always find such wooden-headed, stony-hearted supporters of things as they are, without a breath of the new life in them, boasting that they are Abrahams children. But a surging crowd of restless, eager spirits, sons of the new time, impatient of worn-out creeds, churches, establishments, orthodoxies, what shall I say of these? Ah! these are the disciples of John. These wait for the inner personal appeal, repent; the fresh symbol, baptism; the spiritual emancipation, remission of sins; the new Divine Man; the holy effluence; the fiery chrism. (H R. Haweis, M. A.)

The Baptists training

Besides baptizing, he did a good deal else there; for he was in the deserts till the day of his showing forth unto Israel. He had the usual good education of a priests son, and world know most of the Bible by heart. His father and mother had taught him, as only saintly hearts can teach a child, the wealth of Gods mercy, the grievousness of sin, the promises of God to His people, the hope of a great Redeemer. They had told him the wonders connected with his birth in such a way as not to move his conceit, but to charge his conscience with the sense of a high calling awaiting him. They had told him of a miraculous birth of One whom Anna and Simeon and themselves had been moved by the Spirit of God to hail as the Promised Christ. He had from time to time gone up to Jerusalem to the feasts, and had thus seen and heard enough of the miseries of his people, and of the hypocrisy and worldliness of their priests and leaders, to make him long for the appearing of the promised Redeemer. So he sought calmness and strength and light in the desert with his God. The desert dangers destroyed all fear; the hardness of the desert fare, all love of ease. The writings of the great prophets of the past were the friends whose companionship moulded him. Prayer for his people arose perpetually from his priestly heart. Increasingly he felt that the one misery of man was sin; and the one need of man a Saviour, whose sacrifice would take away its guilt, and whose baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost would destroy evil and create good in them. In the wilderness the great temptations had their fiercest force, but were fought and conquered; the temptation to shrink from the tremendous task; the temptation to despair of men hearing his message or obeying his call; the temptation to fear his own breakdown in faith; the temptations of darkness and doubt, all assailed him there. He could not have come in the power of the Spirit to his work, unless victory over such assaults had strengthened him. He knew that death was the reward which the world had always given Gods prophets. He faced till he ceased to fear it. So, clad in the single garment, still worn by the poorest Bedouin; living on locusts and wild honey, as the extremely poor sometimes still do in the same region; he walked and talked with God until the time was ripe for his coming forth. (R. Glover.)

Solitary communion with God

Every preacher and teacher, to do his work aright, must go into the wilderness. There would be more prophecy if there was more privacy. An ounce of truth discovered by yourself has more power in it than a pound imparted to you by someone else. Do not grudge the time you spend alone with God. He will teach all His scholars what none others can impart. (R. Glover.)

The Baptism of John

Ablutions in the East have always been more or less a part of religious worship-easily performed, and always welcome. Every synagogue, if possible, was by the side of a stream or spring; every mosque still requires a fountain or basin for lustrations. But John needed morn than this. No common spring or tank would meet the necessities of the multitudes who resorted to him for baptism. The Jordan now seemed to have met with its fit purpose. It was the one river of Palestine, sacred in its recollections, abundant in its waters; and yet, at the same time, the river, not of cities, but of the wilderness; the scene of the preaching of those who dwelt not in kings palaces, nor wore soft clothing. On the banks of the rushing stream the multitudes gathered-the priests and scribes from Jerusalem, down the pass of Adunimim; the publicans from Jericho on the south, and the lake of Genesareth on the north; the soldiers on their way from Damascus to Petra, through the Ghor, in the war with the Arab chief, Hareth; the peasants from Galilee, with One from Nazareth, through the opening of the plain of Esdraelon. The tall reeds in the valleys waved, shaken by the wind; the pebbles of the bare clay hills lay around, to which the Baptist pointed as capable of being transformed into children of Abraham; at their feet rushed the refreshing stream of the never-failing river. There began that sacred rite which has since spread throughout the world. (Dean Stanley.)

The ministry of John the Baptist

I. His qualifications for his ministry. He was in the deserts, etc. He was a meditative man. This love of retirement into natures places of impressive solitude is good for the soul. The fountains of thought and religious feeling are best filled thus. The best poems, speeches, sermons, are born under such condition, s. John possessed another good qualification for his ministry in the simplicity of his tastes and habits. A man who has no wants, says Burke, has obtained great freedom and firmness, and even dignity.

II. The doctrine of his ministry. He proclaimed the need of repentance. Where one man objects to the preaching of searching truth, ten will approve it. Confession of sins is humbling but salutary. He told them of Christ who was about to come and complete his imperfect work. Without Christ repentance is superficial.

III. The characteristics of his ministry. From its extraordinary effect, that mysterious influence of the Spirit, which gives the unction characteristic of all mighty preachers, must have distinguished Johns ministry. The tones of the Holy Christ, with which he was filled from his mothers womb, were heard in his preaching. Joined to this supreme quality of the preacher, John had other qualities of a remarkable kind. He was a direct preacher. He was a plain and faithful preacher. He magnified Christ to the forgetfulness of himself. (A. H. Currier.)

Natures solitude refreshing

There is something in natures solitudes most congenial and refreshing to souls of the larger mould. Of William the Conqueror it is said that he found society only when he passed from the palace to the loneliness of the woods. He loved the wild deer as though he had been their own father. (A. H. Currier.)

A faithful ministry beneficent

Such plainness of dealing may appear, at first thought, harsh and repulsive. But before this judgment is given, it is well to inquire whether plainness and fidelity on the part of the preacher are any proof of unkindness. Is the keeper of a weather-signal station unkind, who hoists the storm signal, that the shipping may stay in the harbour, or fly to its shelter, when word comes to him from his chief that a storm is at hand? Let him fail once to do his duty. Instead of a plain and truthful signal, let him put out an ambiguous or an unmeaning one, and let the ships, which fill the harbour or cover the adjacent sea, sail forth and go on in entire security, until the tempest comes and catches them in its irresistible grip and scatters their wrecks along the shore. Then see the widows wring their hands and wail, and their fatherless children cry over the lifeless dead, which lie stark and cold on the sand, and say whether it was kind and good to keep back the warning that might have prevented such ill. A child may complain of the robin whose boding note prognosticates the rain which interferes with its play, but a man, able to understand that God sends the rain, will thank the bird for the warning. (A. H. Currier.)

It is not wise to disregard a faithful ministry

They had the good sense to perceive that the truth, though sometimes severe and painful, is nevertheless truth, and not to be run away from. As wisely might the sailor on a dangerous coast, befogged in mist and uncertain of the way, close his ears to the fog bell which warns him of the rocks, as for a sinful man to find fault with and avoid the messenger of God, who proclaims that truth by which his soul is saved. Better is it to charge the messenger to hold back nothing. A reasonable soul fears nothing so much as those false delusions of the mind which soothe mens alarms and lull concern to sleep-at last to destroy them. (A. H. Currier.)

John the fulfilment of prophecy

The Old Testament is full of prophetic intimations and clear predictions concerning the coming Saviour. Beginning faintly and far away, they grow in distinctness and fulness, until John ushers in the long-expected Redeemer. Like the chorus of bird songs which herald the dawn, which, beginning with the soft chirp of a half-awakened songster, gradually increases and swells till the whole air throbs with melody, so the prophetic strain which tells the coming Christ rises in strength until He appears. (A. H. Currier.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 1:4. John — Who was the very person spoken of by those prophets, being sent of God for that end, did baptize in the wilderness — Which lay east from Jerusalem, along the river Jordan and the lake Asphaltites, also called the Dead sea. By wilderness, in the Scriptures, it is plain that we are not always to understand what is commonly denominated so with us, a region either uninhabitable or uninhabited. No more seems to have been denoted by it than a country fitter for pasture than for agriculture, mountainous, woody, and but thinly inhabited. These ερημοι, wildernesses, did not want their towns and villages. And preach the baptism of repentance — That is, preach repentance, and baptize as a sign and means of it. Thus John endeavoured to prepare men for the coming of that Messiah who was to save his people from their sins. See notes on Mat 3:2-3. This baptism, says Dr. Lightfoot, may belong to children, though it be the baptism of repentance, and they know not what repentance means; for it requireth not their repentance at the receiving of this sacrament, but it engageth them to it for the time to come, namely, when they shall come to the use of reason, and the knowledge of the engagement. And so was it with the children that were circumcised; for they by that sacrament became debtors to observe the whole law, Gal 5:3, when they knew not what obedience or the law meant; but that bound them to it when they came to years of knowledge and discretion.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:4 John’s mission as the Lord’s messenger was to prepare people for the Messiah’s coming (see Luke 1:76-77) by instructing them to confess their sins, turn to God for forgiveness, and be baptized. Those who did this were prepared to receive Jesus’ message (see Luke 7:29-30). • That John was in the wilderness, probably the desert area around the Jordan River north of the Dead Sea, shows that he was the “voice” of whom Isaiah had spoken (Mark 1:3). • be baptized: The exact origin of John’s baptism is unclear. The Qumran community had an initiatory “baptism” which was repeated regularly, but John’s baptism was once for all. Jewish proselyte baptism has also been seen as a possible source, but it is more likely that such baptisms were not practiced until after John’s ministry.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 1:4. Ἐγένετο, came forth [not the same as ἦν]) The event is pointed out as answering to the prophecy.—κηρύσσων βαπτισμα, preaching the baptism) An abbreviated expression for, preaching the preaching of repentance, and baptizing the baptism of repentance; Luk 3:3.—εἰς, unto [for]) Construe with the baptism of repentance; Act 2:38.—ἄφεσιν, remission) without [the need of] Levitical sacrifices.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 1:4 . ἐγένετο Ἰ .: in accordance with, and in fulfilment of, these prophetic anticipations, appeared John . ὁ βαπτίζων = the Baptist (substantive participle), that the function by which he was best known. εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν : this clause (in Luke, not in Matthew) may plausibly be represented as a Christianised version of John’s baptism (Weiss), but of course John’s preaching and baptism implied that if men really repented they would be forgiven (Holtz., H. C.).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sum of John’s doctrine, or rather Christ’s, is remission of sins and amendment of life.

The Jews used many kinds of washings: but here is spoken of a peculiar kind of washing, which hath all the parts of true baptism, amendment of life, and forgiveness of sins.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 4. John] The original name is nearly lost in the Greek ιωαννης, and in the Latin Johannes, and almost totally so in the English John. The original name is יהוחנן Yehochanan, compounded of יהוה חנן Yehovah chanan, the grace or mercy of Jehovah: a most proper and significant name for the forerunner of the God of ALL GRACE. It was John's business to proclaim the Gospel of the grace of God, and to point out that Lamb or sacrifice of God which takes away the sin of the world.

For the remission of sins.] Or, toward the remission - εις αφεσιν. They were to repent, and be baptized in reference to the remission of sins. REPENTANCE prepared the soul for it, and BAPTISM was the type or pledge of it. See Clarke on Mt 3:2.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) John did baptize.—No other Gospel passes so abruptly, so in medias res, into the actual work of the Forerunner. There is no account of the birth or infancy of our Lord, as in St. Matthew and St. Luke; none of the pre-existence of the Son of Man, as in St. John. St. Mark is here, as elsewhere, emphatically the Evangelist of action. (On the rest of the verse, see Notes on Mat_3:1.) The special phrase “baptism of repentance”—i.e., the sign of repentance, that which was connected with it, and pre-supposed it—meets us in Luk_3:3 and Act_19:4. In the former passage we find also “forgiveness of sins” as the result of the baptism; and we cannot doubt, therefore, that then, as evermore, repentance was followed by forgiveness, even though the blood which availed for that forgiveness (Mat_26:28) had not as yet been shed.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. the wilderness] i. e. the dry and unpeopled region extending from the gates of Hebron to the shores of the Dead Sea. “It is a dreary waste of rocky valleys; in some parts stern and terrible, the rocks cleft and shattered by earthquakes and convulsions into rifts and gorges, sometimes a thousand feet in depth, though only thirty or forty in width … The whole district is, in fact, the slope of the midland chalk and limestone hills, from their highest point of nearly 3000 feet near Hebron, to 1000 or 1500 feet at the valley of the Dead Sea. The Hebrews fitly call it Jeshimon (1Sa_23:19; 1Sa_23:24), ‘the appalling desolation,’ or ‘horror.’  ”

for the remission] or unto the remission. See margin and comp. Mat_26:28; Luk_1:77. This remission was to be received of the Messiah. John required of all who came to him a change of mind and life with a view to pardon from Christ. Thus his baptism was preparatory to that of Christ.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Ver. 4. John did baptize in the wilderness] Like as at the promulgation of the law, the people were commanded to wash their garments, and sanctify themselves; so at the first publication of the Gospel, to wash their hands, and cleanse their hearts; and in testimony or profession thereof, to believe and be baptized for remission of sins.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See the notes at Mat 3:3, Mat 3:5-6, Mat 3:11.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For the remission of sins. Some commentators think from this that the baptism of John remitted sins, though he says in another place, I baptize you with water, but there has stood one amongst you, who will baptize you with water and the Holy Ghost, to shew that he did not baptize with the Holy Ghost, without which there is no remission of sin. This apparent difficulty will be easily reconciled, if we refer this expression to the word penance, and not baptism; so that by penance their sins were to be washed away, and there were baptized to shew their detestation of their former life. (Jansenius, Concord. Evang.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Luke saith that John began about the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. He baptized in the wilderness, that is, a place little inhabited. By his baptism is not to be strictly understood baptism, but his preaching and doctrine, his whole administration; which is called the baptism of repentance, because repentance was the great thing he preached, a seal of which baptism was to be; the consequent of which was to be the remission of sins, or the argument which he used to press repentance was the remission of sins. See Poole on "Mat 3:5". See Poole on "Mat 3:6", where we before had these words.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Baptism of repentance — Not the baptism of faith in a Redeemer already crucified and atoning; but a baptism of repentance and reformation preparatory to his coming. For the remission of sins — This phrase depends on repentance. It is not baptism for the remission of sins, but repentance for such remission.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John came, and preached the baptism of repentance. John came, that is, that he might rouse the people to repentance, and prepare them, by the outward cleansing of their bodies, to receive the cleansing of their souls through Christ"s baptism, which was to follow his. So that the baptism of John was the profession of their penitence. Hence they who were baptized with his baptism confessed their sins, and thus made the first step towards the forgiving mercy which was to be found in Christ; and the seal of his forgiveness they were to look for in his baptism, which is a baptism for the remission of sins to all true penitents and faithful believers. Christ"s baptism was, therefore, the perfection and consummation of the baptism of John.

Vers. 4-8. The ministry of John.

I OF WHAT IT CONSISTED. In each Gospel the descriptions are very general, and look as if they had been foreshortened in order to give due prominence to the gospel narrative that had to follow. Yet a fairly complete impression may be received of his main doctrines and rules of discipline. Generally in his ministry there are four elements discoverable.

1. Exhortation. A direct appeal to the moral sense, the chief note of which was "Repent." It is a sharp word often repeated, refinement upon it being likely only to dull its edge. It meant, primarily, "to think after another," then "to change one"s mind or opinion," the faculty addressed being that of moral reflection (nouv). Accordingly we read of repentance "unto acknowledgment of the truth", (2Ti_2:25) "toward God", (Act_20:21) "from dead works", (Heb_6:1) and "unto life", (Act_11:18) or "unto salvation". (2Co_7:10) The two last expressions correspond with that of Mark, "unto remission of sins." The idea involved is intellectual as well as moral, thought being exercised as well as feeling. The mind is to be twisted back upon itself; spiritual resolution is demanded according to new principles. "Take a right view of sin your sin and quit it." John thus prepared men for Christ by making them prepare themselves, casting down every imagination and every high thing that stood in the way the coming King was to use for his glorious "progress.

2. Ceremony. There was but one rite baptism; not created for the occasion, but simply adopted out of the multiform ceremonial of Judaism. Its use is explained by its symbolic suggestiveness of the spiritual change John sought to produce. The physical purifying set forth the spiritual, and was ineffectual without it.

3. Example. He himself was what he desired others to be. His habitat the wilderness was a protest against the corruption of the cities, and indeed of the whole social fabric. He dwelt apart, as being thus better able to seek God and serve him. His personality, too, was eloquent of the same truth. With clothing the coarsest and least comfortable, and food the simplest and cheapest, he maintained a strong, flee, independent life, consecrated in Nazarite-like vows to God.

4. P rophecy. Not only a backward but also a forward look was implied in his teaching. It was by virtue of the coming of Another that all these moral acts were to be rendered valid and effectual. The atonement of Christ, as a prospective thing, is therefore the key-stone of all John"s preaching. Not the baptism, the ascetic life, not even the "repentance," was in itself a saving principle. These only availed as they brought men to him who baptized not with water but with the Holy Spirit. His whole ministry did not confer, but simply prepared for, "the remission of sins.

II ITS RELATIVE, SIGNIFICANCE. It was, therefore, not of absolute or independent value, but only auxiliary to the advent of Christ. He stood midway between the Lair and the Gospel. In this light, his recognition of the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" is at once the linking on of his ministry to Christ"s, and its consummation and disappearance in it.

III ITS RESULTS. Not substantive or permanent. A deep effect was produced upon Jewish life, but it did not last. Yet, in many instances, notably within the circle of the apostles, it was the preliminary stage, the "strait gate and narrow way," into the Divine life which Jesus brought. John"s message exerted a far-reaching influence, thrilled the nation in all its classes and tribes, and then died away in ever fainter echoes, amidst the returning indifference or spiritual opposition to the Truth. It was not, therefore, useless; rather in the highest sense was it effectual only as it succeeded in making itself unnecessary for the further progress of those who received it. "He must increase, but I must decrease. M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Preaching the baptism of repentance - That is, preaching repentance, and baptizing as a sign and means of it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

A twofold account is here given of St. John’s execution of his ministry and office: First, his baptising; secondly, his preaching.

John did baptise; that is, admit persons into the church, by washing them with water: John baptised into the name of Christ, who was to come; the apostles baptised into the name of Christ, already come.

The second part of his office was preaching.

Where note, That preaching of the word, and administration of the sacraments, are to go together, and belong only to the ministers of the word, lawfully called. John did baptise and preach; but where and what did he preach? The place where, was the wilderness; a place not much frequented, though not altogether uninhabited; a solitary, mean, and obscure place. Thither God had called him, and there he contents himself.

Learn hence, That the ministers of God must be content to execute their ministry where God calls them, be the place never so mean and obscure, and the people never so rude and barbarous: John was a preacher of great note and fame; Jerusalem the chief city might seem more fit for him; but God had called him to preach in the wilderness, and he would not leave it.

We must not leave our place because it is mean and obscure, nor desert our people, thinking them too base to instruct; but where God has called us we must there abide, till he that called us thither remove us thence.

Observe farther, As the place where the Baptist preached, in the wilderness, so the doctrine which he preached, namely, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; that is, the doctrine of Baptism, which sealeth the remission of sins to the party baptized.

Learn hence, The the preaching of the doctrine of repentance is absolutely necessary, and the indespensable duty of every gospel-minister. John Baptist preached it, our Saviour preached it, his apostles preached it: They went out preaching every where that men should repent. The baptism of repentance (says the learned Lightfoot) belongs to children, though they know not what repentance means, because it engages them to repentance when they come to years to understand that engagement. For thus it was with children circumcised, they became debtors to observe that whole law, though they came to years of discretion.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. John did baptize in the wilderness. Of Judea. See note on Matt. 3:1, for account of the wilderness and John the Baptist. And preached the baptism of repentance. He preached, as well as baptized. Only those who repented were fit subjects of baptism. Hence it was called the “baptism of repentance.” Repentance signifies, not only sorrow for sin, but the resolve to sin no more. For remission of sins. This indicates the object of repentance and baptism. Those who repented and were baptized were pardoned. Both were needful to remission. Compare Acts 2:38.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

In these verses the words "he," "him," and "his" refer to John.

John came

Be sure your reader understands that John was the messenger spoken of by the prophet Isaiah in the previous verse.

The whole country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem

The words "whole country" are a metaphor for the people who live in the country and a generalization that refers to a great number of people, not to every single person. AT: "Many people from Judea and Jerusalem" (See: Metaphor and Hyperbole and Generalization)

They were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins

They did these things at the same time. The people were baptized because they repented of their sins. AT: "When they repented of their sins, John baptized them in the Jordan River"

he was eating locusts and wild honey

Locusts and wild honey are two kinds of foods that John customarily ate while he lived in the wilderness. This does not mean that John was actually eating these foods while he was baptizing people.

translationWords

John (the Baptist)

baptize

preach

baptize

repent

forgive

sin

Judea

Jerusalem

Jordan River

confess

locust

honey

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

4. [62] 33 omit καί before κηρύσσων.

[62] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

4. ἐγένετο Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. There came John the Baptizer in the wilderness. This is the apodosis of καθὼς γέγραπται: in exact accordance with written prediction, John arose in the wilderness, i.e. the uninhabited part of the valley of the Jordan. The preaching of the Baptist is just the point at which a Gospel influenced by Peter might be expected to begin. Peter would remember it well. Mk alone uses ὁ βαπτίζων (Mar 6:14; Mar 6:24) as well as ὁ βαπτιστής (Mar 6:25, Mar 8:28), and the difference, though slight, is worth marking in translation; cf. ὁ καταλύων τὸν ναόν, “the Temple-destroyer” (Mat 27:40), and ὁ διώκων ἡμᾶς ποτέ, “our former persecutor” (Gal 1:23). Josephus (Vita, 2) tells us that as a lad he imitated one Banus, who lived in the wilderness and got his food and clothing from what grew on trees.

καὶ κηρύσσων. If with all uncials, except [188] and all ancient versions we read καί before κηρύσσων, the ὁ belongs to both participles; “There arose in the wilderness John the Baptizer and the Preacher, etc.” All four Gospels give the historical relation between Jesus and John as the starting-point of the Gospel narrative. On Ἰωάνης or Ἰωάννης see W.H. App. p. 159.

[188] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

βάπτισμα μετανοίας. Cf. Luk 3:3; Act 13:24; Act 19:4. The gen. is equivalent to an adjective, “repentance-baptism,” baptism which implied and symbolized a “change of mind” as regards both past and future; and if real repentance was there, forgiveness followed. This is in favour of taking εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν with βάπτισμα rather than with μετανοίας (Act 2:38; Act 22:16). To preach repentance-baptism means to proclaim the value of baptism as a seal of repentance, a pledge of a new life; and the purpose (εἰς) was to assure those who accepted such baptism that by repentance they could be delivered from the penalty and the bondage of sin. Some Jews believed that it was the sins of the nation that delayed the coming of the Messiah. Nowhere else does Mk use μετάνοια, and he has μετανοέω only twice (Mar 1:15, Mar 6:12). In Lk. and Acts both noun and verb are freq., but neither is found in Jn. In LXX., as in class. Grk, μετάνοια is rare (Pro 14:15; Wis 11:23; Wis 12:10; Wis 12:19; Sir 44:16). Neither βάπτισμα nor -μός is found in LXX., nor is ἄφεσις with the meaning of “forgiveness.” The language here may be influenced by Christian phraseology. On ἄφεσις see Trench, N.T. Syn. § xxxiii.; Cremer, Lex. p. 297.

The description of the Baptist by Josephus (Ant. XVIII. Mar 1:2) should be compared with this. Evidently each is independent of the other.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4.] See on Mat 3:1.

βάπτ. μετ., the baptism symbolic of (“gen. of the characteristic quality,” Meyer) repentance and forgiveness—of the death unto sin, and new birth unto righteousness. The former of these only comes properly into the notion of John’s baptism, which did not confer the Holy Spirit, ver. 8.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. In this verse, the art. should be inserted before βαπτίζων, without any doubt. Whether καὶ should be dropped before κηρύσσων, on the other hand, admits of much doubt. If it is dropped, the passage reads, John the Baptizer came preaching. If it is retained, it reads, John came, who baptized and preached, RV. On the whole, the reading without καὶ is preferable.

ὁ βαπτίζων Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BDL Δ 33, Memph. καὶ κηρύσσων Treg. (καὶ) Tisch. RV. א ADLP Δ, Verss. generally. Omit καὶ WH. Treg. marg. B. 33, 73, 102.

In order to get at the right connection of this verse, we must read it as if the preceding quotations were omitted—Beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ … John came, etc. ἐγέετο—there came, or appeared. The verb is used to denote the appearance of a person on the stage of history. The wilderness in which he made his appearance is the wilderness of Judaea, on the southern banks of the Jordan, just before it empties into the Dead Sea. κηρύσσων—proclaiming. The word means to exercise the office of a herald, to proclaim officially, and with authority. John is not represented as preaching, taking baptism for his text, but as making public proclamation, calling men to his baptism.1

βάπτισμα μετανοίας—a baptism of repentance. This rite of immersion in water signified the complete inward purification of the subject. It took up into a symbolical rite the figurative washings of such passages as Isa 1:16, Isa 4:4, Jer 4:14, Eze 36:25, Eze 36:5 Zec 13:1, Psa 51:2. Outwardly, it had its counterpart in the Levitical washings of the law (Exo 29:4, Lev 14:8, Lev 14:9, Lev 14:15:5, Lev 14:8, Lev 14:10, Lev 14:13, Lev 14:16, Lev 14:21, Lev 14:22, Lev 14:27, Lev 14:16:26, Lev 14:28, Lev 14:17:15 etc.). But its use by John was quite unique.2 μετανοίας—of repentance. The gen. denotes the significance of the rite, the inward act of which it is the outward sign and pledge. The word denotes primarily a change of mind, such as comes from an afterthought. A person does something from failure to consider certain things necessary to wise action, and when afterwards these neglected things come to him, there comes the corresponding change of attitude and purpose. It denotes in the N.T. a change, arising from such reconsideration, from a life of sin to rectitude and holiness. Such a call to repentance was not unexpected by the Jews, who believed that it was the sin of the nation which delayed the coming of the Messianic King. The call to repentance therefore, by one wearing the prophetic appearance and authority, would signify to the nation that the deliverer was at hand, and that they must prepare for his coming. εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν—for remission of sins. This states the purpose of the baptism of repentance. It is the repentance evidently which is the real cause of the remission, repentance being the normal and constant Scriptural condition of forgiveness.1 Baptism is related to the repentance as the outward act in which this inward change finds formal expression. Baptism is an act of profession, and is related to repentance as the declaration of forgiveness is to forgiveness itself. It is contended sometimes (so Meyer and Weiss) that this is an anticipation of the significance of Christian baptism, in which the forgiveness of sins was first realized. But surely, if this was a baptism of repentance, it would result in forgiveness, since repentance and forgiveness are necessarily connected.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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!

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.