Mark 1:4-11
1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
1:5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
1:6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
1:7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
1:8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
1:10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
1:11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
[4]ἐγένετο ᾿Ιωάννης βαπτίζων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ κηρύσσων βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν.
[5]καὶ ἐξεπορεύετο πρὸς αὐτὸν πᾶσα ἡ ᾿Ιουδαία χώρα καὶ οἱ ῾Ιεροσολυμῖται, καὶ ἐβαπτίζοντο πάντες ἐν τῷ ᾿Ιορδάνῃ ποταμῷ ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν.
[6]ἦν δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιωάννης ἐνδεδυμένος τρίχας καμήλου καὶ ζώνην δερματίνην περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐσθίων ἀκρίδας καὶ μέλι ἄγριον.
[7]καὶ ἐκήρυσσε λέγων· ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω μου, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς κύψας λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ.
[8]ἐγὼ μὲν ἐβάπτισα ὑμᾶς ἐν ὕδατι, αὐτὸς δὲ βαπτίσει ὑμᾶς ἐν Πνεύματι ῾Αγίῳ.
[9]Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἦλθεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη ὑπὸ ᾿Ιωάννου εἰς τὸν ᾿Ιορδάνην.
[10]καὶ εὐθέως ἀναβαίνων ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδε σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ὡς περιστερὰν καταβαῖνον ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν·
[11]καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν· σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ ηὐδόκησα.
Comments
[4] ἐγένετο ᾿Ιωάννης βαπτίζων: ἐγένετο, 3r pers. sg., 2nd aor., γίνομαι, ‘I become’. See Muraoka s.v. 5, p. 131: ‘set out doing something’ + part. (usually pres.).
The Gospel of Mark opens with the onset of St John’s baptising mission.
βαπτίζων: βαπτίζω,in cl. Gk, ‘dip, plunge’; ‘soak’; in the Gospels, ‘baptise’. It derives from βάπτω, ‘Ι dip, immerse’, first attested in the Odyssey 9. 392 in the Cyclops episode, where it refers to dipping a red-hot iron axe in cold water.
[5] ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν: ἐξομολογοῦμαι, ‘I confess in full’ (LSJ); the preverb ἐξ- denotes thoroughness. The vb occurs in LXX Daniel 9: 4, 20 where it is also construed with the acc. obj. τὰς ἁμαρτίας. The notion of public confession of sins seems to be alien to ancient Greece, although one could in a conversation ‘admit, confess’ (ὁμολογῶ, προσομολογῶ) something, e.g. ignorance.
[6] ἐσθίων ἀκρίδας καὶ μέλι ἄγριον: ἐσθίω, already in Homer, can mean, as here ‘eat, feed oneself’ (EDNT s.v., p. 58). St John subsisted on this strange wild fare.
[7] ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω μου: ἔρχεται, ‘is coming’ (progressive present); in cl. Gk, as here, the present is the equivalent of a future in the setting of prophecy. (This has been remarked in previous comments.)
ὑποδημάτων: ὑποδήματα,τά are ‘sandals’, lit. ‘things tied below’.
[8] ἐγὼ μὲν ἐβάπτισα: the personal pron. ἐγὼ is not necessary, but included it lends emphasis. The adversative particles μέν-δέ set up a contrast, ‘I’ vs ‘he’ (Jesus).
[9] Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἦλθεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς: the parataxisΚαὶ + ἐγένετο (‘and it came to pass’) + one or more vbs (‘that X, Y, Z happened…) is an LXX construction that is common in the NT. ἦλθεν and ἐβαπτίσθη are the main vbs in the verse.
[10] εἶδε σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς: σχιζομένους, the pres. pf. part., is a supplementary part. dependent on εἶδε, a vb of perception (see Smyth, par. 1582). Σχίζω, ‘split, tear’ is the act. vc.; σχιζομένους, ‘being rent, split’—a violent action. Cf. Engl. schism.
Πνεῦμα ὡς περιστερὰν: περιστερά, fem., is a common pigeon or dove. Περιστερός is a male dove (a cock pigeon).
[11] σὺ εἶ: the personal pron. σὺ is not necessary but is included in order to place stress: *you* are…. Cf. on v. 8 above.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 