Mark 1:9-15
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.”
1:12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
1:13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
[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.
[12] Καὶ εὐθέως τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτὸν ἐκβάλλει εἰς τὴν ἔρημον·
[13] καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα πειραζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ σατανᾶ, καὶ ἦν μετὰ τῶν θηρίων, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι διηκόνουν αὐτῷ.
[14] Μετὰ δὲ τὸ παραδοθῆναι ᾿Ιωάννην ἦλθεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ
[15] καὶ λέγων ὅτι πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ· μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ.
Comments
Much of the vocabulary and other features have been noted in earlier comments, which I repeat (and expand in a few cases) in what follows. We note again Mark’s plentiful use of the coordinating conjunction καί (‘and’) to begin sentences and to link successive sentences to one another. This is the style of oral narrative.
[9] Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἦλθεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη: lit., ‘it came to pass in those days Jesus came…and was baptised’. This paratactic construction (ἐγένετο/ ‘it came to pass…’+ [= καὶ] one or more independent sentences) is characteristic of Hebrew. It is very common in LXX and the Gospels. In this formulaic construction, the first sentence creates suspense (what came to pass?), while the second sentence (ἐβαπτίσθη/ ‘he was baptised’) resolves it, and is more important than the first.
ἐβαπτίσθη: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.
[10] εὐθέως ἀναβαίνων ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδε: straightaway’, ‘at once’. Mark uses this adv. and its variant εὐθύς to lend vividness to his narrative. εὐθέως here suggests simultaneity: as Jesus emerges from the water (ἀναβαίνων ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος ) he experiences a vision of the heavens being sundered (εἶδε). The adv. occurs also at the beginning of v. 12 to dramatic effect.
[11] σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ ηὐδόκησα: the quoted speech is an example of asyndeton, i.e., the absence of coordination between independent sentences (‘you are my beloved son, in you I am well pleased’). The personal pron. σὺ is not necessary but is included in order to place stress: ‘YOU are…’ ἐν σοὶ, occurring as it does at the beginning of the next sentence, is equally emphatic (‘in YOU’).
[12] αὐτὸν ἐκβάλλει εἰς τὴν ἔρημον: ἐκβάλλω, a cmpd vb, lit. ‘I throw out’, hence ‘expel’. Τhis vb can connote violence, as here.
ἐκβάλλει, which is in thepresent tense, is a historic (ordramatic) aorist, which is common in ancient Greek narrative.
[13] καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα πειραζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ σατανᾶ, καὶ ἦν μετὰ τῶν θηρίων: ἦν πειραζόμενος is a periphrastic impf., which becomes common in koine. It denotes continuous action or duration (in this case forty days).
πειραζόμενος, participle, pres. pass. vc < πειράζω, ‘make proof or trial of’, c. gen. (Homer); in LXX, c. acc. pers., as here, ‘I tempt someone, put him/her to the test’ (LSJ & Muraoka s.v.); in the NT, ‘tempt’ (EDNT s.v. πειράζω, p. 66, par. d).
μετὰ τῶν θηρίων: θηρίων, gen. pl< θηρίον (dimin. of θήρ); ‘wild animal’ (Homer); in cl. Gk, ‘beast, esp. as hostile and odious to man’ (LSJ). Here the meaning is quite classical, ‘wild beast’. EDNT s.v., p. 148 notes that 39 of the 46 occurrences of the noun in the NT are found in Revelation.
οἱ ἄγγελοι διηκόνουν αὐτῷ: διακονῶ (έω), c. dat. pers., ‘serve someone’ (cl. Gk); here the meaning is ‘help by providing care’ (EDNT s.v., p. 302), hence, I suggest, ‘the angels took care of him’ in the desert, providing food and protection from the beasts (one modern commentator gives a list–jackals, hyenas,leopards, bears, wolves, wild boar).
[14] Μετὰ δὲ τὸ παραδοθῆναι ᾿Ιωάννην: παραδοθῆναι, aor. pass. inf. < παραδίδωμι, ‘Ι hand over’ (to justice), ‘throw in prison’.
τὸ παραδοθῆναι is an articular inf. introduced by the preposition Μετὰ (‘after’). Thus: ‘After John was handed over, was imprisoned’.
[15] καὶ λέγων ὅτι πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς: πεπλήρωται, 3rd pers. sg., pf., pass. vc <πληρῶ (όω), ‘I fill full of’ (cl Gk: LSJ); the pass., as here, means, ‘I am fulfilled’.
In ὁ καιρός the definite article ὁ retains something of its original demonstrative force, ‘that (particular) time, occasion’. καιρός in cl. Gk usually has a temporal sense (with an underlying notion of proportionality): ‘exact or critical time, season, opportunity’ (LSJ s.v., III). The time or moment can be dangerous or more often, favourable. Either way it is decisive. (One may think of Lysippos’ late 4th c. BC bronze statue of the ephebic god Kairos striding on tiptoe and carrying a razor in his right hand. A pair of scales is balanced of the razor’s edge. The swiftness or precariousness of opportunity is sharper than a razor’s edge, according to an ancient interpretation of the sculpture.[1])
*In the NT among many other senses, καιρός may connote ‘eschatological expectations’, as here where it affirms the ‘moment of Jesus’ parousia’ (EDNT s.v., pp. 233-4).
μετανοεῖτε: present imperative < μετανοῶ (έω). Τhe prefix μετα- can mean a change, something that occurs afterwards; νοῶ, ‘perceive by the mind, apprehend’ (LSJ). Hence in cl. Gk μετανοῶ = ‘I change opinion’; ‘change one’s behaviour’ (M.). The vb always signifies an inner change as opposed to an outer one, which may be skin-deep (verging on a masquerade such as μετασχηματίζω may connote). In Plato (Euthydemus 279c) μ. means ‘I reconsider, I realise’ (Socrates realises with a pang he has made an embarrassing intellectual error).
The command μετανοεῖτε in this verse denotes a continuous action. * In the NT the noun μετάνοια means ‘penitence, repentance, conversion’ (M.).
[1] D. Boschung, Kairos as a figuration of time, A case study, Cologne, 2013, esp. 30 ff.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 