Section 1:14–15

Jesus began to preach to people

In this section Mark told how Jesus began to preach in Galilee after Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness.

It is good to translate the section before you decide what heading to use for it. Here is another idea for this section heading:

The beginning of Jesus’ work

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 4:12–17; Luke 4:14–15; John 1:43a.

Paragraph 1:14–15

1:14a

After the arrest of John: Mark assumed that his readers already knew the time when John was put in prison. The purpose of the clause is to help the readers know the approximate time when the next event happened.

In some languages it may be confusing to start a new section of a story in this way. If that is true in your language, you may need to present the information in a different order. You may need to first state that John was put in prison, then indicate that Jesus went into Galilee after that. For example:

When some time went by, John was arrested and put in prison. After that, Jesus went into Galilee…

In other languages you may need to change the order of the clauses in this verse. See the General Comment on 1:14a–b for a suggestion.

After: Jesus went to Galilee After John had been put in prison. We do not know how much time passed between John’s imprisonment and Jesus’ trip to Galilee. You should use a general time expression if possible.

the arrest of John: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as arrest indicates that John was taken to government authorities for punishment.

Here is another way to translate the word, as the Revised Standard Version has done:

John was arrested (Revised Standard Version)

The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the arrest is passive and can be translated more literally as “was delivered over.” In some languages, you may need to use an active verb and supply the person who put John in prison. Mark 6:14–29 indicates that King Herod was the ruler who caused John to be put in prison.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Later on, after King Herod had put John in prison…
-or-
After Herod had caused his men to put John in prison

You may also want to include a footnote mentioning Mark 6:14–29. A sample footnote is:

The story about when John the Baptizer was put in prison and killed is found in Mark 6:14–29.

John: The name John refers to John the Baptist. If this will not be clear to your readers, you may use the same title as you did in 1:4a.

1:14b

Jesus went: Mark 1:9 indicates that Jesus came from Galilee, so in some languages, it may be more natural to say here that Jesus returned to Galilee.

into Galilee: If you identified Galilee in 1:9a as a region/province, you may not have to make that information explicit again here. Consider whether it is natural in your language to mention this again.

proclaimed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as proclaimed is the same word that is translated as “preaching” in 1:4b. It means to publicly tell people something important. The verb form used here implies that Jesus preached the good news repeatedly as he traveled from place to place in Galilee.

Here are some other ways to translate proclaimed in this context:

announced
-or-
told people

the gospel of God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the gospel here is the same word that was translated as “gospel” in 1:1. The phrase gospel of God means the “gospel from God.” (There is a textual issue in 1:14b: (1) Some Greek manuscripts have the gospel of God. For example, the Revised Standard Version says: “preaching the gospel of God” (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version). (2) Some Greek manuscripts have the gospel of the kingdom of God. For example, the King James Version says: “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God” (King James Version). It is recommended that you follow option (1).)

General Comment on 1:14a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of the information in this verse. For example:

14aAfter that, 14bJesus went to Galilee and told people Good News that came from God. 14a(At that time John had already been put in prison.) 14bIn his preaching Jesus said….

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