Mark 1:5

And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) There went out unto him. . . .—See Note on Matthew 3:5. Note St. Mark’s use of the term “in the river of Jordan,” as writing for those who were not familiar with the topography of Palestine.

Benson Commentary

Mark 1:5-8. There went out to him all Judea, &c. — So disposed were the people to receive his baptism. See note on Matthew 3:5. The latchet of whose shoes, &c. — That is, whose servant I am not worthy to be, or to perform for him the meanest offices. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost — The promise of which is made to you and your children, Acts 2:39; where see the note, and on Matthew 3:11.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-8. Isaiah and Malachi each spake concerning the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the ministry of John. From these prophets we may observe, that Christ, in his gospel, comes among us, bringing with him a treasure of grace, and a sceptre of government. Such is the corruption of the world, that there is great opposition to his progress. When God sent his Son into the world, he took care, and when he sends him into the heart, he takes care, to prepare his way before him. John thinks himself unworthy of the meanest office about Christ. The most eminent saints have always been the most humble. They feel their need of Christ's atoning blood and sanctifying Spirit, more than others. The great promise Christ makes in his gospel to those who have repented, and have had their sins forgiven them, is, they shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost; shall be purified by his graces, and refreshed by his comforts. We use the ordinances, word, and sacraments without profit and comfort, for the most part, because we have not of that Divine light within us; and we have it not because we ask it not; for we have his word that cannot fail, that our heavenly Father will give this light, his Holy Spirit, to those that ask it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight—The second of these quotations is given by Matthew and Luke in the same connection, but they reserve the former quotation till they have occasion to return to the Baptist, after his imprisonment (Mt 11:10; Lu 7:27). (Instead of the words, "as it is written in the Prophets," there is weighty evidence in favor of the following reading: "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet." This reading is adopted by all the latest critical editors. If it be the true one, it is to be explained thus—that of the two quotations, the one from Malachi is but a later development of the great primary one in Isaiah, from which the whole prophetical matter here quoted takes its name. But the received text is quoted by Irenæus, before the end of the second century, and the evidence in its favor is greater in amount, if not in weight. The chief objection to it is, that if this was the true reading, it is difficult to see how the other one could have got in at all; whereas, if it be not the true reading, it is very easy to see how it found its way into the text, as it removes the startling difficulty of a prophecy beginning with the words of Malachi being ascribed to Isaiah.) For the exposition, see on [1395]Mt 3:1-6; [1396]Mt 3:11.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And there went out unto him all the land of Judea,.... The people of the land, a great number of them:

and they of Jerusalem; the inhabitants of Jerusalem, hearing of this new preacher, the new doctrine that he taught, and the new ordinance that he administered:

and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins; that is, as many of them as were brought to a sight and sense of their sins, and made a confession of them, these he baptized, or immersed, in the river Jordan; for certain it is, that there were many of the Pharisees and Sadducees who came, whom he rejected; See Gill on Matthew 3:5, Matthew 3:6, Matthew 3:7.

Geneva Study Bible

And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Mark 1:5-8. See on Matthew 3:4-5; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:7 ff. Matthew enters more into detail on John the Baptist; Mark has several particulars in a form more original.

πᾶσα ἡ Ἰουδ. κ.τ.λ.] Ἰουδ. is an adjective (see on John 3:22), and χώρα is in contrast to the metropolis (see on John 11:54 f.), the whole Judaean region, and the people of Jerusalem collectively. In πᾶσα and πάντες there is a popular hyperbole.

Mark 1:6. Instead of ἐσθίων, we must write, with Tischendorf, ἔσθων.[50]

Mark 1:7. ἔρχεται] present: “ut Christum intelligas jam fuisse in via,” Beza.

κύψας] belongs to the graphic character of Mark, whose delineation is here certainly more original than that of Matthew.

ἘΝ ΠΝΕΎΜ. ἉΓΊῼ] The fire, which Matthew (and Luke also) has in the connection of his more comprehensive narrative, is not yet mentioned here, and thus there is wanting a characteristic point, which, nevertheless, appears not to be original. Comp. John 1:33 (in opposition to Ewald, Köstlin, Holtzmann, and others). It would not have been “abrupt” (Holtzmann) even in Mark.

[50] See on this poetical form, which occurs also in the LXX. and Apocrypha, Duncan, Lex., ed. Rost, p. 457; Winer, p. 79 [E. T. 105]; Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 51 [E. T. 58]. Also at Mark 12:40, Luke 7:33 f., Luke 10:7, Luke 22:30, this form is to be read.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 1:5-8. Mark 1:5 describes the widespread character of the movement much as in Mt., only that Judaea comes before Jerusalem, and the district of the Jordan is not mentioned.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. all the land] This strong expression is peculiar to St Mark. But it is illustrated by the other Gospels. The crowds that flocked to his baptism included representatives of every class, Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 3:7), tax-gatherers (Luke 3:12), soldiers (Luke 3:14), rich and poor (Luke 3:10).

of Jordan] Of here is redundant and appositional. We use it after “town,” “city,” “valley.” For its use after river, comp. “the river of Cydnus,” Shak. A. and C. II. 2. 192. The word “river” does not occur in the best MSS. of Matthew 3:6. It is used by St Mark, who writes for those who were unacquainted with the geography of Palestine.

Bengel's Gnomen

Mark 1:5. Ἰουδαία χώρα, the land of Judea) So, τὴν Ἰουδαίαν γῆν, John 3:22.[6]—οἱ Ἱεροσολυμῖται, they of Jerusalem) At other times, capital cities are not readily wont to follow a new institution [a new mode of life preached for the first time].

[6] Two Substantives coming together in apposition, so that one acts as an Adjective.—ED.

Mark 1:5

Vincent's Word Studies

There went out (ἐξεπορεύετο)

The imperfect tense signifies, there kept going out.

The river

Peculiar to Mark.

Confessing

See on Matthew 3:6.