This study began as a homework assignment in Bill Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook.[1] The assignment was to translate Mark 1:1-22 from the Koine Greek into modern-day English. As I translated these Bible verses from Greek into English, one of the things I noticed is that several of the verses in this passage have to do with the meaning of repentance. The noun metanoias is found in Mark 1:4, and the verb metanoeite occurs in Mark 1:15. In the verses below, I have translated these two words not according to the conventional terminology (which I believe only confuses, or at the very least obscures, the true meaning of the words), but rather I have translated them according to the more literal meaning of the Koine Greek, which quite literally denotes a change of mind or heart.
Note that in the translations below, italicized words
are not in the original Greek. The Greek text that I used is from the Nestle Greek New Testament.
Mark 1:1
Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ Υἱοῦ Θεοῦ.
The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God.
Mark 1:2
Καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ Ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου·
Just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold,
I am sending My messenger before your face, who will prepare your way.”
Mark 1:3
φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου, εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ,
“A voice of shouting in the wilderness: ‘Prepare
the way of the Lord! Make His paths straight!’”
Mark 1:4
ἐγένετο Ἰωάνης ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ κηρύσσων βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν.
John came baptizing in the wilderness, preaching baptism as the sign
of a whole-hearted change of mind unto forgiveness of sins.[2]
Mark 1:5
καὶ ἐξεπορεύετο πρὸς αὐτὸν πᾶσα ἡ Ἰουδαία χώρα καὶ οἱ Ἱεροσολυμεῖται πάντες, καὶ ἐβαπτίζοντο ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ ποταμῷ ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν.
And all the region of Judea went out to him, and
all those of Jerusalem, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River,
confessing their sins.
Mark 1:6
καὶ ἦν ὁ Ἰωάνης ἐνδεδυμένος τρίχας καμήλου καὶ ζώνην δερματίνην περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσθων ἀκρίδας καὶ μέλι ἄγριον.
And John was wearing camel’s hair and a leather
belt around his waist, and eating locusts and wild honey.
Mark 1:7
καὶ ἐκήρυσσεν λέγων Ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω μου, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς κύψας λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ.
And he was preaching saying: “There is coming one mightier than I after
me, of whom I am not worthy, when
stooping down, to loosen the strap of His sandals!”
Mark 1:8
ἐγὼ ἐβάπτισα ὑμᾶς ὕδατι, αὐτὸς δὲ βαπτίσει ὑμᾶς Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ.
“I baptized you with water, but He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:9
Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἦλθεν Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ὑπὸ Ἰωάνου.
And it happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
Mark 1:10
καὶ εὐθὺς ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδεν σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ὡς περιστερὰν καταβαῖνον εἰς αὐτόν·
And immediately coming up out of the water, He
saw the heavens splitting apart and the Spirit as a dove coming down unto Him.
Mark 1:11
καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν Σὺ εἶ ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα.
And a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My
beloved Son, in you I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:12
Καὶ εὐθὺς τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτὸν ἐκβάλλει εἰς τὴν ἔρημον.
And immediately the Spirit sends/leads Him out into
the wilderness.
Mark 1:13
καὶ ἦν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τεσσεράκοντα ἡμέρας πειραζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ Σατανᾶ, καὶ ἦν μετὰ τῶν θηρίων, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι διηκόνουν αὐτῷ.
And He was in the wilderness forty days being
tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels were
ministering to Him.
Mark 1:14
Καὶ μετὰ τὸ παραδοθῆναι τὸν Ἰωάνην ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Θεοῦ
And after John was handed over to Herod, Jesus went into Galilee,
preaching the gospel of God.
Mark 1:15
καὶ λέγων ὅτι Πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ· μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ.
And saying: “The time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Change
your thinking and believe in the gospel!”
Mark 1:16
Καὶ παράγων παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας εἶδεν Σίμωνα καὶ Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν Σίμωνος ἀμφιβάλλοντας ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ· ἦσαν γὰρ ἁλεεῖς.
And passing by alongside the Sea of Galilee, He
saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the lake, for they
were fishermen.
Mark 1:17
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς Δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς γενέσθαι ἁλεεῖς ἀνθρώπων.
And Jesus said to them, “Come after Me, and I
will make you to be fishermen of people!”
Mark 1:18
καὶ εὐθὺς ἀφέντες τὰ δίκτυα ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ.
And immediately, leaving the nets, they followed
Him.
Mark 1:19
Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάνην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα,
And going on a little, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother,
and they were in the boat preparing
the nets.
Mark 1:20
καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς· καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν Ζεβεδαῖον ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ τῶν μισθωτῶν ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ.
And immediately He called them; and leaving their
father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, they departed after Him.
Mark 1:21
Καὶ εἰσπορεύονται εἰς Καφαρναούμ· καὶ εὐθὺς τοῖς σάββασιν εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐδίδασκεν.
And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on
the Sabbaths, after going into the synagogue, He was teaching.
Mark 1:22
καὶ ἐξεπλήσσοντο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ· ἦν γὰρ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων, καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ γραμματεῖς.
And they were amazed at His teaching, for He was
teaching them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes.
ENDNOTES:
[1] William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019),
pp. 183-184.
[2] Mark 1:4; cf. 1 Cor. 1:22, “For indeed Jews ask for signs” (NASB95). I am indebted to J. B. Phillips for his fine rendering of Mark 1:4 in this regard, which reads in his translation: “For John came and began to baptize men in the desert, proclaiming baptism as the mark of a complete change of heart and of the forgiveness of sin.” (See: J. B. Phillips, The Gospels: Translated into Modern English [New York: The MacMillan Company, 1957], p. 67, italics added. Cf. Charles Ryrie, The Acts of the Apostles [Chicago: Moody Press, 1961], p. 23.) Commenting on Mark 1:4, Charles Ellicott similarly writes: “The special phrase ‘baptism of repentance’—i.e., the sign of repentance, that which was connected with it, and pre-supposed it”. According to Moulton’s Grammar of New Testament Greek, the Greek phrase baptisma metanoias (KJV: “baptism of repentance”) is to be understood in this sense. Turner writes the following in his discussion of the subjective genitive: “That is doubtless the way to regard Mk 14 baptisma metanoias; it [i.e. baptism] does not lead to, but springs from, repentance.” (J. H. Moulton, Nigel Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1963], Vol. III, p. 211.) In other words, John the Baptist was preaching repentance (a change of heart) unto the forgiveness of sins, and baptism a result and sign of it.
