Gospel of Mar Marqos: - Chapter 1

{Rishon ha'besura d'Yeshua Mshikha bar Alaha}

1 (This is) the beginning* of the Gospel* of Yeshua Mshikha bar Alaha. 2 As it is written by the prophets*, "Behold! I will send my messenger before your face that he prepare your way." 3 "A voice* which cries in the wilderness*, 'Prepare the way of Mar-Yah, and make straight his paths'".

4 Yokhanan was in the wilderness baptising and preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.* 5 And going out to him were all of the (people of the) region of Yehuda and all of the B'nai Yerushalayim*. And he baptised them while they confessed their sins in the (river) Yordan. 6 And Yokhanan was clothed in clothing of the hair of camels and had bound leather around his loins and his food was locusts and wild honey*. 7 And he preached and said: "Behold! After me comes one who is more powerful than I, (and) I am not worthy to bow* to loosen the straps of his sandals."* 8* "I baptise you in water, but he will baptise you by Holy Spirit."

9 And it was in those days that Yeshua came from Nasrath d'Galil* and was baptised in the Yordan by Yokhanan. 10 And straightway, when he rose from the water, he saw the heavens open and the Spirit, like a dove, descended upon him. 11 And a voice was (coming) from the heavens: "You are my beloved Son, (and) in you I am pleased."

12 Straightway the Spirit directed him into the wilderness*. 13 And he was there in the wilderness (for) forty days while being tempted* by the accuser* and he was among wild animals and ministering to him were angels.

14 After Yokhanan had been delivered over*, Yeshua came to Galil and was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of Alaha. 15 He said: "The time is fulfilled*, and the Kingdom of Alaha has arrived. Repent and believe in the gospel*."

16 And while walking around the sea of the Galil he saw Shimon and his brother Andreus who were casting nets* into the sea. They were fishermen. 17 And Yeshua said to them: "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of the sons of men." 18 Straightway they dropped their nets and followed him. 19 And as he crossed (the land) further he saw Ya'aqub bar Zavddai and his brother Yokhanan. And they were sitting* in a boat repairing their nets. 20 And he called to them and straightway they left their father Zavddai in the boat with the servants and followed him.

21 And when they entered into K'far Nakhum*, straightway he began teaching during Shabbat in the assemblies*. 22 And they were amazed by his teaching, for he would teach them as no authority or their sofrim had ever taught before. 23 And in the assembly there was a certain man in whom was an unclean spirit and he cried out and said: "What do we have to do with you, Yeshua, the Nasraya?*" 24 "Have you come to destroy us? I know who you. You are the Holy One of Alaha." 25 And Yeshua rebuked him and said, "Close your mouth! Come out from him." 26 And the man fell down to the ground and the unclean spirit cried out in a loud voice and came out of the man. 27 And the people were afraid and everyone was asking each other saying, "What is this? What is this new teaching? For it is with great authority that he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." 28 And straightway his name* went out into all the land of the Galil.

29 And they left from that assembly and came to the house of Shimon and of Andreus, along with Ya'aqub and Yokhanan. 30 And the mother-in-law of Shimun was ill with fever and they told her about him.* 31 And he approached her and took her by her hand and raised her up; straightway the fever left her* and she ministered to them. 32 In that evening, when the sun was setting, they brought to him all those who were greatly diseased and possessed (by the unclean spirits) in order to be healed. 33 And the city and all the assembly was at the door. 34 And he healed many who were greatly diseased* and who were weak and had many unclean spirits in them, which he cast out. And he did not permit the unclean spirits to speak because they knew him.

35 And early when morning came he arose and went to an area that was private and it was there that he was praying*. 36 And they were looking for him, Shimon and those who were with him*. 37 And when they found him they said to him, "All the people are seeking you." 38 And he said to them, "Walk to the villages and to the cities that are near this place, and I will also preach there, for it is this reason that I have come." 39 And he would preach* in all of the assemblies and in all of the Galil he was casting out unclean spirits.

40 And he came to a leper who fell upon his feet and who was begging him saying, "If you desire you are able to make me clean." 41 And Yeshua* had great compassion on him and stretched out his hand and touch him saying, "I desire. Be clean." 42 Straightway the disease* departed and he was made clean. 43 And he instructed him when he was leaving, saying to him, "See to it that you tell no man." 44 "Rather, go and show yourself to the Kaheinim and offer an offering for your purification as commanded by Mosha for their testimony." 45 But after he left he began speaking of all the things that had taken place, and it was the cause of Yeshua not being able to freely enter into the city but had to use another entrance which was in an unused area. And they were coming to him from every place.

NOTES

1 "(This is) the beginning", Targum: "This is the history"
1 "Gospel of Yeshua", Nasraya Aramaic: "Basura d'Yeshua";

2 "by the prophets", some say "by Ishayahu (40:3)"

3 "voice", Rabban Ya'aqub bar Ya'aqub (Rabyabarai), z"l, (130 CE) said: "The terrible and awesome voice that is powerful and able to even raise the waters of the deep over the trees and to cut down the trees as it is written in Tehillim of the Voice of Mar-Yah Alaha." (See Tehillim 29)

3 "wilderness", Rabyabarai said: "The wilderness is the land of waste, the land of those who have not heard the gospel and all those who refuse to hear the Voice of Alaha. For it is written in the Gospel to the Hebrews that the people of times past would not hear with faith."

4 Entire verse, Targum: "Yokhanan was in the wilderness baptising and preaching. The people came to him and were making repentance for the forgiveness of their sins and became baptised with the waters of the Yordan."

5 "B'nai Yerushalayim", or "children of Jerusalem"

6 "locusts and wild honey", Dalin: "locusts with wild honey". Mar Dalin III tells us that: "The Yemenite Shemishqo of East Africa and Burma have a custom of mixing honey with kosher locusts as part of a meal."

7 "And he preached and said", Targum: "And when he preached, he would say"

7 "I am not worthy to bow...", Targum: "I am not so worthy to bow before his feet to untie his sandals"

7 After "sandals" nine Targumim add "And you shall seek his baptism."

8 Nine Targumim add: "And the people came to him, and some asked, 'How is his baptism different from your baptism?'" Rabyabarai, who lived before the Bar Kokhba Rebellion, quoted this verse in a letter to Believers in Antioch who were claiming that baptism without faith was acceptable. In his letter, Rabyabarai corrected the heretical views of the Believers in Antioch.

9 "Nasrath d'Galil", three Targumim: "The community of the Nasrayas living in Galil". The Targum indicates that "Nasrath" was not a particular city as is translated in some Eng. versions, but rather, a community in the Galil (Galilee) consisting of a people known as "Nasraya" (Nazaraean). Nasrat d'Galil (Aramaic Nasrat d'Galila, Hebrew: Natzrat shebagalil). The Nazaraean community within Galil (Galilee). Galil was separated from Judaea by Samaria (Yochanan 4:3,4). According to references in Mattai 26:73; Marcus 14:70, the inhabitants used a particular dialect. Inhabitants were despised by the general Jewish population (Yochanan 7:41,52). Our Lord was raised in Galil, (Mattai 2:22; Lucas 2:39,51) and it was Galil where He chose His Apostles (Mattai 4:18,21; Yochanan 1:43,44; Acts 1:11).

12 "Straightway...", Dalin: "His mother, Holy Spirit" (see fn Mattai 4:8). Rabban Yoseph (418 CE) said: "The Mother took Maran into the wilderness and placed him at the foot of Har Tabor, but the accuser, the evil one, brought him high upon the mountain."

13 "tempted", Rabban Ya'aqub d'Urishalam, z"l (912 CE) said: "How is it that Maran Yeshua was tempted? Was he unable to withstand trials coming to Him from the evil one? When the Gospel of the Hebrews says 'he is the one, like a man with a body like that of our own, was tempted in every manner as we, except for sin,' it means the manhood of Yeshua, separate from His divinity. Although the temptations were put before Him, He did not fall and sin. Instead, He knows our weaknesses, for in a weak body was His divinity placed, and for this very reason we have a high priest to make intercession for us."

13 "accuser", or "satan"

14 "delivered over", or "arrested"

15 "fulfilled", or "complete". Rabban Yoseph, z"l (418 CE) said: "When Maran said that the time has been fulfilled, he means a new day has begun, a new world has been set upon its wheels and the era for mankind to put faith in Alaha and to hear His Torah and live in Him through His appointed Mshikha."

SyrM: the kingdom of Alaha is near.

15 "the gospel", Dalin: "this gospel"; Nasraya Aramaic "basura"

16, nets. SyrM.: a net.

19 "sitting", Dalin omits this; Orthodox Text indicates people in a seated position working with their hands

21, K'far Nakhum, or Capernaum (Aramaic: Kfar-Nakhom)

21, assemblies, or synagogues, houses of study

23, Nasraya, or Nazaraean, Nasrani; (Aram: Nasraya; Heb: Netzri). This can also be rendered as Notzarin. Nasari is a Middle Easternisation of the words Nazarene, Nazaraean, Nazarite, and Nasrani.

28 "name", Dalin: "news of him", others: "fame"

30 "him", Targum: "all the things that Yeshua had done in the assembly."

31 "left her", all of the Jerusalem and Far Eastern Targumim add: "and she raised her hands before the face of Alaha and gave thanks to Yeshua..." Mar Dalin I said: "The text may or may not imply that the mother-in-law knew of the divinity of Mshikha. This could be Mar Marqos stating the first clear fact in his gospel account of the divinity of Maran Yeshua. However, it could be that the mother-in-law, upon hearing of the miracles that had occurred in the synagogue, realised who Yeshua was and appropriately gave Him thanks. I heard a Rabbi from this religious body say that he had a copy of the Gospel in which it added, 'and Yeshua told her not to speak of these things to anyone'. Whether this is authentic or not I am not aware, but if it is, we can assume either Mshikha is referring to the miracles that had been related to her or to the miracle of her healing from the illness."

34 "greatly diseased", or "who had serious illnesses"

35 "it was there that he was praying", Dalin: "it was there that he began to pray"

36 entire verse, Targum: "And Shimun and the others were seeking him."

39 "he would preach", others: "he preached", or "he did preach"

41 "And Yeshua", Targum: "And weeping, Yeshua...", other Targum: "with tears, Yeshua...", other Targum: "with great love Yeshua"

42 "disease", Eastern Aramaic: "leprosy"