Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Mark: Chapter 1].
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1:1 {The beginning} (\arch•\). There is no article in the Greek.
It is possible that the phrase served as a heading or title for
the paragraph about the ministry of the Baptist or as the
superscription for the whole Gospel (Bruce) placed either by Mark
or a scribe. And then the Gospel of Jesus Christ means the
Message about Jesus Christ (objective genitive). The word Gospel
here (\euaggelion\) comes close to meaning the record itself as
told by Mark. Swete notes that each writer has a different
starting point (\arch•\). Mark, as the earliest form of the
evangelic tradition, begins with the work of the Baptist, Matthew
with the ancestry and birth of the Messiah, Luke with the birth
of the Baptist, John with the Preincarnate Logos, Paul with the
foundation of each of the churches (Php 4:15). {The Son of God}
(\Huiou theou\). Aleph 28, 255 omit these words, but B, D, L,
have them and the great mass of the manuscripts have \huiou tou
theou\. If this is a heading added to what Mark wrote, the
heading may have existed early in two forms, one with, one
without "Son of God." If Mark wrote the words, there is no reason
to doubt the genuineness since he uses the phrase elsewhere.
1:2 {In Isaiah, the prophet} (\en t•i Esai•i t•i proph•t•i\). The
quotation comes from Mal 3:1 and Isa 40:3. The Western and
Neutral classes read Isaiah, the Alexandrian and Syrian, "the
prophets," an evident correction because part of it is from
Malachi. But Isaiah is mentioned as the chief of the prophets. It
was common to combine quotations from the prophets in
_testimonia_ and _catenae_ (chains of quotations). This is Mark's
only prophetic quotation on his own account (Bruce).
1:3 {The voice of one crying} (\phon• bo•ntos\). God is coming to
his people to deliver them from their captivity in Babylon. So
the prophet cries like a voice in the wilderness to make ready
for the coming of God. When the committee from the Sanhedrin came
to ask John who he was, he used this very language of Isaiah
(Joh 1:23). He was only a voice, but we can still hear the echo
of that voice through the corridor of the centuries. {Paths
straight} (\eutheias tas tribous\). Automobile highways today
well illustrate the wonderful Persian roads for the couriers of
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Word Pictures in the New Testament
(Mark: Chapter 1)