Mark 1:3

1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make 1  his paths straight.’” 2 

Mark 1:11

1:11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my one dear Son; 3  in you I take great delight.” 4 

Mark 1:26

1:26 After throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.

1 sn This call to “make his paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

2 sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

3 tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

4 tn Or “with you I am well pleased.”

sn The allusions in the remarks of the text recall Ps 2:7a; Isa 42:1 and either Isa 41:8 or, less likely, Gen 22:12,16. God is marking out Jesus as his chosen one (the meaning of “[in you I take] great delight”), but it may well be that this was a private experience that only Jesus and John saw and heard (cf. John 1:32-33).