After the first verse of the Gospel of Mark (mentioned in the previous article), the next two verses quote from is what is known by many today as the Old Testament (which the initial recipients of this gospel knew as the Holy Scriptures). Events being recounted in this gospel include many that were prophesied centuries before.
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ ”Mark 1:1-3 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.1.1-3.NIV
While verse 2 introduces a quote from Isaiah, the NIV cites Malachi as the source for the first quotation, and Isaiah for the second. Per Black, p. 42, Mark may have wanted to focus on the second part more than the first.
Regardless of where these passages were quoted from, the events that they described were no longer future prophecies for Mark when he wrote this gospel: they had been fulfilled! Restating these prophecies in the book of Mark reminds his readers that someone was expected to appear on the scene of history: someone who would get things ready for the promised Messiah. (And, in upcoming verses, Mark describes who that was.)
If we go back to Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, though, you might not find that both quotations match exactly with their Old Testament versions (depending on your translation). Mark seems to have taken concepts from these prophets, and made it clear how they applied to the one who was getting things ready for Jesus.
Although I agree with Jewish scribes (those who made copies of Old Testament writings with great care) that we should not change the Bible’s message, the fact is that some New Testament quotations of the Old Testament capture a principle, rather than being what we might think of today as a direct “copy and paste” quotation.
For one thing, the New Testament was written mainly in Greek, so there were translation choices to be made from the original Hebrew (which most of the Old Testament was written in). The Old Testament had been translated into Greek around the third and second centuries B.C. (in Egypt), and sometimes New Testament authors appear to quote specifically from that “Septuagint” translation. There also appear to be cases when God inspired New Testament authors to capture the meaning of a historical passage, as a way to illustrate a point that God had prepared centuries earlier, rather than needing to quote it exactly. [See What is the Septuagint? | GotQuestions.org]
By the way, this is why I think that sometimes, too much focus on specific translations of the Bible can cause us to miss the bigger picture. Now, I still believe that understanding how, when, and why a translation was performed can be valuable to how we read it. And, there are times and places when a certain translation is or isn’t a good fit for a person and their specific situation.
However, even with differences in how New Testament authors state Old Testament prophecies, or variations in how the Bible is translated into modern languages, those who follow Jesus have an important Helper to guide us. That is, just as God inspired the original authors of the Bible, I’m confident that the Holy Spirit can also help people translate the texts that we have into words that speak His same message to others around the world. And, where modern languages break down in communicating the subtleties of the original text, the Holy Spirit can speak to our hearts directly, to help us when we might miss something from the translated words themselves.
Or, as GotQuestions.org put it, “As faithful as the Septuagint translators strove to be in accurately rendering the Hebrew text into Greek, some translational differences arose. But the fact that the apostles and New Testament authors felt comfortable, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in using the Septuagint should give us assurance that a translation of the original languages of the Bible is still the authoritative Word of God.”
This might seem like an unusual place to talk about Bible translations and how we look at the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of the truth. However, the gospel of Mark (which is probably some of the oldest documentation about Jesus’ life), seems to have more than the average amount of passages where there are variations among manuscripts. As a result, while we must rely on both study and the Holy Spirit to get to the truth throughout the Bible, that is perhaps even more necessary in this gospel.
So, won’t you invite Him to help you today? Regardless of what you’re reading in the Bible these days, or spiritual preaching and teaching that you’re listening to, ask the Holy Spirit to show you the truth!
From Sunday School lesson prepared for August 31, 2025
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Mark, by Allen Black. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 