Mark 1:1-8

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

April 27, 2012


 *(From: MARK #1 - 1:1-8)*


 *MARK - SUMMARY: THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE AND POWER*


 I. 1:1-8 THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST - INTRODUCTION

a. 1:1* A beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.*

ArCH*E* [746] tou eu-ag-geLIou [2098] I*e*SOU ChrisTOU.


 b. 1:2-4 JOHN PREPARES FOR JESUS BY A REPENTANCE MESSAGE

*Even** as **it is written in :Isaiah the prophet:*

KaTH*O*S GEgrap-tai en t*o* *E*-SAIa t*o* proPH*E*t*e* [4396]:

*Lo, I send my :messenger before your face,*

I-DOU, a-poSTELl*o* ton AGgeLON [32] mou pro proS*O*pou [4383] sou,

*Who shall prepare your :way; *3* A voice of one crying in the wilderness,*

hos ka-ta-skeuAsei [2680] t*e*n hoDON [3598] sou; ph*o*N*E* [5456] bo*O*Ntos
[994] en t*e* eR*E*m*o* [2048],

*Make you ready the way of the Lord, Make his :paths straight;-*

He-toiMAsa-te [2090] t*e*n hoDON KuRIou, euTHEIas [2117] poiEIte tas
TRIbous [5147] auTOU;-

4 *John came, who was baptizing in the wilderness and preaching*

eGEne-to I*o*An*e*s, ho bapTIz*o*n [907] en t*e* eR*E*m*o* k*e*RUSs*o*n
[2784]

*a baptism of repentance unto remission of sins.*

BAPtis-ma [908] me-taNOIas [3341] eis Aphe-sin [859] ha-mar-ti*O*N [266].


 c. 1:5 THE WIDE RESULTS OF JOHN'S MESSAGE

*And all the country of Judea went out unto him,*

kai e-xe-poREUe-to pros auTON PAsa h*e* IouDAIa CH*O*ra [5561],

*and all they of Jerusalem; and were baptized of him*

kai hoi Ie-ro-so-luMEItai PANtes; kai e-bapTIzon-to hup' auTOU

*in the river Jordan, confessing their :sins.*

en t*o* IorDAn*e* po-taM*O* [4215], e-xo-mo-loGOUme-noi [1843] tas
ha-marTIas auT*O*N.


 d. 1:6 JOHN'S FOOD AND CLOTHING

*And :John was clothed with camel's hair*

kai *e*n ho I*o*An*e*s en-de-duMEnos [1746] TRIchas [2359] kaM*E*lou [2574]

*and a leather girdle about his :loin; and was eating locusts and wild
honey.*

kai Z*O*n*e*n der-maTIn*e*n [1193] peRI t*e*n osPHUN [3751] auTOU; kai ESth*
o*n aKRIdas kai MEli Agri-on.


 e. 1:7 JOHN HIGHLY EXALTS JESUS

*And he preached, saying, After me comes the one mightier than I, the
latchet*

kai eK*E*rus-sen, LEg*o*n, ERche-tai ho i-schuROteROS [2478] mou
oPIs*o*mou, hou ouk eiMI hi-kaNOS

*of whose :shoes I am not fit to stoop down and unloose.*

KUpsas [2955] LUsai [3089] ton hiMANta [2438] t*o*n hu-po-d*e*MAt*o*n
[5266]auTOU.


 f. 1:8* I baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy
Spirit.*

eG*O* eBAPti-sa huMAS HUda-ti [5204]; auTOS de bapTIsei huMAS PNEUma-ti [4151]
HaGI*o* [40].


 *NOTE: *The Gospel of Mark with its first eight verses points up the
uniqueness of Panin's Discovery of Bible Numerics as it relates to a
clearer and more accurate context. The old adage of “A text without a
context is a pretext” applies here. God's Bible Numeric sentence,
subdivision, paragraph and section structure - establishes a context for
the entire NT with a uniqueness not found anywhere else. For instance:
between Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 2, Bible Numerics makes but a *
sentence* division - *not* a chapter - as is normally found. Here in Mark,
the first 8 verses form a Section or chapter equivalent. This sets these 8
verses apart in a unique and important manner. The next chapter equivalent
section is Mark 1:9 to 6:29! This throws an entirely different light on
these beginning 6 chapters from the point of view of contextual
understanding. I encourage all readers of this Interlinear Greek NT based
on the two texts of Ivan Panin - to carefully examine all NT books from
this outlined point of view. Many of the insights found in my *NOTES* -
spring out of such an examination. I am not sure if even Panin himself saw
the importance of outlining the entire NT on the basis of his Discovery.
God set this up at the time of each Hebrew and Greek Bible writer, and not
even *they* were aware of this unusual and helpful feature. It would seem
that God has reserved the production of a text featuring this Discovery of
“Context” for the “Last Days,” preceding the return of His Son - to offset
the erroneous “Textual Criticism” of many of the Liberal, Modernistic and
Humanistic so-called scholars.


 It was in 1945 that I discovered the significance of Ivan Panin's
Discovery. Since then I have devoted tens of thousands of hours to produce
this Interlinear Greek NT, which has but 40 chapters to go for completion.
The enemy of our souls greatly hates and fears this production. Four
different individuals who call themselves friends of Ivan Panin, have done
everything in their power to undermine this work, giving it a twist that
completely destroys its efficacy. Normally - at 87 I should be too old to
be giving myself to this work. But I believe I have a mandate from God to
do this for Him - no matter how difficult. It is for me, then, a joy to
have heard his Word in 1967 - “Get *My* New Testament done!” This for me is
then a labor of love, and a privilege to please Him. If *He* is pleased, I
am pleased. If others are pleased and profit from it also, that is an extra
bonus. For *me alone* to make use of this Interlinear, the labor has been
worth it.


 Mark 1:8 contrasts John's *water* baptism with that of Jesus'
*Spirit*baptism. The two are analogous! They are both baptisms of
*immersion*, not “washing” as one has said. In the family of words or
cognates surrounding the root word *baptize*, (bapTIz*o*); there are 80
total references, with 4 parts of speech involved. All but one of these
deal with immersion. bap-tisMOS, appearing 4 times in the NT, *is* properly
translated a “washing”, but *none* of the other 76. This is an example
where “a little bit of Greek is a dangerous thing.” One of the 4 so-called
friends of Panin with no academic background in Greek, has changed Panin's
translation in all 80 cases to say “Washing” or “to wash.” Who needs
enemies when they have so-called friends? I do *not* count myself as a
scholar. I have had 2 years of classical Greek at the University of
Saskatchewan under Dr. Leddy, a Rhodes scholar; and 3 years of NT Greek,
which does not make one a scholar, but it does provide some background in
this area. I have also had 5 years of Latin and 5 years of Hebrew, which *
again*, does *not* qualify one as a scholar; but it does give somewhat to
help Lay-folk make use of the Bible Numeric Discoveries of Panin.


 In 1947 at St. Andrew's College, a Seminary of the United Church of Canada
in Saskatchewan, I studied the Gospel of Mark under Dr. John Corston from
Nova Scotia, who obtained his doctorate degree in Greek from Edinburgh,
Scotland. He knew this Gospel so thoroughly, that he could quote it in
Greek in its entirety, giving his own free translation as he went along.
One day for a special verse, he asked the 20 or so of us in the class, to
read from any other translation we happened to have, to give more light on
the verse. Mr. Thomas read from Panin's English translation, which he had
purchased from me. Dr. Corston said - “Mr. Thomas - that translation comes
most closely to the Greek text. From what are you reading?” When Mr. Thomas
said that it was Ivan Panin's translation, the professor replied - “Oh no!
that this could happen to me!” The average scholar is like Dr. Corston. He
won't even investigate the validity of Bible Numerics. Such scholars say,
“This is so incredible, that it's not even worth investigating!” Even many
Evangelical scholars often take this same position.


 But what *they* count incredible - God chose the only two languages in the
world, Hebrew and Greek, which have no numerical equivalents, for His Bible
of 66 books. (24 in the Jewish OT). When numbers are substituted for
letters, the Antichrist, the man of sin, when he comes, will be equivalent
to “666”. Jesus in Greek - “I*e*SOUS” - is 888. Iota, 10; *E*ta, 8; Sigma,
200; Omi-cron, 70; Upsi-lon, 400; SIGma, 200; Total, *888*! Go to our
Website, *<www.2rbetter.org>;* and click on “Interlinear”. At the close of
the Introduction, is a “URL”, leading to Toronto, Canada, for an article on
“How to Use Bible Numerics to witness to Mathematical and Scientific
individuals.” There are 5 links in this article. The one under “Dr. Keith
L. Brooks,” is helpful as an introduction. It also makes available how to
order all books “by” or “on” Ivan Panin. Karl Sabiers book was written in
1941 one year before Panin's death in Aldershot, Ontario. Sabiers
interviewed him for one year prior to the writing of this book, so it
clearly represents the final thinking of Panin on this Discovery. Panin's
Introduction to his Bible Numeric Greek NT is very helpful also, for those
who desire to check out more thoroughly this extraordinary Discovery. Panin
was not the first to make this Discovery. It had been uncovered by Astruc
in the 1700's - but Panin was the first to do 100,0000 hours of research to
produce a Greek NT with no alternate readings, and an English translation
setting forth the contextual basis of sentences, subdivision, paragraphs
and sections or chapter equivalents. Because of this phenomenal research,
he could be called the true Discoverer.


 I apologize for the length of this *NOTE*: there are many already
convinced of the integrity of Panin's Discovery, and others who are
interested to research it for personal satisfaction. Men like Dr. Jowett of
Scotland, Winkie Pratney of New Zealand, Dr. David duPlessis of South
Africa, are but 3 of hundreds who are satisfied with the Discovery claims
of Dr. Panin. J.A.Watt


 *Addendum**: *Here are a couple of good questions that came in as a result
of the above mailing. I am giving them, plus my response: “I find the
explanation about “bap-tisMOS” interesting. Obviously, I too hold that
biblical baptism means the immersion of the believer. But I am curious
about the explanation.


 Two questions: If “bap-tisMOS means *immersion*, then why don't you
translate it “immersion” rather than the more nebulous transliteration
“baptism” that I believe was invented in the early English translations to
avoid taking sides in the immersion/dipping/pouring debate?


 And, what is the actual difference in meaning between “washing” and
“immersion” since both would refer to the total contact of water with that
which is being “baptized”? Does “washing” refer to the impact of the
act ofbaptism while “immersion” refer to the mode of the act?” - Just
interested
in your thinking.


 *Answer*: Good questions - not sure if I can give a satisfactory answer -
but here goes -


 One: bap-tisMOS really doesn't mean immersion in the strict sense of what
John the Baptist or Jesus' disciples or the early church did. It seems to
be a specific noun used in Jewish liturgy for the Levitical washing of
sacrifices and containers. In the Tabernacle and Temple there were water
containers specifically for this purpose, not directly for immersion. The
Levites washed parts of the sacrifice at these places, and the utensils
connected with these duties - so that immersion was not really the thought
here. My former associate took these 4 references, and applied them to all
the other 76 - *not* kosher!


 Here's another thought: John Knox, when sent back to Scotland by Calvin,
had to make a decision on the “mode” of baptism. 49 went down to London
from Scotland for this purpose. 24 voted for immersion; 24 for sprinkling.
The Chairman cast the deciding vote for sprinkling - hence the
Presbyterians (my background) by one vote left the Baptist field!


 King James set English translators to produce the King James or Authorized
Version of 1611. The King was a language scholar, so the translators came
to him with their specific problem. They reminded him that bapTIz*o* in the
Greek literally means to dip or immerse. Should they translate it this way,
the people would say - “Then why don't we do it?” But if we transliterate
the Greek word, we can give it any meaning we want.”


 Reply of the King - “Transliterate it” - and say it means to sprinkle. -
Interesting!


 Question 2 - The difference between “washing” and “immersion is based on
the technical Levitical use of the two words. So - only 4 times in the NT
is “washing” the proper translation for the technical use of bap-tisMOS -
while all the other 76 are properly translated dip as in dyeing - or
immersion. So - really there *is* a distinct difference as I understand
between bap-tisMOS and the other references, and should not be confused.


 Maybe this doesn't answer your questions to your satisfaction - but it
seems the best I can do - Jim.



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