What Does Mark 1:14 Mean?
After John was handed over, Jesus came into Galilee, heralding the good news of the governance of God,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,THE KEY
John is put in prison, yet God’s governance is not confined with him.
THE MEANING
The verse holds confinement beside an arriving announcement: God’s governance is still entering the reader’s world. It speaks wherever confinement seems to close the future, naming a reign announced right there.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that confinement has stopped God’s movement.
THE ROOT
βασιλεία
basileia
GROWS FROM
βασιλευ-
basileu-
To reign; to exercise kingly rule.
English “kingdom” can sound like a place or territory; basileia names kingship and the exercise of rule. Here, the good announcement is about God’s governance arriving, even where John is confined.
ALSO GROWS
basileus: King
βασιλεύς
The governing authority is embodied in a ruler.
basileuō: To reign; rule as king
βασιλεύω
This verb names the active exercise of what basileia names as a reign or governance.
κηρύσσων
kēryssōn
GROWS FROM
κηρυκ-
kēryk-
Herald; public messenger charged to announce.
“heralding” in this verse is kēryssōn. Kēryssō is public announcement carried by a herald, not merely private reflection. The word makes God’s governance something announced into public hearing.
ALSO GROWS
kēryx: Herald
κῆρυξ
The herald is the one who carries the announcement.
kērygma: Proclamation; announced message
κήρυγμα
This names the message that the act of preaching delivers.
εὐαγγέλιον
euangelion
GROWS FROM
εὐαγγελ-
euangel-
Good report; good announcement.
“good news” in this verse is euangelion. Gospel is the good announcement carried by the herald: here, news about God’s governing reign. The word keeps the focus on a message being announced.
ALSO GROWS
euangelizomai: To announce good news
εὐαγγελίζομαι
The verb describes carrying the good announcement to others.
euangelistēs: One who announces good news
εὐαγγελιστής
This names the messenger who carries the gospel.
THE PATTERN
God’s reign is announced as good news within places marked by confinement and distress.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news, who makes wholeness heard, who brings good news of good, who makes deliverance heard, who says to Zion, Your God governs.The breath of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the emptied. He has sent me to heal the shattered in heart, to herald release to the captives, and the return of sight for the blind, to send the crushed away into release.THE THREAD
And saying, "The season has been filled, and the governance of God has drawn near. Turn, and lean your weight on the good news."The next verse repeats the roots for “kingdom” (basileia) and “gospel” (euangelion), then names the announcement’s content: God’s governance is near. The Greek word rendered “repent” means turning, so the announcement opens a turn toward what is arriving.
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