Mark 1, Greek - Pr. Fourman

Greek Study Mark 1:14-20

v14 μετα .. το παραδοθηναι (παραδιδωμι) aor. inf. "after [John] was delivered/turned over” a temporal clause. Mark clearly has Jesus' public ministry following John's. 

εις την Γαλιλαιαν "into Galilee" - Not only does Jesus commence his public ministry in his home province, but it also becomes the center for his ministry.

κηρυσσων (κηρυσσω) pres. part. "proclaiming" - Jesus went...and preached", better treated as modal, i.e. expressing the manner of Christ's coming; "he came preaching". 

το ευαγγελιον (ον) "the good news" – a word used of an important message, such as news reported from a battlefront. The news may be good or bad either way, but it is always important, so "God's important message."

της βασιλειας (α) "of the kingdom" του θεου "of God" (a glass?) the genitive is ablative expressing source/origin, "so God’s important message about His own Kingdom."

v15 ο καιρος (ος) "the time" πεπληρωται (πληροω) perf. "has come" - the sense "completed" is best, this is an idiomatic phrase that serves as a redundancy.

η βασιλεια (α) "the kingdom" (actually reign) του θεου "of God" ηγγικεν (εγγιζω) perf. "is near" - expresses motion toward, so the perfect tense is expressing the idea that the motion in time is toward the realization of the kingdom and has reached virtual completion in Jesus.

μετανοιετε (μετανοεω) imp. "repent" – to change the direction of… the word carries the sense of, "turn around", so the imperative is to "turn from opposition to God", or "turn toward God". Of course, the word "repent" means something quite different in our modern sense so perhaps we are best not to use it at all?

πιστευετε (πιστευω) pres. imp. "believe" – the sense of the word is " put one's weight on", or "rely on” rather than to give intellectual ascent to.

It strikes me that verse 15 contains just about every important Greek word in the New Testament where the content of the Christian Faith is concerned.  

v16 παραγων (παραγω) pres. part. "As he [Jesus] walked" - gives the same sense as "passing by" παρα + acc. "along" - την θαλασσαν (α) "sea". Jesus ministry is in the Jewish towns around the lake, Capernaum was his headquarters της Γαλιλαιας (α) gen. "of Galilee" literally the sea which is located in the region of Galilee – this serves as a geographic clarification for non-Jews.  

αμφιβαλλοντας (αμφιβαλλω) pres. part. "casting a net" – the participle forms a dependent statement of perception; "he saw that Simon and his brother Andrew were casting a net into the lake." 

αλιεις (υς εως) "fisherman" – actually meaning commoners but note that Zebedee employs "hired men", which indicates that James and John at least were not form the bottom of the social scale.

v17 δευτε "come" - come here- an imperatival interjection.

οπισω + gen. "follow [me]" - an invitation to take up apprenticeship with a rabbi.

ποιησω (ποιεω) fut. "I will make" - in the sense of "cause someone to do something".

γενεσθαι (γινομαι) aor. inf. I will make of you- [I will make you become fishers of men]. An infinitival phrase, object of the verb "make" is in the form of a double accusative construction, with the personal pronoun "you” serving as the subject of the infinitive, and "fishers of men" as the object; so, "follow me and I will see to it that you become fishermen ανθρωπων (ος) gen. "[fishers] of men" - the genitive is adjectival, attributive, limiting "fishermen"; so "fishermen who fish for men." 

v18 ευθυς "at once" – immediately- expressing a speedy response to Jesus' authority.

αφεντες (αφιημι) aor. part. "they abandoned” attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the verb "followed". The act of leaving their nets may serve to illustrate a renunciation of the world but we know they retained their property, so it is more likely they packed up their gear for the time being in order to go on a mission with their rabbi.

τα δικτυα (ον) "their nets" - the word can mean any net, although probably "casting net" is intended.

ηκολουθησαν (ακολουθεω) aor. "followed" – a literal "following" is intended, although a derived sense may be present, i.e. "follow as a disciple".

v19 προβας (προβαινω) pres. part. "when he had gone [a little further]" του Ζεεδαιου (ος) gen. "son of Zebedee".

εν τω πλοιω "in a boat" - the definite article need not be translated, in fact it may serve as a possessive pronoun, "their", the last place a person works on a net is in the confined space of a boat.

καταριζοντας (καταρτιζω) part. "preparing" - mending, restoring, strengthening a dependent statement of perception - possibly adverbial, temporal, "while they were preparing their nets their nets for the next day's fishing - mending, cleaning, folding, etc.

v20 ευθυς "without delay" - immediately - also in v18 and possibly wanting to convey an instantaneous call and response, but probably just expressing a sense of haste - best not translated.

εκαλεσεν (καλεω) aor. "he called" – actually "summoned” as before a court of law.  There is a certain coercive nature to this word.

αφεντες (αφιημι) aor. part. "they left" – ουτων "their [father Zebedee]" Genitive of relationship εν + dat. "in [the boat]" – μετα + gen. "with" των μισθωτων (ος) "the hired laborers.

οπισω + gen. "and followed".