Notes
Mark is considered by some scholars to be the first of the gospels written. The character of Saint Mark the Evangelist seems to be the same as John Mark from Acts. He was a younger companion of Saints Peter and Paul.
Another interesting bit of information, there are 678 verses in the Gospel of Mark. If the verses are counted backward with 1:1 being 678, then 1:13 is 666. 1:13 is also the first place in the Gospel of Mark where the Adversary appears. 1 : 678, 2 : 677, 3 : 676, 4 : 675, 5 : 674, 6 : 673, 7 : 672, 8 : 671, 9 : 670, 10 : 669, 11 : 668, 12 : 667, 13 : 666.
Additionally, Mark the Evangelist often uses the word "immediately". He uses it numerous times in chapter one and throughout the chapters. It suggests the instantaneous presence of the Holy Spirit Who is the all-pervading Helper, the "Paraclete", always breathing life into creation to uphold it. And similar to the first words in Genesis and Saint John's Gospel, Saint Mark starts his Gospel with Ἀρχὴ (ar-HAY), related to the English word "arch". It means the beginning or the first or the most important because it was first.
Statistics
- Mark is the 48th book in the Catholic Bible.
- It has 16 chapters and a total of 678 verses.
- Each chapter has the following number of verses:
- Chapter 1 has 45 verses.
- Chapter 2 has 28 verses.
- Chapter 3 has 35 verses.
- Chapter 4 has 41 verses.
- Chapter 5 has 43 verses.
- Chapter 6 has 56 verses.
- Chapter 7 has 37 verses.
- Chapter 8 has 38 verses.
- Chapter 9 has 50 verses.
- Chapter 10 has 52 verses.
- Chapter 11 has 33 verses.
- Chapter 12 has 44 verses.
- Chapter 13 has 37 verses.
- Chapter 14 has 72 verses.
- Chapter 15 has 47 verses.
- Chapter 16 has 20 verses.