Mr 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Mr 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Elements of the prophecy that Mark mentions

1: Precedes the Messiah

2. Prepares the way

3. In the wilderness

4. Preaches "Prepare the way of the lord"

5. Preaches "make his paths straight

Remez Mal 3:1 (shifting the context of the prophecy to the fulfillment)

Hint: Mark uses the plural "prophets" which indicates there must be at least two prophecies which John the baptist is fulfilling. Mark does not quote each one individually, but combines the topics of the two as though they were one prophecy. This is key to interpreting recapitulated, or repeating, prophecy. They are laid overtop of each other like transparencies, and then interpreted together as one.

Mal 3:1 ¶ Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

1. Precedes the Messiah

4. Prepares the way

New elements introduced

6. The lord will come [to his temple]

7. The messenger of the covenant will come

Remez Isa 40:1-5

Isa 40:1 ¶ Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Isa 40:3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

New elements introduced

3. In the wilderness

4. Prepares the way

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

6. The lord will come

Mr 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Mr 1:5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

Mr 1:6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

Mr 1:7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

Mr 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

<-- Mr 1:1