Person New Testament
Mark
Also known as Mark =ESV, NIV, KJV; Marcus =KJV, John
Mark (also called John), Barnabas' cousin and Paul's companion, was the author of the Gospel of Mark. Mentioned in 10 verses across 5 books, first at Acts 12:12.
Why it matters. Cousin of Barnabas, companion of Paul, author of Gospel.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Mark
Mark, also known as John Mark, was a prominent figure in the early Christian church. He was the son of Mary, whose house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for the believers (Act.12.12). Mark was also the cousin of Barnabas (Col.4.10) and accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Act.12.25; 13.5). However, he left them at Perga and returned to Jerusalem (Act.13.13), which later caused a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas (Act.15.37-39). Despite this, Mark remained active in ministry, as evidenced by Paul's later references to him as a fellow worker (Phm.1.24; 2Ti.4.11). He also worked closely with Peter, who referred to him as "my son Mark" (1Pe.5.13). Tradition holds that Mark wrote the Gospel that bears his name based on Peter's teachings, making it one of the earliest written accounts of Jesus' life and ministry.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Mary
Appears in Scripture
Named in 10 verses across 5 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.