Mark “begins” with an echo of God’s original creative design.15 But here “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου) begins, not the creation. The link with creation is left on hold as the person of Jesus is introduced. The expression “the good news” was used in the Septuagint and the Greco-Roman world. Second Isaiah used it to proclaim the “good news” of God’s rule, salvation or vindication (see LXX Isa 40:9; 41:27; 52:7; 60:6; 61:1). The Greek writers used it to announce a military victory, a royal birth,