"... From the perspective of this study, Mark’s introductory sentence is striking: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ is καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ. Or in the words of Rikki Watts, ‘the “gospel” of Jesus Christ is that gospel about which Isaiah wrote.’” ... It is no accident, then, that Mark’s opening Old Testament citation comes, in part, from the opening paragraphs of Isaih 40, the very passage which introduces into Jewish tradition the figure of the eschatological gospel-herald. Thus, when just a few paragraphs later Mark states in 1:15 that Jesus went into Galilee “preaching the gospel of God (κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ) it is highly likely that he intends for us to locate this gospel-activity also within the orbit of “the prophet Isaiah” ... Moreover, there is reason to believe that this programmatic statement in 1:15 alludes specifically to Isaiah 52:7. The terms εὐαγγελ-(ιον), λέγω, βασιλ-(εία) and θεός in verses 14–15 correspond in form, function and word order to the central part of Isaiah 52:7 in both the Masoretic text and the Septuagint. The parallel could, of course, be coincidental but the fact that Mark has already signaled his interest in the Isaianic context of Jesus’ “gospel” makes this very unlikely ..."